We share public information with care. Cultural protocols are protected.
The History
The Medicine Dance is a tradition of the Columbia River Plateau peoples, Nch'i Wanapum (Big River People), carried through language prayer, first foods, and intergenerational responsibility. This work builds long term cultural infrastructure on the Umatilla Indian Reservation, so our ancestral lifeways will continue with strength and beauty for generations to come. For thousands of years, the Umatilla people have lived in deep connection with the land, guided by the rhythms of the Columbia River, the changing seasons, and the sacred relationship between people and nature. Rooted in the Columbia Plateau, our way of life was shaped by movement, gathering, and ceremony, following a cycle that honored the earth and its gifts.
Leadership
The project is held in equilibrium, between women and men, children and elders, the inclusivity of those going through different life struggles. The Shorthouse will be a safe space for all to heal and grow through the trusted leadership of Ernestine Morningowl and her partner Thomas Morningowl who are the trusted long-term facilitators of the Medicine Dance.
Thomas Morningowl
Ernestine Morningowl
Why Medicine Dance?
It’s called the Medicine Dance because it’s a ritual dance meant to work with spiritual power “medicine” to heal and restore balance, not because it involves physical medicine.
In Umatilla society, the Medicine Dance isn’t just about healing an individual,it:
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Brings the community together
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Reinforces shared identity and tradition
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Connects participants to ancestors and spiritual forces
The Medicine Dance is deeply connected to Umatilla culture as a spiritual and communal practice rooted in Plateau traditions, especially through the Washat religion, focusing on healing, balance, and connection to the spiritual world.
Rebuilding the Kayak Niit (Shorthouse)
Living Cultural LIfeways
The medicine dance is a living humanities practice where knowledge is carried through ceremony, language in use, and responsibility to land—not preserved as artifact, but practiced as life.
Cultural Infrastructure
Land and built space are the conditions that make ceremony, teaching, and continuity possible. This project creates a stable home for practices that cannot survive in temporary or borrowed spaces.
Community-Led Continuity
The work is guided by ceremonial leadership and community stewardship, with care taken to share only what is appropriate for public audiences.
“Songs come from the Earth, from rivers, trees, animals, and air, and are carried upward as prayer.”
Why the Medicine Dance Matters
The Medicine Dance carries tradition grounded in relationship—between people, land, water, animals, and future generations. Prayer centers first foods such as salmon, roots, berries, and game, along with the ecological conditions that sustain them. Language is spoken and sung in ceremony, allowing knowledge to be transmitted through living practice rather than abstraction.
Our tradition emphasizes care for people—elders, children, those who are sick, unhoused, missing, incarcerated, or far from home. These teachings form an ethical system rooted in responsibility, balance, and collective well-being.
This is not a symbolic practice. It is a living framework for understanding how to care for land and community in a time of environmental change and cultural disruption.
Why a Permanent Place Is Needed
For decades, Medicine Dance gatherings have relied on borrowed churches or rented halls, spaces not designed for the cultural, logistical, or ceremonial needs of multi-day gatherings.
At the same time, elders who carry knowledge are aging, and younger generations need consistent opportunities to hear language and teachings in practice.
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Temporary spaces limit continuity
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Rentals strain community resources
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Language transmission weakens without consistency
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Cultural care requires appropriate infrastructure
The Movement for tiičám restores continuity, dignity, and long-term stewardship.
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The Place and the Project
Rebuilding Kayak Niit
The land under consideration holds deep cultural memory connected to long-standing gathering and food traditions of the Walla Walla band. It’s reclamation into Tribal hands would represent a place for generations to continue to hold ceremony. The project seeks to acquire and steward this place in order to build the essential facilities required for ceremony, teaching, and community life, guided by cultural protocol and phased planning.
1. Gathering / Dance Hall
Primary space for ceremony, teaching, and community gathering
2. Dining Hall
Shared meals, feasts, and community care
3. Commercial Kitchen
Large-volume food preparation for gatherings
4. Youth + Family Space
Support for children and families during events
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5. Bathrooms + Showers
Facilities for multi-day gatherings
6. Land Back
Supporting the Walla Walla in getting their traditional lands back.
7. Exterior Cultural Areas
Fire-based food preparation and outdoor gathering
8. Stewardship Infrastructure
Storage, access paths, and site safety
Capital Logic
Infrastructure as Humanities
Phase 1: Secure the Lands and Finalize Design
Land acquisition or long-term site control, due diligence, and site readiness
Phase 2: Core Gathering Infrastructure
Gathering hall, kitchen, dining, hygiene, youth and elders spaces
Phase 3: Full Cultural Campus
Exterior cultural areas, stewardship improvements, sustainability upgrades
This project understands capital investment as cultural infrastructure.
Ceremony, language, and intergenerational teaching require real-world conditions: appropriate space, food preparation capacity, safety, and continuity. Without stable infrastructure, these practices remain fragmented and vulnerable.
Land acquisition and phased development allow ceremony to be held in-perpetuity with dignity, and create a durable foundation for cultural continuity.
What Success Looks Like
A permanent home for ceremony and teaching
Language strengthened through living use
First foods honored as ongoing practice
Youth learning through intergenerational presence
Reduced stress from temporary rentals
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What We Share and
What We Protect
This project does not publish sacred protocols, ceremonial lifeways, or restricted cultural knowledge. It is not about access to ceremony. It is about sustaining the conditions that allow Indigenous communities to carry their traditions forward with dignity, privacy, and care.
Contact
For partnership inquiries, funding conversations, or alignment, please reach out. We respond with care and discretion.
This project shares public information with care and protects cultural protocols by design.
Fiscal sponsorship provided by
Indigenous Just Transition (IJT).