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TAC International Film and Video Festival

 

 

 

 

 

Day Trek to Cascadia Cave and Camas Prairie
Friday, 21 May, 9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Ages: 12 and up, in good physical condition
Guide: Tony Farque, Archaeologist, Sweet Home Ranger District, Willamette NF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A special TAC Festival guided tour to one of the most visually impressive archaeological sites in western Oregon and also to an ancient root harvesting area that is under restoration. This tour is hosted by our partner, the Willamette National Forest.

 

Program summary:

 

Join us on a hike to one of the most visually impressive archaeological sites in western Oregon and also to an ancient root harvesting area that is under restoration. Used by people for 8000 or more years, Cascadia Cave is located along significant indigenous travel routes and provided important cultural functions to more than one tribal group. Here the largest group of rock art panels in western Oregon remains in excellent condition. Come view the site, hear excavation conclusions, discuss current rock art interpretations, and help plan site restoration, protection, and interpretation. As a bonus for this year's tour, we include a visit to nearby Camas Prairie, where archaeological evidence shows that people have been harvesting camas bulbs for at least 6000 years. In cooperation with the Grande Ronde and Siletz tribes as well as the BLM and Lane Community College, the Forest Service has been restoring the prairie through biannual burning and sowing, annual seed collection, and bulb harvesting. The camas lily is a beautiful blue flower that can turn a meadow into a gorgeous azure carpet in the springtime, but for Native American people in western Oregon its edible bulb has been a staple food for many thousands of years. This restoration project has been featured as a model for federal agency cooperation with Native American governments at conferences in Montreal, London and New Orleans. The camas may be in full bloom at the time of the tour. For early registrants, the Forest Service will provide a van for transportation from Eugene. Once the van is full, others will travel by car pooling.

 

Ages: 12 and up, in good physical condition

 

Guide: Tony Farque, Archaeologist, Sweet Home Ranger District, Willamette National Forest

 

Registration: Please contact Archaeological Legacy Institute
(filmfest@archaeologychannel>.org or or 541-345-5538 or 541-515-5976) to register. Please register as early as possible. TAC Festival tickets will be required of all participants.

 

Fee: No registration fee is required. However, we would appreciate a $20 or more donation to support the program.

 

Location: Meet at the Seventh Ave. turnout alongside the Hult Center, Eugene, Oregon, for 9:30 departure

 

Trip Information: : Last year's Cascadia Cave trek met with such an enthusiastic response that we decided to do it again! Bring a lunch to eat in the cave. Transportation will be through car-pooling and the drive is two hours each way. Be prepared for a two mile round trip hike through the woods along a flat river terrace. Also bring rain gear and boots and a change of warm clothes. We will cross one stream and follow a muddy path less traveled. We park at Cascadia State Park and use the rest rooms to change clothes if necessary. The tour then will drive to Camas Prairie, where you should expect only a very short walk.

 

We plan to return to the Hult Center by 5 p.m.