Oregon Historical Quarterly articles from December 2007

Oregon Historical Quarterly archives from December 2007

Editor's note.(Editorial)
December 22, 2007... WITHOUT THE INPUT of Native voices, this special issue would not be a meaningful documentation of Celilo Falls, and the guest editors and I thank all of the contributors who have helped keep the memory of Celilo alive by generously sharing...

From Coyote to the Corps of Engineers: recalling the history of The Dalles-Celilo Reach.(Dalles Dam)
December 22, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AN EAGLE FEATHER IN HIS outstretched hand, Chief Olsen Meanus, Jr., waited for the canoes to land as their oarsmen and women coursed through the quiet waters of Lake Celilo on the Columbia River. The water barely...

Celilo Falls: at the center of western history.
December 22, 2007... IN THE LATE 1980s, I began writing a book on the lands and waters of the American West. It was basically a history, a recounting of the actions and ideas that have driven the relationships between the United States government and the landscape...

Coyote frees the salmon.(OREGON VOICES)
December 22, 2007... Fishing on the Columbia River was a sacred endeavor for thousands of tears, caught up in the sacred stories of all the River People. Below is a well-known story about how Coyote once, in mythic times, foiled a dastardly plot to hoard all the...

"Boils swell & whorl pools": the historical landscape of The Dalles-Celilo reach of the Columbia River.
December 22, 2007... "THE POPULATION ON THE BANKS of the Columbia River," wrote Hudson's Bay Company Governor George Simpson in the winter of 1824-1825, "is much greater than in any other part of North America that I have visited... it may be said that the shores...

Celilo Blues.(Poem)
December 22, 2007... Celilo Blues he came automaton-atomic-government-man with briefcase in hand wire rimmed glasses that hung from his nose his whining voice came out in a never ending drone promising ...

Closing the gates on The Dalles Dam: most regional papers covered the March 10, 1957, closing of The Dalles Dam gates and inundation of Celilo Falls. The following accounts express the belief in scientific management and the loss of a wild river that many Oregonians felt on that day.
December 22, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Familiar landmarks and points of historic interest in the Columbia gorge, including Celilo Falls, will quietly yield to the rising water of The Dalles dam pool east of here Sunday before the eyes of perhaps thousands...

The Dalles dam.(OREGON PLACES)
December 22, 2007... SITTING ASTRIDE THE COLUMBIA RIVER on the eastern approach to the city of The Dalles, the massive, L-shaped concrete structure presents an imposing presence on the landscape. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction in February 1952...

The meaning of falling water: Celilo Falls and The Dalles in historical literature.
December 22, 2007... NO PLACE STANDS STILL IN MEANING. Human experiences, perceptions, and purposes attached to geographical locations change over time and alter the ways places relate to the lives of individuals and communities. Our connection to place is...

Childhood memories of fishing at Celilo Falls.(Essay)
December 22, 2007... MY LIFE HAS BEEN FILLED with pleasant memories of hunting and fishing with my father and brothers, which I can first remember doing as a boy of four or five years of age. All my brothers are older than I am--Albert, Alex, Jr., Alfred, and...

The Long Narrows: the forgotten geographic and cultural wonder.(Dalles Dam)
December 22, 2007... FOR MORE THAN 12,000 YEARS, the Columbia River People lived along the Wauna (Columbia River). Wauna is the Columbia River People's name for the river and is more than a name; it is a living entity. It can be compared to an honored Elder who has...

Celilo lives on paper.
December 22, 2007... IN ABOUT 1935, DURING MY early childhood days, a scene like the following was perceived. On entering my grandmother's old, three-room house, the first thing detected was the distinct fragrance of dried salmon heads and eels hanging in gunny...

Sk'in: the other side of the river.
December 22, 2007... IF MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC know anything about Columbia River Indian life, they most likely have heard of Celilo Falls--the crossroads of the Columbia Plateau at the greatest Indian fishery on the continent--and of Celilo Village, which sits on...

Relic hunting, archaeology, and loss of native American heritage at The Dalles.
December 22, 2007... Excavation of Wake Map mound will be resumed this summer by university students who will find their excavation of last year sadly addled by pot hunters disclaimed by the Oregon Archaeological Society... most of the area around it [the mound]...

Wakanish Naknoowee Thluma: 'Keepers of the Salmon'.(Dalles Dam)
December 22, 2007... THE NATIVE RIVER PEOPLE of the N'Chi Wana or Columbia River tell a story about the creation of humans. The Creator sent Coyote down from the top of the mountains to the river to ask the animals of the world for gifts in the creation of humans....

