By Tom Rousculp | November 06, 2019 | Reprinted from www.biketownpdx.com | Photos credit: Kari Rowe
The final BIKETOWN Culture Collection bikes are here and we’re celebrating Native American Heritage Month, which takes place during November.
The Portland area is home to a large urban Native American population with 50,000 people representing 380 different tribes, so representing our local Native American community on a single bike was no easy task. That’s why there are two Native American Heritage Month bike designs! Each design is distinctive and rich with symbolism, and together they represent the diverse tapestry of tribes in our city.
Here’s more about the designers:
Heather Ford (Seneca) is a senior administrative assistant at Nike and member of the Nike Native American Network & Friends. When creating the design, Heather looked to the history of her own tribe, and was inspired by the historic wampum belts of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
Used to commemorate significant moments in Iroquois history, the wampum belts convey messages of peace, unity and respect. The bike’s vibrant purple and contrasting white are the natural colors of the whelk and quahog clam shell used to make wampum beads.
The Hiawatha Belt on the basket front symbolizes the unification of the original five nations (Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida and Mohawk) that make up the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The bike design also includes elements inspired by the Canandaigua Treaty belt, the Six Nations Belt and the Dust Fan Belt.
“Primarily I wanted to show that the belts are beautiful art, but they are also visual reminders of the treaties that are an integral part of our nation’s history, and that we should constantly be working toward unity, peace and respect,” said Heather.
To view information on Odo Ishkiin (Shoshone-Bannock/San Carlos Apache/Blackfeet) design visit: https://www.biketownpdx.com/blog/horses-and-wampum-belts.
