Acknowledging
history and place.
Just prior to white settler colonialism of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the Portland Basin of the lower Columbia and Willamette valleys was one of the most densely populated areas of the North American Pacific Coast. Most of the basin, including the East Portland study area, was inhabited by Upper Chinookan speakers, including the Clackamas and Multnomah peoples, with Kalapuya-speaking Tualatins in what is now Washington County and Salish-speaking groups near St. Helens.
Outer East Portland currently sits on the traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Wasco, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Kalapuya, and many other tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River Gorge. Descendants of these tribes are a part of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
After Redistricting…
In 2021, we went through our redistricting process which occurs every decade along with the census. Our current districts begins east of I-205 and has a new southern border of SE Division Street, up to I-84/Columbia Blvd., and over to 162nd avenue. There are two small sections just inside, north and east of these boundaries included in our district.
Racial Demographics…
Our district a changing community that is home to 28% of the City of Portland population. Per the 2021 redistricting process, population and racial and ethnic demographics are as follows:
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69,944 total population
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37,828 White
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11,166 Latinx
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9,339 Asian
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7,402 Black
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1,503 American Indian/Alaskan Native
Some of the fastest growing neighborhoods in the City of Portland are in East Portland and this growth is creating a transition from a suburban and semi-rural environment to more urbanized. There are eight different neighborhood associations that are either fully or partially within the district: Parkrose Heights, Russell, Woodland Park, Hazelwood, Glenfair, Wilkes, Argay, and Centennial, and four different school districts: David Douglas, Parkrose, Centennial, and Reynolds.
The Numbers:
a short film about us, by us.
The Numbers is a short film by Sika Stanton and Donovan Smith. At seven minutes long, it highlights what makes our outer East Portland communities beautiful in spite of the intentional harm dealt to us.