Lunch Club Series | Navigating Heritage: Chinook Art and Public History Along the Columbia River

Lunch Club provides affiliates of the Stanford Archaeology Center with a community-oriented forum for engagement with current issues in archaeology. On Nov 4, 2026, we will host Dr.Jon Daehnke from University of California, Santa Cruz.

Abstract: 

In this talk I explore the contested nature of marking Indigenous history and continued presence/absence in settler colonial states. Specifically, I look at monuments, memorials, and other sites of public history and heritage along the Columbia River that offer reminders of Indigenous – and in this case, specifically Chinook – occupation of the landscape. In part, this work addresses the challenges that the Chinook Indian Nation faces regarding the public representation of their own history, especially at “official” sites of heritage. But centrally in the work I explore how the Chinook are responding to, and actively shaping, discussions and practice surrounding monuments, memorials, and sites of heritage. In part this is through increased participation in management of “official” sites of heritage. But it is also connected to the role that the revitalization of Chinookan art has played in reclaiming heritage landscapes, as well as opportunities for the Chinook to tell their own stories on their own lands.