HELLo NEIGHBOR

A COLLABORATIVE STORYSHARING PROJECT WITH THE COMMUNITY OF WALLOWA COUNTY, OR

An elderly man and woman standing outdoors, smiling, with a blue spruce tree and a building in the background.

A smiling couple standing outdoors in a wooded area with autumn trees and a rocky stream in the background.

A woman wearing a yellow sweater and a man wearing glasses and a light green shirt stand outdoors with trees showing fall foliage in the background.

Living in Wallowa County is a varied, complex and changing experience. How can we find new ways to meet our neighbors and build understanding across our different experiences and cultures? One way is through sharing stories.

Listening to other people’s stories helps us see life in our community through their eyes. Ask what it means to live in Wallowa County, and you will hear many different voices and perspectives: It is where people live and work, explore adventure, and celebrate beauty. Where they are raising a family, and where they are growing old. Where they see opportunity, and where they struggle to meet their needs. It is where people feel accepted and find connection, and where they feel alone and misunderstood. The Hello Neighbor exhibit brings these stories together to explore what it means to live in Wallowa County.

— Dionne Vali

Baking connects me to my grandmother. She was a large part of my life growing up. She lived in our household, and out of all the girls I would be the one who would hang out with my grandma and do the holiday baking. Cooking and baking were always a large part of our conversations and I feel like I connect with her in that way.

— Kiyomi Oliver

As one of only two Japanese people here, and maybe because I am Japanese, I tried not to stand out. I tried to be the same as the other people in Wallowa County. But then I was invited to share Japanese culture, to do a tea ceremony, share origami, and to teach the Japanese language. Those are the moments I felt big connections with my ancestry and when I also felt that I was really accepted here.

— Zuly Freeborn

I wish there was more diversity. No matter what your opinion is, your beliefs, your thoughts, just being kind to one another as a neighbor, as neighbors should be, is something that I would really like to see. The good people we have met have been a great inspiration. Our neighbors are so full of positive energy and that is an inspiration on its own. You just can’t help but want more of that.

— Mac Freeborn

Getting through two years of work here has given me hope, that we could stay here, that we could make a life here, that we could contribute. Part of that hope is our business that we are building from the ground up. It’s our next venture, that next step in our lives and what we’ve been talking about for a long time.

— Francis Buckles

My husband had a stroke and was receiving care in Washington. We were finally coming home and I had no food in the house. Friends who were mostly older had been asking what they could do and I called one and said we are going to need dinner tonight. After we got home, one of our friends showed up and opened the trunk of her car and brought out a feast. With leftovers and everything, that food was good for four days and that saved me.

— Joe McCormack

My father was Nez Perce. My mother was Scotch-Irish. This is Nez Perce land and there is not a day that I forget that. I’m a Vietnam veteran. I served in the Marine Corps and I think my life has come around to a landing after that terrible time and the legacy of it and the way it met my life. I feel at home here and I continue to try to thrive and build relationships that mean something to this community, as well as to tribal people, not only from the Nez Perce Reservation, but from Umatilla and the Joseph Band Nez Perce at Colville, and establish a place for all the Nez Perce people to come and have a reunion amongst everyone.

— John Hillock

We moved here from California in 1969 and I felt like an outsider for a long time, because of the culture of the community. A lot of people wouldn’t use our firm because we hadn’t been here for 50 years. Being here, running a good business, being a service to the people, I’ve always made myself available and finally after many years people accepted us. It was more of a struggle than you might have thought. Giving back to the community is important to me. What touches me the most, is when people are willing to chip in when somebody else is in need.

— Kate Forster

I love helping out, like at Tamkaliks, the Nez Perce Homeland celebration, being with community that feels accepting of all people, and everyone coming together. The sacred thing for me is the events that happen here in the community, the programs that bring culture, music and people together.

— Bob Crawford

I guess the last time I backpacked was when I was 75. I used to do a lot of backpacking. Just being in the mountains gave me hope. Seeing the mountains gives me hope.

— Michael Vali

When Dionne and I first moved here in 2005, I had not been back into the County for over ten years. How welcoming the community was and meeting my new wife, a woman of color and how they received her, that was my version of hope in this County.

ABOUT THE EXHIBIT

Set to kick off with a crowd-friendly activity at the 2020 Woodlands and Watersheds Festival, Hello Neighbor’s inaugural event was delayed when the festival was canceled due to COVID-19. Facing an ongoing pandemic that kept our community at a distance, we had to find other ways to bring people’s stories together. In 2021, Executive Director, Gwen Trice, began recording individual sessions with community members, collecting voices and photographs of people telling stories of trying to find their place in Wallowa County. The recordings include stories from those who felt like outsiders and faced challenges to become accepted because of the culture of the community. A story from a neighbor who found a safe landing place after a legacy and terror of war, and another who discovered generosity and sacredness through the simple invitation to share a meal in someone’s home.

Images and recordings in the Hello Neighbor exhibit will open in 2022, both online and in person. We invite all community members to visit the MHIC booth to get acquainted with their neighbors, and have the opportunity to tell a part of their own story in writing or via audio recording.

People attending an outdoor event under blue tents on a grassy area, with informational banners and tables set up, and a wooden stage in the background under a blue sky with some clouds.

SHARE YOUR STORY

Are you a Wallowa County neighbor? We would love to hear your story. Please contact us and tell us a little about yourself. We’ll get in touch with you.

Two people working with professional camera equipment in a snowy, open field with a forest horizon under a cloudy sky.

Support for Phase 1 was provided in part by Oregon Humanities, a statewide nonprofit organization and an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which funds Oregon Humanities’ grant program.

Black and white photo of a group of children standing outside a wooden building. Three children are on a raised platform, and six children are standing on the ground in front. The children are dressed in casual clothing.

GET INVOLVED

We are always looking for opportunities to collaborate with other groups as we continue to find ways to share the Hello Neighbor exhibit, and to encourage more voices, experiences and communities to become part of the project. Have an idea? Contact us.