Mural Suggestions and Feedback
by Nik Portela, The Dalles community member and Latino Advocate.
Let me start this off by saying, I love a mural. Art is a unique way a community can express its values, remember its past, and envision its future. While many of the murals in The Dalles currently could use a little love (and a lot of updating), some of them are beautiful artistic expressions of our local flora, fauna, and historical community figures. With such a rich history and so much imagination for how our town can improve and grow, it was so disappointing to see the list of suggestions presented by the Walldogs for the upcoming Northwest Mural Fest Voting Event taking place on October 15, 2021. Not a single one of their suggestions highlighted historical or current figures in our diverse LGBTQ+, Latino/Hispanic, or Black communities. I ask, why are we so stuck telling the same story of a town whose truth and future are more interesting than we’ve allowed ourselves to explore?
Almost 1/5 of The Dalles’ population identifies as Hispanic/Latino - almost 20 percent! This only accounts for permanent residents and doesn’t begin to speak to the influx of Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers who come each year to support the local economy by working the cherry orchards and packing facilities throughout Wasco and Hood River counties. Without these vital members of our community, there’s no way the crop we prize throughout the region would be able to thrive. These orchards are some of the biggest employers in our area. We have a festival every year celebrating this delicious fruit that blankets our hills and valleys, and yet there’s not even one mention in a list of over 30 potential options? Additionally, our Latino/Hispanic neighbors are small business owners, community health workers, mental health professionals, teachers, and so much more in The Dalles. They are part of the fabric of this community and to not even mention them is truly an affront to their value.
The inclusion of Chief Tommy Kuni Thompson of the Celilo Wyam is a wonderful start to the recognition of The Dalles’ once thriving Native American communities. These communities still exist throughout the Gorge and in The Dalles, but they have unfortunately been stripped of their homes and their ancestral land, relegating many of them to in lieu sites along the river and a small village along the highway. Ironically, but not surprisingly, many of the figures listed as suggestions for other murals directly contributed to the loss these communities experienced. Do we continue to celebrate this past and the irreparable harm that’s been done? Or do we find a way to look into the present day and the future for reasons to celebrate the ways in which our Native American neighbors continue to thrive in spite of all these hardships? The mural of Celilo Falls and the “Native Little Rascals” painted along the walls at The Next Door, Inc. on Kelly Avenue need only be the beginning of a different story, a more authentic truth.
Murals do not need to relegate themselves to the past. We can celebrate the possibilities of our future and the growing diversity of our community as well. While Black and LGBTQ+ folks have not traditionally been the loudest or most visible parts of The Dalles, this is changing. Driving down neighborhood streets, I see a number of Pride flags; our Black neighbors becoming more plentiful, our community more diverse every single day. As larger cities become more and more unaffordable, the demographics of places like The Dalles are set to change drastically. Why not find ways to ensure these folks feel welcomed as they drive through their new home? Black pioneers on the Oregon Trail traditionally get left out of the story. As a country, we have very little record of names and histories of the men and women who rode West to attain freedom, but know they do indeed exist. With the amount of Oregon Trail history throughout The Dalles, why not look to an organization like Oregon Black Pioneers for support in making a mural to honor this history? Additionally, this June for LGBTQ+ Pride Month, the Columbia Community Connection highlighted The Dalles’ historical resident, Marie Equi, a lesbian suffragist and political activist who The Dalles Weekly Chronicle wrote about and once referred to as a “queen.” These are obviously not the only figures to muralize in our history within these communities, but are some easy to find ideas it doesn’t seem like the Walldogs took the time to consider.
We already have so many plaques and murals claiming how the Oregon Trail pioneers “discovered” this trading center along the Columbia River. How White fur traders, fisherman, and explorers made The Dalles (once called Wascopam) what it is. These plaques and murals exist despite their proximity to others describing the generations before their arrival in which Native Americans called this land their home and were already doing much of the same thing while still living in harmony with the river and the falls. As many of us hear all too often, we must never forget our history lest we repeat our mistakes, but memorializing these mistakes is not the way we move into our future with the wisdom they have gifted us. Our little town is growing and changing every day. Let us find beautiful, artistic ways to envision that future and uplift the pasts we’ve often left behind. I ask for the Walldogs to give their list of suggestions of murals a much needed revision and offer us a little more time to vote on the new list created. Give yourselves and The Dalles a chance to paint the future we want to see with all of our communities represented in honest and uplifting ways. Let us tell a new story.