| To assist with the preservation of CS & K Tribal
history, culture, customs, and art forms, The People's Center
receives collections through donations, loans, and purchases. The
People's Center tries to acquire collections that relate only to the
Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreille people here on the Flathead
Indian Reservation, although some material culture items have been
donated which relate to other tribes. Since the forming of The
People's Center in 1991, items have been acquired and are now owned
by the CS & K Tribes and housed here at The People's Center. This
collection contains materials, such as photographs and negatives,
artifacts, beaded bags, stone tools, and dance outfit items.
Another contributor to the collections housed at The People's Center
is the people, families, and organizations, which loan their
collections to the Center for educational display. Through the In
Coming Loan program, families, individuals, and organizations can
offer their collections for exhibition and provide an opportunity
for the public to obtain a greater insight to tribal life.
If you’re interested in cultural collections on exhibit, the largest
collection for viewing lies in the main exhibit room, titled "The
First Sun The Beginning", which first opened in 1994.
This 1,200 square foot exhibit provides an insight to visitors about
the Salish, Pend d'Oreille, and Kootenai tribes. Because the exhibit
stays with traditional use of oral history, visitors may be
challenged to understand the exhibit's meaning. To aide in the
interpretation of this exhibit, the Center provides scheduled
personal guided museum tours, or use of an audiocassette tape, where
a visitor can hear personal stories and tribal history. With a
personal guide, or audio cassette narrated in Kootenai, Salish, or
the English language, a visitor can walk around the small developed
room and obtain an idea for what it must have been like before, and
after, Europeans entered our country. Smaller collections, as
available, are visible throughout the year on a rotating basis in
the Center's education conference room.
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