Since Time Immemorial Chinookan women have tended to wapato, camas, and other plants that indigenous peoples have depended on for food, medicine, and trade. For the people of Cathlapotle tending to plant relatives have always relied on the women in their community. This Mother’s Day, bring mom out to the Cathlapotle Plankhouse and connect to plants important to Chinookan Peoples and to learn about edible and medicinal plants within your own neighborhoods. Join us for herbal teas and salves, nature walks, Plankhouse tours, kid's activities, and more!
Event Highlights:
1:00 pm: Tending the Wild Walk
Join us for a mother/daughter led walk on the Oaks to Wetland Trail to learn some of the ways the women of Cathlapotle tended to their plant relatives and cared for their environment.
2:00 pm: Family Nature Walk
Enjoy a walk with one of our naturalists to learn about the plants and animals that call the Refuge home.
3:00 pm: Soothing Herbal Salve Demonstration
Learn a few common plants that can be used to make an herbal salve for soothing cuts, scrapes, and dry skin.
12:00 pm - 4:00 pm: Plankhouse Tours and Children’s Activities
Throughout the event we will have docents on hand for tours of the Plankhouse and children’s activities.
12:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Wild Tea Samples (while supplies last.)
Sample teas made with native and non-native plants such as blackberry leaf, dandelion root, Douglas fir, and more.
Cost: No cost for the event. However, standard Refuge admission is $3 per vehicle applies.
The Cathlapotle Plankhouse is located at the Carty Unit of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. Many get the location confused with the River S Unit at the Refuge (where the auto tour route is located.). The two Units are not connected by public roads and must be accessed by their separate entrances. To get to the Carty Unit, please use the address provided (28908 N. Main Ave., Ridgefield, WA 98642) not the location that Google maps automatically suggests.