Once
upon a time, there was a place called Celilo Falls. Located in Eastern
Oregon, approximately 95 miles east of Portland on the magnificent
Columbia River, Celilo Falls(pronounced "Seh-LIE-low) was where
Native Americans came from hundreds ofmiles around to fish and trade.
In the early years, fishermen used spears. Later, armed only with
dipnets and their skill and courage, they toiled to catch the Pacific
Northwest salmon that were once bountiful and a staple of their existence.
This sacred Native American fishing ground was even chronicled in
the journals of Lewis and Clark, who referred to this area, in which
they had to portage, as the "Great Falls" and currents of
the "Long and Short Narrows."
Each
day, dozens of fishermen and their families braved the dangers of
the river, suspended only a few feet above the raging river on homemade
piers pieced together from scrap lumber. Each fishing spot on the
falls was considered taken by a family and was respected by others.
This spot was highly valued and was passed down from generation to
generation. Transportation to the outlying rocks was by box trolleys
balanced on overhead wires with small wheels. They fished only by
daylight, so the workers were hard-pressed to make each day count.
When fishermen fell into these torrential waters, as many did, most
did not survive. And when somebody fell in, fishing stopped for the
day - the gods had spoken. It was only in later years, at the suggestion
of the local cannery, that fishermen were urged to wear a rope so
that they could be pulled to safety and valuable fishing time would
not be lost.
The Native American
name for Celilo Falls is Wy-am, which some say means "Echo of
Falling Water." The echo was silenced forever in 1957, when the
Dalles Dam was completed and the area was flooded. The locals couldn't
believe it as they watched the slowly rising water gradually cover
their sacred and beloved falls.
