INCHELIUM CULTURAL RESEARCH CENTER

An Indigenous cultural research center is readying to open in the town of Inchelium, Washington, located on the banks of the Columbia River at the eastern edge of the Colville Reservation. In 2013, tribal member Kaye Perkins Hale coordinated with Nancy Michel to store, oversee, protect, and share Kaye’s decades-long research and archive—including books, files, notebooks, genealogies, and oral and written histories about her people and tribe. Despite setbacks and hardships spurred by the global pandemic and regional wildfires, a board of directors was assembled to fulfill the requirements necessary to gain status as a non-profit research center. The Inchelium Cultural Research Center (ICRC) is a community-based library located on a federally recognized reservation. ICRC is not an enterprise, subsidiary, or representative of the tribe, rather serves the tribal community of Inchelium as an independent, state incorporated, tribal member-led 501(c)(3). ICRC is preparing to open its doors to share and connect historical resources and cultural knowledge with the Inchelium community and the general public. 

To read the article about the Inchelium Cultural Research Center featured in JONA 56(2), click the button below.