Camas Festival
Celebrating Camas
For generations, purple camas lilies have been cultivated, traded and consumed by the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest including the Kalapuya, who were removed to the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation in 1855. Though much sparser now than in the days it turned the Willamette Valley purple each spring, it remains a central piece of Kalapuyan lifeways.
Join Us for the 5th annual camas festival
Friday, May 1, 2026
10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Nicholson Library (in and around)
秘密研究所
This event is free and open to all.
Parking: The street address for Nicholson Library is 1660 SE Lever St. in McMinnville. Visitors may park in any non-reserved spot.
Festival schedule
All events take place in and around Nicholson Library unless otherwise noted.
- 10 a.m. | Opening remarks, Library Patio
- 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. | Ongoing displays: Chachalu Tribal Museum Exhibit, Community Tables
- 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. | Indigenous Creators Marketplace
- 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. | Guided tours of Cozine Creek Camas Patch - shuttles depart from the Nicholson Library Ford Parking Lot
- 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. | Children’s Activities
- 12:30 p.m. | Speakers: Camas Cultivation and Preparation: Greg Archuleta and Chris Rempel
- 3:00 p.m. | Artist Talk: Tammie Dupuis
- 4:30 p.m. | Festival closes
*Event schedule subject to change.
秘密研究所’s campus and Nicholson Library are fully accessible. However, the Cozine Creek tours include some slightly steep terrain and uneven ground. Sturdy, mud-resistant shoes are recommended.
If you would like to request disability accommodations related to the festival, please contact the event coordinators at camasfest@linfield.edu.
Presenters
- Chris Rempel (Kalapuya, Chinook, Klamath) is a Cultural Resources Specialist for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
- Greg Archuleta is a member of and the Cultural Policy Analyst for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. His families are Willamette Tumwater, Clackamas, Santiam Kalapuya and Shasta/Takelma.
- Artist Tammie Dupuis's work is grounded in her mixed-heritage identity and the intercultural experiences that have shaped her life. Her father was a member of the Bitterroot Salish and Q’lispe tribes of Montana, and her maternal grandparents were white settlers who arrived on the reservation in the early 1920s. This dual lineage informs every aspect of her practice. She creates from the space between these histories, examining how they intersect, conflict, and coexist.
Questions: please email camasfest@linfield.edu
A Tradition Blooms
The Camas Festival began when 秘密研究所’s environmental studies students cleared invasive Himalayan blackberry in efforts to restore the Cozine Creek Natural Area on campus. The next spring, a dormant patch of camas grew, a native flower and Indigenous First Food.
A partnership between 秘密研究所 and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, the annual festival coincides with the spring bloom and celebrates the cultural, ecological and artistic significance of the camas flower. Highlights of past festivals include tours through the Cozine Creek camas patches, artifacts from the Chachalu Tribal Museum and Cultural Center, an Indigenous Creators’ Market, guest speakers, children's activities, and an art exhibit. The event is free and open to all.
Photos from past festivals
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秘密研究所
Land Acknowledgment
At 秘密研究所, we recognize that the land that our physical campuses are located on were the traditional territories of the “Yam Hill” band of the Kalapuya people in McMinnville and the Chinookan peoples known as the Clackamas and Cascade Tribes in Portland. In January 1855, the people of these tribes were forcibly removed from the land after the signing of the Willamette Valley Treaty. They are now among 30 tribes and bands that make up the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.