• Along the Columbia River: Maya Lin and the Confluence Project
  • Cape Disappointment
  • Vancouver Land Bridge
  • Sandy River Delta
  • Celilo Falls
  • Sacajawea State Park
  • Chief Timothy Park
  • Confluence in the Classroom
  • Exhibition opening hours
  • Events
  • Film by Audrey Mace: Maya Lin's Confluence Project
  • Podcast: a River Speaks
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Along the Columbia: Maya Lin and the Confluence Project

  • Along the Columbia River: Maya Lin and the Confluence Project
  • Cape Disappointment
  • Vancouver Land Bridge
  • Sandy River Delta
  • Celilo Falls
  • Sacajawea State Park
  • Chief Timothy Park
  • Confluence in the Classroom
  • Exhibition opening hours
  • Events
  • Film by Audrey Mace: Maya Lin's Confluence Project
  • Podcast: a River Speaks
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Confluence Aerial photo of the land bridge after completion. Date unknown. Confluence project website. https://www.confluenceproject.org/river-site/vancouver-land-bridge/. Accessed July 2020.

Confluence Aerial photo of the land bridge after completion. Date unknown. Confluence project website. https://www.confluenceproject.org/river-site/vancouver-land-bridge/. Accessed July 2020.


The land bridge in Vancouver, Washington, dedicated in August 2008, marks a place where European and Indigenous cultures converged along the Columbia River. The 40-foot-wide pedestrian bridge arches over State Route 14, reconnecting the historic Fort Vancouver with the Klickitat trail. Once a gathering place and trading destination for Native peoples, Fort Vancouver continues to illustrate the complex confluence of cultures. Maya Lin worked with Cherokee-Choctaw architect John-Paul Jones to design the bridge. The Welcome Gate at the southern entrance of the site, designed by Native artist Lillian Pitt, is framed with two cedar canoe panels embellished with a cast-glass sculpture of a Chinook woman’s face. Indigenous plants of the region are placed along the land bridge, including grassland, white oak, chokecherry shrubs, dry prairie, nootka rose, and many more. Also included are metal Spirit Baskets with regional imagery and three significant overlooks detailed with descriptions in nine Indigenous languages. The art tells the story of the site’s significance to Native culture, bringing Native voices to the surface for the celebration of shared histories. The Vancouver installation provides an opportunity for visitors to be guided by their connection to the land, giving them a sense of the land they occupy. 


Flyer for the Land Bridge dedication on November 16, 2007. It specifies that the event is free to the public, but also suggests donating to the Confluence Project online [reproduction]. Whitman College Northwest Archives, Confluence Project Records, Box 4, Folder 38

Flyer for the Land Bridge dedication on November 16, 2007. It specifies that the event is free to the public, but also suggests donating to the Confluence Project online [reproduction]. Whitman College Northwest Archives, Confluence Project Records, Box 4, Folder 38


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National Parks Service US Department of the Interior and Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Land Bridge: Sneak Preview, Fall 2007. Whitman College Northwest Archives, Confluence Project Records, Box 4, Folder 38.

National Parks Service US Department of the Interior and Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Land Bridge: Sneak Preview, Fall 2007. Whitman College Northwest Archives, Confluence Project Records, Box 4, Folder 38.