Nez Perce Art in the Wallowa to celebrate 12th year Sept. 6

Nez Perce and Columbia Plateau tribal art and artists will be the focus of the 12th annual Nez Perce Art in the Wallowa.

The Saturday, Sept. 6, event will include a noon to 4 p.m. art show and auction at historic Wallowa Lake Lodge, followed by a dinner theater presentation at the Joseph Community starting at 6 p.m.

The afternoon Nez Perce Art in the Wallowa art show will feature traditional and contemporary art forms. There is no admission charge. In the past years, traditional beading and rawhide work has been exhibited alongside bronze sculptures, high tech photography and paintings. The show’s auction provides an excellent opportunity for art collectors to obtain high-quality original art pieces.

A salmon and buffalo dinner, combined with Native American entertainment, is on the menu for the evening portion of Nez Perce in the Wallowa. Other menu items include locally grown fresh vegetables, and huckleberry cheesecake, with a no-host bar featuring Terminal Gravity microbrews and regional wine.

Thomas Morning Owl, a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla reservation, is the honored performing artist. He is well-known locally, as he has served as master of ceremonies for tWallowa’s Tamkaliks Celebration for the past several years.

Morning Owl is a performing artist, singer, drummer, historian and spiritual leader among the Inland Pacific Northwest tribes. He is the recipient of oral histories from families who had lived across the Columbia Plateau, and will bring alive a part of that history through song and music, from pre-contact to contemporary times.

As he performs the songs of old, many nearly lost over the generations, another notable tribal member will accompany him to help bring the stories and music to the dinner guests.

Tickets for the evening events are $30 in advance or $35 at the door. Advance tickets are available at The Bookloft and Fishtrap in Enterprise, Joseph Fly Shopp, and Wallowa Homeland Interpretive Center. For more information or to make reservations call 541-886-3101, e-mail tamkaliks@gmail.com or visit the Web site at www.wallowanezperce.com.

Nez Perce Art in the Wallowa is presented by the Wallowa Band Nez Perce Trail Interpretive Center, a non-profit organization, dedicated to providing a permanent site in the Wallowa Valley for Nez Perce cultural and interpretive activities, the Tamkaliks Celebration, and the continuing development of a Wallowa Band interpretive center.