Excursions

2023 Excursions 

Registration for excursions must occur during Advanced Registration, which closes on March 1. If a guest is accompanying a registered attendee on an excursion, the guest must be registered (as a guest) and must also purchase an excursion ticket. Attendees may be accompanied only by adult guests on the excursions. In order for an excursion to go forward, the event must meet its minimum number of registrants to finance the trip. See details below for signing up and remember to do this by March 1.

All participants in SAA excursions will be required to sign a release of claims prior to boarding the bus. No participant will be able to board without a completed release of claims form. The forms will be in your registration packet as well as available from staff at the time you board. A sample form is included here for your information.

If the workshop or excursion takes place, fees are non-refundable. In the event SAA cancels a workshop or excursion from undersubscription, the SAA office will refund the money in the same form of payment it was received (such as a credit card payment will be refunded with a credit back to the account); processing fees will not be charged.

Wednesday, March 29

Willamette Valley Archaeology and the Chachalu Museum and Cultural Center at Grand Ronde- SOLD OUT

9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.; 25 attendees; $70 per person

Regional archaeologists and Tribal professionals will host a bus excursion to the Grand Ronde Tribes’ Chachalu Museum and Cultural Center (https://www.grandronde.org/history-culture/culture/chachalu-museum-and-cultural-center/) located at the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Reservation located about an hour southwest of Portland. Chachalu shares the story of the Tribes and honors the Elders who kept Tribal traditions alive during the years of Termination. On the way to Chachalu, Tribal professionals and archaeologists will provide a synopsis of key aspects of the history and archaeology of the region, stopping at Champoeg State Park and Heritage Area, site of the first Euroamerican provisional government in 1843, to review results from recent archaeological field investigations and the ongoing effort to restore oak savanna habitat through partnerships between Oregon State Parks and the Confederated Tribes. The Grand Ronde will host a lunch at the cultural center before returning to Portland.

Thursday, March 30

Tribes, Archaeology, and Resource Management in the Columbia River Gorge-SOLD OUT

8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.; 40 minimum, 50 maximum; $100 per person

This field trip will take you on a journey through the spectacular Columbia River Gorge, a 130 km long corridor east of Portland, where the river cuts through the Cascade Mountain Range. We will introduce you to the complex and rich cultural and natural history of the region, making 4–5 stops on both the Oregon and Washington sides of the river, including the Cascade Rapids, Mosier Mounds, Celilo Falls, and Columbia Hills State Park. Tribal experts and archaeologists will relate their perspectives at each place, enabling attendees to gain an understanding of place and heritage that emerges when we consider multiple viewpoints. A key goal of the trip is to convey that archaeological sites (villages, fishing and gathering areas, petroglyphs and pictographs) are direct links between living Indigenous people and their Tribal ancestors and that Tribes continue to fish and gather plant foods here, occupying the same landscapes that their ancestors did. The Gorge trip also offers an opportunity to review innovative approaches to cultural resources management initiated and led by Tribes, such as the Wana Pa Koot Koot working group, and also to consider the challenges in negotiating “green energy” projects designed to mitigate climate change impacts, most of which are occurring on lands important to Tribes.

Friday, March 31  

Portland Chinatown Tour SOLD OUT

1:00 p.m. without lunch or 11:30 a.m. with lunch–4:00 p.m.; 20 minimum, 30 maximum; $25 per person

The Oregon Chinese Diaspora Project, Portland Chinatown Museum, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA), and Historical Research Associates Inc. (HRA) will host a tour of New Chinatown that will showcase urban archaeological sites, cultural heritage, and community museums associated with nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Chinese life in Portland. A walking tour will take attendees on a loop from the CCBA to see their incredible building and collection with an introduction by CCBA president Neil Lee, through the neighborhood’s archaeological and cultural heritage sites to the China Gate and back to Portland Chinatown Museum for a tour with artist Shu-Ju Wang and a tasting menu of foods (prepared by Taiji Teahouse) that were part of Chinese cuisine in historic Portland. In addition to the walking tour, participants have the option of having lunch at a restaurant in Chinatown before the tour begins.

Saturday, April 1

Decolonizing Fort Vancouver SOLD OUT

9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.; 25 minimum, 30 maximum; $52 per person

This tour by regional archaeologists and partners will visit the National Park Service’s Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, which was an Indigenous-maintained prairie and landscape adjacent to the Columbia River, a mid-nineteenth-century headquarters and supply depot for the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Fort Vancouver, and the nineteenth- and twentieth-century Vancouver Barracks representing the first permanent US Army fort in the Pacific Northwest. The tour will begin on the Columbia River waterfront and proceed across the Confluence Project Land Bridge, a 40-foot-wide, earth-covered pedestrian bridge, adorned with native plantings, that arches over state Highway 14 and reconnects the land to the river. Then we will visit the multicultural village, Fort Vancouver, and the park visitor center and bookstore. During the tour we will discuss the early history of diversity in the Pacific Northwest and decolonize the traditional narratives to address survival of Indigenous populations and landscapes through anthropological, archaeological, and Indigenous perspectives.

"Keep Portland Beered" Pub Crawl SOLD OUT

6:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.; 25 attendees; $50 per person

“Keep Portland Weird” is a local mantra, but many think “Keep Portland Beered” is just as appropriate. The city is known for lots of things: beautiful scenery, interesting art, and importantly, beer. This year at the SAA meeting we are offering a fun field trip “pub crawl” that will help you make connections with other attendees, explore our incredible city, and taste some world-class brews. Our plan is to walk to one pub near the Oregon Convention Center, then take the Portland Streetcar to two pubs in the “Pearl District,” just across the Willamette River, spending about an hour at each pub. Besides enjoying the beer, we’ll arrange to have dinner/snacks at one or more of the pubs too. We anticipate about a 3-mile walk overall. The total cost for this evening is $50, which includes 4 beers and or/flights and food, which will encompass omnivorous, vegan, gluten-free, and vegetarian preferences. This will be an excellent way to make new friends while sharing some of our special microbrews, the quintessential Portland experience.