Bobbie Conner

Roberta “Bobbie” Conner is the Director of Tamástslikt (Tah-MAHST-slickt) Cultural Institute and works to perpetuate the knowledge and histories of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla people. Bobbie, who grew up on the Umatilla Reservation near Pendleton, spent her early career in Seattle working for the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation. After earning a Master’s of Management from Willamette University, and working for 13 years for the Small Business Administration, she returned to her Oregon home in 1997. She has been working to depict an accurate history of the tribes of the Columbia River Basin and contribute to the tribal economy ever since. In 2007, Bobbie received the Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award.

Bobbie currently serves on the Oregon Historical Society Board of Trustees, the Oregon Community Foundation and the Nixyáawii Community Financial Services Boards of Directors, and the Tamkaliks Celebration Committee. Past board service includes: Wallowa Homeland Project, Oregon Cultural Trust, Eastern Oregon University, National Museum of the American Indian, American Alliance of Museums, National Council of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial and its Circle of Tribal Advisors, and the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial in Oregon. Bobbie chairs Ecotrust’s Nominations & Governance Committee.