Tamástslikt Cultural Institute Receives $10K Library Grant

MISSION – The Tamástslikt Cultural Institute (TCI) has received a $10,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to help buy materials to maintain its core historical collections.

Collections & Research Manager Malissa Minthorn Winks said TCI received a 2024-25 IMLS Native American Library Services Basic Grant to purchase collection materials and archival supplies to sustain core collections that support documenting and preserving the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation’s (CTUIR) history.

“It will buy out-of-print books, preservation sleeves for books, photographs and archival material, archival boxes for sound and film recordings, manuscripts and memorabilia,” she said. “Preservation encompasses the activities that prolong the usable life of archival materials. Preservation activities are designed to minimize the physical and chemical deterioration and to prevent the loss of content.”

TCI’s core collections consist of materials documenting the history and culture of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla people, including books, photos, sound and film recordings, manuscripts and newspapers.

The grant will also send staff to a national conference for development. “With this financial support, we can send staff to training specific to tribal libraries, archives and museums that staff would not otherwise receive in rural eastern Oregon,” Minthorn Winks said. “This will help develop skills that will assist employees in staying up to date with practices in this field and advance in their jobs.”

For 2024-25, 140 Basic Grants totaling more than $1.5 million have been awarded. The program aims to improve services for learning and accessing information to support needs for education, workforce development, economic and business development, health information, critical thinking skills, digital literacy skills, financial literacy and other types of literacy skills.

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is comprised of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla Tribes, and formed under the Treaty of 1855 at the Walla Walla Valley, 12 Stat. 945. In 1949, the Tribes adopted a constitutional form of government to protect, preserve and enhance the reserved treaty rights guaranteed under federal law.