Celilo Falls
March 23rd, 2007
On March 10-11, thousands of people gathered to recall the drowning of Celilo Falls, one of the greatest native salmon fishing sites in the world. Fifty years ago the build up of the reservoir behind the new Dalles Dam inundated the Falls where Indian people had fished and gathered and traded for thousands of years. Lewis & Clark observed this great trade market and purchased ingeniously dried salmon that helped feed the expedition for months.Â
A way of life was damaged and perhaps destroyed by the Dalles Dam. Many fishers from Northwest tribes perpetuate their traditional and cultural way of life by continuing to fish for salmon in other ways in the Columbia River.
April 10th, 2007 11:21
Understandably a bitter memory for some, the falls and men on platforms with poles are an image from my childhood I fondly retain.