MISSION — With the Nixyáawii Longhouse set to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2028, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) Board of Trustees (BOT) held a work session with Department of Natural Resources Director Eric Quaempts to discuss an upcoming community survey regarding necessary improvements to be made ahead of the milestone.
The survey will work in conjunction with a physical assessment being done at the Longhouse and cultural lands by the Public Works Department.
In addition with the physical assessment, a survey will be issued to community members to field input on what changes they would like to see, whether the improvements be big or small.
Quaempts said the survey has 10-11 categories covering religious services, feasts, celebrations, cultural nights, sound system and the supporting facilities and surrounding grounds. It will be on a scale of one to five, with one being strongly disagreeing with the prompt and five strongly agreeing.
Quaempts told the BOT that, ideally, the survey should take about 15 minutes.
“It’s going to be really interesting to see the responses because I think there may be some people who think it’s time for a newer bigger facility,” he said.
He pointed out that something to keep in mind was the timelines regarding suggestions from the community — determining what would be a long-term improvement versus more short-term changes.
“I would think of some things that could be improved pretty rapidly, like maybe improving the painting lines in the parking lot, things that are definitely short-term, but major upgrades like capacity are long-term for sure,” Quaempts said.
The tentative timeline for the survey is for it to be released to the public in early October, with BOT Chair N. Kathryn Brigham suggesting Oct. 1 during the work session. From there, the survey would be open for about two to three weeks for responses and then those results will be combined with Public Works’ physical assessment of the building. From that point, a plan for what can be done in the near-term, mid-term and long-term can be made ahead of the Longhouse’s milestone.
“One of the challenges we had in putting together the surveys was we’re all users of the Longhouse, right?” Quaempts said. “So we already have some ideas in mind, but we’re trying to be open-minded. We want the responses to come from the community.”
