The Cathlapotle Plankhouse is not open to the public at this time.
The Refuge works collaboratively to interpret the unique relationship indigenous communities of the Pacific Northwest have had with plants and animals going back a millennia, and ongoing today. Indigenous connections to the landscape have always been infused in our environmental education and this will continue.
The Cathlapotle Plankhouse is sacred to our tribal communities. Please do not climb on it, remove wood, or otherwise damage it, thank you.
Built in partnership with the Chinook Indian Nation, Portland State University, The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and numerous other community partners and volunteers, the Cathlapotle Plankhouse serves as an education and interpretive center and is used for cultural events throughout the year.
It took over 100 volunteers two years to complete it, and the official opening ceremony was conducted on March 29, 2005.
The contemporary plankhouse stands as a reminder of the thousands of people who lived at the Cathlapotle Village for hundreds of years. Built as part of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commemoration, the structure was modeled on plankhouses excavated by archaeologists at the village site.
The new plankhouse is smaller than the original houses at Cathlapotle and includes contemporary elements in its design. A visitor can enter through a modern door rather than the traditional small, circular opening that would require a person to duck into the house and perhaps leave his weapons outside.
The contemporary plankhouse is a gathering place for local tribes who use it for ceremonies and to teach visitors to the wildlife refuge about their history. It is a place that evokes the past but also asks each of us to consider the legacies of contact and survival in this place.
The Cathlapotle Plankhouse continues to serve social and spiritual purposes. The intermittent fires provide ceremonial warmth and preserve the structure’s wood.
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