PORTLAND, Ore. — At the heart of OMSI's campus transformation into a new pocket neighborhood along the Willamette River is a planned facility intended to restore its connection to the Indigenous community.
This is the vision for the new Center for Tribal Nations which will serve as a hub for the urban Indigenous community and Native nations across the Pacific Northwest. It is the first known project for the OMSI District — a 24-acre redevelopment in Portland's Central Eastside.
The Northwest Native Chambers is acting as steward for the community's vision for the center in partnership with OMSI.
“The Center for Tribal Nations is the first-of-its-kind, Native-led urban development that establishes a Native presence on the Willamette River, while creating space for a new era of Indigenous expressions of excellence," said James Alan Parker, executive director for Northwest Native Chambers, at Portland City Council's Wednesday meeting.
As a hub, the center will provide a place for business, recreation and cultural activities for the more than 20 tribal, intertribal and urban Native organizations that operate in the greater Portland region.
According to a spokesperson, the Northwest Native Chamber is working to acquire the site adjacent to OMSI for the center, which is the biggest site up for grabs within the district's masterplan, with a maximum 810,550 square feet of potential.
On Wednesday, Portland City Council approved a critical piece of infrastructure for the future "OMSI District," which plans to include up to 1,200 units of new housing, with a minimum of 20% reserved for low-income families, as well as retail and education space and a new waterfront park.
At the city council hearing, Parker said the center will reclaim a crucial connection to the river while celebrating Native cultures and values that have "endured through centuries of colonization and displacement.”
“Here, where ancestors once gathered for commerce, a new Native economy will emerge, seeded with tribal investment and ownership and supporting Native entrepreneurship and businesses," Parker added.
Along with the Center for Tribal Nations, a new waterfront education park is also in the works for OMSI District that will be free for people to access.
The vision for the park is of "a place of healing" for exploration and opportunity to experience the Willamette River through "a tribal lens of culture and science," said Aja DeCoteu, executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, which has partnered with OMSI on the design for the park.
While both projects are in the works, neither will likely come anytime soon, as the new road infrastructure for the district needs to be completed first. The anticipated timeline for that is mid-2027.
