| Iwetemlaykin State Heritage Site |
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| Local, federal and tribal dignitaries gathered on a brisk fall morning for the park opening ceremony. |
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| Governor Ted Kulongoski and First Lady Mary Oberst tour the park with OPRD Northeast District Manager Jim Hutton. Joseph City Councilor Mark Lacey is in the background. |
Oregon’s newest state park opened beneath the spectacular backdrop of the Wallowa Mountains. More than 150 people attended the Oct. 10 grand opening for Iwetemlaykin State Heritage Site, the sixth addition to Governor Ted Kulongoski’s park-a-year program. The new day-use park lies one mile north of Wallowa Lake on the south end of Joseph The site’s main entrance is off Oregon Highway 351.
Iwetemlaykin (pronounced “ee-weh-TEMM-lye-kinn”) is Nez Perce for “at the edge of the lake.” The 62-acre site was once part of the homeland for the Nimíipuu (Nez Perce) Indians and lies in an area recognized as the starting point of the Nee-Me-Poo National Historic Trail. The trail commemorates the famed Nez Perce retreat led by Young Chief Joseph from Wallowa Lake to Montana in 1877.
“This is a land with a soul—a special spiritual connection with the native peoples who used it and to everyone who has experienced its scenic beauty afterwards,” said Tim Wood, director of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. “We can take pride in opening a park that preserves a landscape of such scenic and historic value.”
A Nez Perce National Historical Park, site of the Old Chief Joseph Gravesite and Cemetery, borders Iwetemlaykin to the south. “The two sites complement each other,” Wood added. “Together, they tell the whole story about why this land is so important.”
The people of the Nez Perce Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation consider the land in the park and the surrounding area sacred. The opening ceremony included traditional Native American blessings by the tribes.
OPRD Northeast District Manager Jim Hutton led Governor Kulongoski on a tour of the site following the dedication. Short hiking paths lead to a small pond, known as Knight’s Pond, and follow a tree-lined waterway that serves as an irrigation ditch. A stretch of the Wallowa River flows along the south boundary of the park.
Visit the park web page for more information and to view the park brochure.
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