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Art of Columbia River Indians gets its first real museum exhibit.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Bob Keefer The Register-Guard

PORTLAND - With all the interest in Native American art over the past generation, it may come as a surprise to hear that the art of the Columbia River people has never - until now - been the subject of a major museum exhibition.

``This area just didn't get a lot of attention,'' said Bill Mercer, curator of Native American art at the Portland Art Museum, who has been working for the past four years to rectify the oversight.

``When people did look at it, they usually said it's just derivative of the Northwest coast. Or it's derivative of the Plains Indians. Not only is this not derivative, it's absolutely distinctive.''

``People of the River,'' a new exhibition at the museum, is the result of Mercer's labors. Combing through warehouses at anthropology museums, visiting local historical societies and cajoling private collectors...

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