The museum also has a second hall for temporary exhibitions of specific types of Native American art, craftwork, history, and folklore related to the tribes.

The widely celebrated Oregon Trail sesquicentennial in 1993[1] served as a platform for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation to present their vision for the future, and convey their interpretation of the past.

Antone Minthorn, the chairman of the General Council for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, spoke to those on the Wagon Train and the gathered crowd.

[6]Minthorn’s symbolic protest called for “nation-wide support” in presenting “a different perspective of Manifest Destiny.”[6] In December 1993, the plans for the circular interpretive center were unveiled.

[8] In May 1994, Representative Bob Smith endorsed the interpretive center, and testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior “in support of a $2 million request for the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center on the Umatilla Indian Reservation.”[9] Community support efforts continued, and on September 14, 1994, the East Oregonian printed a full page description of the Tamustalik Cultural Institute, which included sketches and contribution information.

[10] The same month, a “$6.5 million loan guarantee by the Bureau of Indian Affairs” provided the financial backing the Tribes needed to move forward on construction.

As reported by the Confederated Umatilla Journal, the ceremony “was performed by Tribal elders and students from the Tribes’ Head Start Preschool Program.

The girls broke ground with miniature root diggers, made especially for the occasion.”[12] The building site was later prepared by the Oregon National Guard.

[18] Additional on-site facilities include archive vaults, the Research Library, the Museum Store, the Kinship Café, and designated meeting areas.

[20] The exhibits include “interactive multi-media presentations, horse dioramas, plus replicas of a boarding school and a church.”[13] “We Are” displays tribal people “as soldiers and warriors, players in tribal government and the economy, leaders in salmon recovery success, balancing the modern with tradition, and still abiding by the Law of the Salmon.”[20] “We Will Be” displays the future “visions, hopes and concerns” of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

[23] In conjunction with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute is contributing to efforts to rename Oregon places containing the word “squaw” with indigenous names.

[32] In 2005, the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute “entered into reciprocal membership agreements”[33] with the Oregon Historical Society and Washington State Historical Society, which extends “free admission to their museums for members of any one of the respective institutions.”[33] This agreement was made in honor of the Lewis and Clark bicentennial and Walla Walla Treaty Council sesquicentennial.