Native American Nine Flags Project
An effort to increase recognition and representation of Native Americans on campus by raising the nine flags of all federally recognized tribes in Oregon at the University of Oregon.
By Breanne Schnell
Soaring above the center of campus are nine new flags – every flag is different, embedding the individual culture and history of each Native American tribe in Oregon. On the Klamath Tribes’ flag, images such as deer, waterfowl and rushes can be seen, representing their connection to the wildlife and natural surroundings. Another flag has a salmon and mountain, demonstrating the culture and geography of the Siletz tribes.
“The symbols themselves were made by the tribes, they weren’t handed to the tribes,” said Director of Native American Initiatives and Steward of the Many Nations Longhouse Gordon Bettles.
The Nine Flags Project was a two and a half year cross cultural collaboration that started as a business class project, and resulted in the nine flags of each sovereign nation in Oregon to be placed in the EMU amphitheater. Although one student’s passion brought action to the vision, the project addressed sentiments felt by many about the lack of representation and acknowledgement of Native Americans on campus.
It all started in a Business Leadership and Communications class. The assignment was to create a proposal on what the Associated Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO) should do with their excess money to enhance culture on campus.
“I had the idea to enhance Native American culture on campus because of my upbringing in Alaska,” said Founder Lead Project Manager Orion Falvey.
Falvey, a Caucasian, grew up in the small town of Haines, Alaska, surrounded by Native Alaskan culture. In 7th grade he attended a Native Alaskan school where his mother taught. As he was integrated into Tlingit culture through elders’ visits and stories, traditional dancing and his participation in Native Alaskan basketball tournaments, his appreciation and respect for Native American culture grew.
“I was always around it,” Falvey said. “It was so amazing to be surrounded by that much culture.”
Then he came to the University of Oregon and saw that there was minimal representation or recognition of the Native American population.
“I didn’t see it on campus,” Falvey said, citing the absence of any visible Native American culture at the university.
Enthused about enhancing Native American culture on campus, Falvey and his group met with campus Native leader Gordon Bettles to discuss what could be done to create a stronger Native American presence on campus.
Inspired by the flag project in Salem that recognized all nine sovereign tribes in Oregon, Bettles thought it could be a doable project that would bring recognition to all nine tribes at the university.
With Falvey as the project leader and Bettles as the advisor, the group began planning their proposal.
“I loved it because it was so different,” said Professor of the Business Leadership and Communications class Ron Bramhall.
However after some research, they discovered that the project was too expensive and needed additional funding from ASUO. The group began lobbying in order to gain support that could help them request extra finances.
They received unanimous support from groups such as the Native American Student Union, the Native American Law School Student Association and the Native American Advisory Council comprised of the Tribal Chairmen for Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes.
Then Bettles contacted all nine tribes and tried to gain support from the sovereign nations. After this, Falvey went to the Commission of Indian Services in Salem and earned unanimous state support.
It was only after all of these groups’ support that ASUO approved the project and gave them a beginning budget of $23,000.
And this was only step one.
The details of each task became complicated and daunting as the project progressed. Group members became frustrated with the hoops that had to be jumped as they faced their individual struggles.
One of Falvey’s biggest challenges was to convince everyone that the flags should be placed in the center of campus.
“If the flags would have gone over by the Longhouse, it would have been great because a lot of Native American students hang out there,” he said. “But for the other 20,000 visitors to campus every day, they wouldn’t know about it. They wouldn’t learn about the local people and the cultures.
By the time graduation came along in the spring of 2013, the project had maneuvered through most of the legal challenges, but still wasn’t funded. Bettles was concerned about the timeline and what would happen after the project lead students graduated.
“I never did ask the students to keep on working on the project after they graduated, they did that on their own,” Bettles said.
Falvey’s motivation to keep working on the project stemmed from his passion to make a difference. He knew he could continue the project because he was remaining in the area cofounding a nearby healthcare company that served as a rural health clinic to those without access to primary care. He was not about to abandon all their hard work.
“I wanted to see it through to the end,” Falvey said.
After about a year and a half, the project was finally presented to the Campus Planning Committee through the testimonials of Native American students, and tribal faculty and staff.
The university officially approved the project, but the largest hurdle had to be jumped: fundraising for the project without breaking campus policy.
“We were in a catch-22 because we could not start fundraising unless we had two-thirds of the money in hand,” Bettles said. “But we couldn’t fundraise to raise that two-thirds unless we had permission from the Campus Planning Committee.”
The group received that permission in January 2014. In the four following months the group raised $83,000.
Finally, after two years and nine months of work, the flags were raised in a ceremony on Oct. 2nd marking the first university in the Pac 12 to have all nine sovereign nations’ flags recognized on campus.
For one of the few times, members of all nine nations gathered in the same location. Although the project brought them together, the tribes recognized each nation’s individuality by separately raising their flags.
Hand-over-hand, leaders and members of each tribe raised their flags, one at a time, going around the circle of flags that coincided with their geographical location in Oregon. Two Native American women cried softly in the audience watching the spectacle, as others had tears in their eyes.
Falvey proudly watched over the completion of their project.
“They are their own nations and their flags belong right next to the U.S. flag,” he said.
Bettles said that the flags symbolize to their ancestors that Native Americans are still here.
“We wanted to honor those who came through the doors of the University of Oregon but weren’t recognized,” Bettles said. “We are here and we are always going to be here. It’s our promise to the future for other students.”