Elsie David.(OREGON VOICES)(Interview)
December 22, 2007... Elsie David is enrolled with the Yakama Nation and has lived near Goldendale, Washington, her entire life. Her grandparents, parents, and older sisters taught her how to gather and preserve traditional foods, activities she continues to the...

Celilo (Wyam) root feast and salmon 2005.(OREGON VOICES)(Excerpt)
December 22, 2007... LOSS OF WYAM caused pervasive sadness, even in celebratory events. The old Longhouse is gone. The Wyam, or Celilo Falls, are gone. Still courage, wisdom, strength and belief bring us together each season to speak to all directions the ancient...

Jeff Van Pelt.(OREGON VOICES)(Interview)
December 22, 2007... Jeff Van Pelt, of Umatilla descent, worked in Cultural Resources in the Department of Natural Resources at the time of this interview and now works in the Fisheries department at the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The...

Celilo as I knew it.(Short story)
December 22, 2007... During the early 1990s, Alphonse "Frenchy" Halfmoon was often asked about his experiences fishing at different places in the Columbia Basin, and he began to write down some of his memories and knowledge. The following piece on Celilo is dated...

Ted Strong.(OREGON VOICES)(Interview)
December 22, 2007... Facing accusations from state and federal natural resource management agencies and the general public that they did not manage natural resources adequately or appropriately, tribal people have struggled for control of their resources and for...

Gertrude Glutsch Jensen.(OREGON VOICES)(Interview)
December 22, 2007... Gertrude Glutsch Jensen dedicated much of her adult life to conservation efforts in the Columbia River Gorge through organizations such as the Portland Women's Forum and the Oregon Columbia River Gorge Commission. She was the first chairwoman...

Tommy Kuni Thompson: Celilo Village Chief.(OREGON VOICES)(Biography)
December 22, 2007... This biography was written by Cain Allen and posted on the Oregon Historical Society's Oregon History Project website; it was revised by the guest editors for publication in this special issue. CHIEF TOMMY KUNI THOMPSON (Wayam) was the...

Flora Cushinway Thompson.(OREGON VOICES)(Interview)
December 22, 2007... Flora Thompson assisted her husband Chief Tommy Thompson in his efforts to halt the construction of The Dalles Dam. She recorded his correspondence, met with officials, and worked with Barbara MacKenzie on the relocation of Celilo families...

Barbara MacKenzie.(OREGON VOICES)(Interview)
December 22, 2007... Barbara MacKenzie moved from Lincoln City to The Dalles in 1952, when her husband was hired to supervise the construction of the Wasco County Bridge, which connected Wasco and Klickitat counties, replacing a ferry system. Wasco County hired...

The Corps of Engineers and Celilo Falls: facing the past, looking to the future.
December 22, 2007... ON THE MORNING OF MARCH 10, 1957, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Portland District commander Col. Jackson Graham changed the character of the Columbia River. By closing the gates of the newly completed Dalles Dam, Graham started filling the...

Relocation and the Celilo Village community.
December 22, 2007... ON FEBRUARY 5, 1955, the tribal people who resided at Celilo Falls, about fifty in all, began conducting weekly meetings to discuss their eventual relocation to the new village across the highway. Celilo Village would be disrupted by both The...

Johnny Jackson and Wilbur Slockish, Jr.(OREGON VOICES)(Interview)
December 22, 2007... Johnny Jackson and Wilbur Slockish, Jr., are living testaments to the determination of the River People to remain on the banks of the Columbia River and retain their ancestral traditions. Their uncompromising attitude has earned them a...

Chuck Williams.(OREGON VOICES)(Interview)
December 22, 2007... Chuck Williams (Cascade) was instrumental in pushing legislation that led to the passage of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Act in 1986. Williams is a photographer and the author of Bridge of the Gods, Mountains of Fire: A Return to...

There Has Been Something.(Poem)
December 22, 2007... There Has Been Something sometimes it is a song sometimes it is a whisper sometimes it appears to be an animal then other times weeping I hear it there has been something that has disappeared ...

Significant events in the history of Celilo Falls.
December 22, 2007... compiled by the editors 25 million to 12 million years B.C.E. [Before the Common Era]: Massive lava flows create basalt formations of the Columbia Plateau. 16,000 to 12,000 B.C.E.: "Missoula floods" form distinctive channels and...