The grasses
of Waiilatpu still watch over the level plain between Mill
Creek and the Walla Walla River as they did when the first
Cayuse settled here
|
On
any given day, walking along the paths at Whitman Mission National
Historic Site, one can still see the rye grass waving in the breeze.
Waiilatpu has seen much change, yet the grasses still remain, a constant
in a world that changed around them. They witnessed the Cayuse surviving
for centuries on the bounty of the land; the dreams of Christianization
brought by the missionaries as they cleared the land for farming and
adobe houses; the clash of cultures that ended the mission and led
the way for more changes among the Cayuse and at Waiilatpu. Do the
grasses know that the Cayuse are survivors? That their culture didn't
die with the mission, diseases, and wars of the 19th century? That
they continue to live and remember their ancestors
who lived at the place of the rye grass? Even as the grasses wave
in the breeze oblivious to these facts, we remember and reflect on
the clash of cultures that took place here over 150 years ago; a world
apart from ours yet in some ways still very close, as we hear of similar
clashes still occurring throughout the world today. Perhaps a lesson
to be learned from the events of Waiilatpu for use in today's world
is that we may be enriched through understanding and appreciation
of cultures different than our own. Through this understanding, we
may find more similarities than differences and a repetition of the
tragic events of 1847 would not occur.
The
descendents of the Cayuse at Waiilatpu and other tribes gather
for dancing and sharing at Whitman Mission National Historic
Site for Culture Day |
Waiilatpu
is preserved today as Whitman Mission National Historic Site. In 1936,
the place of the people of the rye grass underwent perhaps its last
identity change, becoming part of the National Park Service and called
Whitman National Monument (the name was changed in 1963 to Whitman
Mission National Historic Site to better reflect the historic significance
of the site). Part of the management of the park is stated in the
1916 Organic Act that created the National Park Service: "to
conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the
wild life therein..." (Mackintosh,
1991: 19). Today, the park is managed for both its natural and
cultural resources -- the mission building foundations are preserved
underground, artifacts from the Cayuse, missionaries, and emigrants
are in humidity controlled storage, the rye grass and other grasses
are being revegetated, exotic plants are being removed, and the park
is currently undergoing a General
Management Plan, which will chart the course of the park for the
next 15 to 20 years. Working with area landowners, the National Park
Service is hoping to preserve the agricultural character of the surrounding
land that has been a part of Waiilatpu since the 1830's.
The
pond, originally dug by Marcus Whitman, now provides water for
irrigation and a quiet place to reflect on the history of Waiilatpu
|
Though
Whitman National Monument was originally set aside as a memorial to
the Whitmans, perspectives have changed over time. Today, Waiilatpu
is interpreted as "the place of the people of the rye grass"
and a village of the Cayuse, a Presbyterian mission, a way-stop on
the Oregon Trail, and the location of a clash of cultures. The National
Park Service, keepers of treasures throughout the United States, has
kept watch and preserved not only the site of Waiilatpu, but the stories,
memories, and emotions of the Cayuse, the missionaries, and the countless
emigrants that found respite, however briefly, among the grasses.
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