With the price of admission, Tamastslikt visitors can experience the Naami Nishaycht outdoor living culture village at Tamastslikt Cultural Institute. The village is open every Saturday, May 25-August 31, from 10am-4pm. View replicas of traditional and prehistoric structures of Plateau Indian people and every weekend you can participate in such activities as storytelling, game playing, arts, or other pursuits. Marjorie Waheneka, Village Coordinator, has planned a full roster of seasonal cultural activities that village interpreters will demonstrate for the edification, enlightment, and participation of visitors. The season concludes with the Kidz Pow Wow open to all children, Tribal and non-Tribal, up to 12 years of age.

Click here to get the Village Calendar!

Bring your dad, grand-dad, uncle, brother, or any other dad you know to Tamástslikt on Father's Day when all dads can enter for FREE.  Treat him to lunch at Kinship Café - he'll love the pizza, lasagna, salmon and housemade huckleberry desserts.  And if you haven't already, pick up a special gfit for him at the Museum Store where you'll receive free gift wrapping and a Dad's Day balloon.

Andy Warhol was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century and the leading figure in the visual art movement known as Pop Art. ‘Cowboys and Indians’, a suite of prints published in 1986, is said to have been the last series produced before artist Warhol’s death in 1987. The suite is comprised of 10 large-format silkscreen prints. Warhol drew from familiar icons of popular western culture--Annie Oakley, John Wayne, General Custer, Teddy Roosevelt —and counterposed them with American Indian images and artifacts—Geronimo, Indian Head Nickel, Mother and Child, Northwest Coast Mask, Kachina Dolls, and Plains Indian Shield. The exhibit is on loan from the Rockwell Museum of Corning, New York. 

"If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface: of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There's nothing behind it." Warhol affected a deadpan naive persona. In discussing his work, Warhol once stated, “I think everybody should like everybody.” The interviewer asked, “Is that what pop Art is all about?” and Warhol responded, “Yes, it’s liking things.” His background as a commercial artist drew him to the “Pop art” or popular art movement.   Omnipresent themes of Warhol’s work were the concepts of icon and celebrity. 

Warhol preferred that his artwork bear an assembly line quality, as if machined, replete with accidents that might mar or enhance the product.  He endeavored to remove any trace of the artist from the art.  It can't be said that Warhol was sympathetic to either cowboy or Indian polity.  Notable in 'Cowboys and Indians' is that the more eclectic artifacts represent the American Indian than faces of personages.  The exquisite native art pieces may communicate more about tribal aesthetic values than cowboy icons convey about Americana.  Warhol was an avid collector of the kinds of American Indian artifacts pictured in the exhibit. 

Warhol used color in alarming, seemingly random manipulation of images.  For example, the portrait of Teddy Roosevelt colors the president's face slate gray with red outlines.  Warhol was known for using candy-colored hues to create garish pop images.  The familiarity of the image was altered beyond reality.  James Peck, Curator, Rockwell Museum, wrote, "Warhol with 'Cowboys and Indians' has deftly tapped into that vast reservoir of powerful images that somehow relate to reality, but also mystify it."

The 'Head to Toe' exhibit features clothing worn by the tribal peoples of the inland Columbia River Plateau, before and after incursions of newcomers began transforming the landscape. Artifacts include such items as moccasins, headdresses, an elk tooth dress, and a seashell bridal veil. The chronology of regalia tells a story of change among tribal society at various stages in northwest history. The Cultural Trust gave a grant to the High Desert museum to develop the exhibit with objects from regional collections. 'Head to Toe' features portions of  the Doris Swayze Bounds collection, a 7,000-item collection of artifacts inherited by the High Desert museum.

Watch and listen for Spilyáy, the magical Coyote of Legend-Time. Find Spilyáy in Tamástslikt’s major galleries: We Were, We Are and We Will Be. Tamástslikt is a storyline museum and therefore does not merely document artifacts. In the SEASONAL ROUND, the Natítayt (the people) follow the pre-contact lifestyle of subsistence in the abundant natural world, reflecting its balance and order. Ambient sounds take the visitor to another time. Visitors will hear horses rumbling across the grassy plateau, storytellers in the winter lodge, the bell and worshipers in the church. They will hear a recreation of the 1855 Treaty Council of Walla Walla in the tribal language. Audio, artistry and historic images, rare and beautiful artifacts create a broad sensory experience depicting our Tribal world.

WELCOME--We're glad you are here.  American Indians didn't live only in the past. Tribal people have survived and thrive in the contemporary world. Cháwna mun na’ámta--We will never fade. WE ARE features our resilient people as soldiers and warriors, players in tribal government and the economy, leaders in salmon recovery success, balancing the modern with tradition, and still abiding by the Law of the Salmon.

Dreams, visions, hopes and concerns of the tribal community are voiced in WE WILL BE.

The 10-minute introductory Coyote Theater is open for visitors to enjoy. Spilyáy, the magical coyote dominates the story, expressing wisdom and foolishness in a comic exposition of how the world came to be as it is today. Witness Spilyay as he vanquishes the forces of destruction and saves the traditional foods for the Natítyayt.  On days other than First Friday, the Coyote Theater is accessible with admission.

From October through March, Tamástslikt Cultural Institute museum, store, and cafe are closed on Sundays.  From April through September, Tamástslikt welcomes you 7 days a week, 9am-5pm.