Dalles and Oregon City combined,” all of which received federal funding. Minthorn’s speech focused on the importance of the proposed interpretive center to the Tribes and surrounding area: Our vision was to create an interpretive center, telling the Tribes’ story to visitors from all over the world. This vision calls for not only exhibits, but also for an on-going center of learning and research for Indians and non-Indians for all time ... It is difficult to overstate the importance of this project to both the Tribe and this region as a whole. The Umatilla Tribes currently are attempting to deal with an unemployment rate of 28 per cent, and an average annual income of $8,000. Minthorn’s symbolic protest called for “nation-wide support” in presenting “a different perspective of Manifest Destiny.” In December 1993, the plans for the circular interpretive center were unveiled. Created by exhibit designer Jean Jacques Andre, the permanent exhibit planned to “focus on the Tribes before the white man’s arrival, the current reservation and the tribe’s vision for the future,” and include a section on the Oregon Trail “and its impacts on the tribal way of life.” The original funding strategy evolved to include private funding, and the Tribes used illustrated plans for the interpretive center to increase support. In May 1994, Representative Bob Smith endorsed the interpretive center, and testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior “in support of a $2 million request for the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center on the Umatilla Indian Reservation.” Community support efforts continued, and on September 14, 1994, the East Oregonian printed a full page description of the Tamustalik Cultural Institute, which included sketches and contribution information. The same month, a “$6.5 million loan guarantee by the Bureau of Indian Affairs” provided the financial backing the Tribes needed to move forward on construction. On June 9, 1995, a ground-breaking ceremony was held for the Tamustalik Cultural Institute, which was attended by over 300 people. As reported by the Confederated Umatilla Journal, the ceremony “was performed by Tribal elders and students from the Tribes’ Head Start Preschool Program. Special drums were made for the boys, who were led in a song by Jay Minthorn. The girls broke ground with miniature root diggers, made especially for the occasion.” The building site was later prepared by the Oregon National Guard. Roberta Conner was announced as the first director of Tamástslikt Cultural Institute in