Cashmere Museum and Pioneer Village

Mar 11th, 2023

On Saturday 11 September 2021, I visited the Cashmere Museum and Pioneer Village as a solo female traveler. The front desk worker was a bit brusque in their interactions, however there were a few of us entering at once, so it might have just been a bit overwhelming for them. As someone on a budget, the price was a little on the high side, however nothing exorbitant.The exhibits were easy to navigate and good use was made of the available space. Artifacts were meticulously laid out both inside the main museum and in the pioneer village. The Great Northern Railway car was open to exploration, which was very neat. The whole pioneer village was well maintained and a great way to get some context for what life in Cashmere was like in the past.I noted a few bloopers on my visit, one concerning geology and one concerning currency. Some people I know love bloopers, in Hollywood they are something that might go wrong in constructing/putting together a movie and are visible in the final product, and they feel it can add to the overall experience. However, I am not currently the biggest fan of bloopers, though I used to enjoy them more, perhaps I am just a bit rusty on their enjoyment value.
Dec 1st, 2022

Oct 15th, 2022

Visited on Weekday Wait time No wait Reservation recommended No Price for adult entry $610 More
Oct 9th, 2022

If they had involved tribes or had any Tribal member's products for sale, I'd recommend this museum. As is, it is a horrific and inexcusable exploitation of the Native Peoples of this area. It should be shut down and donated back to tribes in the area. Or at the very least, it should be free for tribal members to enter, including to see the items not on display from these collections. The only discount they offer is for aaa members. Before entering we asked if they supported tribal small businesses and arts, but they only had white authors and products for sale. They had the lobby decorated with dream catchers, playing native music, these are purely discretion. The worker then told us about a local artist who liked to paint "cowboy and indian" and western iconography for Hollywood, and recommended we buy that. The artist was white and depictions were fairly stereotypical if not offensive given the context. Far worse, the worker there claimed the items were acquired from private collections, and then explained how it was mostly one collector's, who had traded with native people for goods. This is a lie. She seemed to think they had been good to the local natives. There were many sacred items they would never have traded, such as a stone thrown, that the museum claims was probably was for religious ceremonies. It was here due to the flooding of its original site for the local dam. There is zero interest in returning these items to the original tribes, despite them having cultural centers as well. The one good thing was they had done a decent job of attributing some of the original basket weavers. The geologic museum and pioneer village were well done, and similiar to other ones I've been to. It was insightful. If you want to honor native Americans, dont go here. If you want an insight into the communities of Eastern Otegon and their distortion of reality, then this is the perfect place. Do better.
Oct 10th, 2022