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TRIBAL MEMBER NEWS
. . l. i. i. lil. n . . .
Hibdon Named
to National
Honor Society
by Mom and Dad
On May 14, Heidi Hibdon was
inducted into the National Honor
Society. We’re proud of
you. You have worked
very hard to accomplish
this goal and we know
you will go far in life.
We are proud of you!
Carlos and Felicia Ann Carmona
Carmonas Wed
Love you always, Natasha
It is an honor to announce to you that Felicia Ann and Carlos Carmona Portillo
were married on July 5, 2003, at the Siletz Gospel Tabernacle in Siletz, Ore.
The wedding and reception were beautiful, I love you both! Stay strong,
believe in each other, and remember, “Love, like a river, will cut a new path
whenever it meets an obstacle.”
Heidi Hibdon
Hatfield Makes Honor Roll
Samantha Hatfield made the
earned a 4.0 GPA. She is
honor roll at Oregon State
pursuing
University for spring term. She
environmental sciences.
a
Ph.D.
in
Walt’s Words of Wit and Wisdom
Well, after last writing something
else came to mind. Frank had written
that eel harvest time was here again.
This reminded me again of yesteryear,
when we had eels all over the place,
especially in the waters.
It seems that when the black ants, (we
called them eel ants) would come out in
force, that was when the eels would be
running if it was the dark of the moon. I
don’t know if they ran other phases of the
moon or not. If it wasn’t the dark of the
moon, Dad wouldn’t go eeling.
There were two or three places on
Rock Creek that people eeled. One was
the Frank Lyons place, a wide flat area
that fed into a narrow waterway. When
eel came from the swift water, they
would grab onto that rock and out
would come brother eel sometimes.
Where I live was another place
people would gather to eel. Some would
put spruce boughs across three-quarters
of the river and said that the eel
wouldn’t go through the spruce because
it was so sticky. Then farther up on the
Belle Bell place, the Bemrose boys would
build a scaffold across the river. The water
wasn’t deep but wide (well, not real wide).
They would walk across the walk and
hook the eels as they swam upstream.
Everyone used tires for light. Some
were fortunate and had a gas lantern,
which added fire to the light.
I think the most popular spot was
the Frank Lyons place. People would
drive down the railroad right to the
trestle, then walk a short distance to the
eeling spot. It was a precarious trip
getting to the rocks. It was quite an
incline, water was seeping across, and
it was slippery. I don’t know of anyone
slipping off, though once past that it was
wide open.
The men would hook and the
women would gather them and put them
in sacks. I could never understand how
they knew which eel belonged to who.
In the end, it didn’t make any difference
because all the sacks would be full.
There was always a lot of laughing
going on at these events, moods were
very happy. I don’t remember hearing
anyone swear or use bad language.
Frank Lyons used to come down
and join the people in whatever they
were doing, whether it was eeling or
salmon spearing or gaffing. It seemed
that eels would never run out. As one
came out, there was another to take its
place and for every one that came out,
there seemed to be a dozen go by.
Then there were a lot that were
hooked at that didn’t get hooked. The
hook that Dad made didn’t hook into the
eel. The hook caught the eel in a little
loop in the hook. It was made from a
car seat coil spring. I did straighten a
lot of them out, so did Dad though. Some
made the hooks out of pitchfork tines.
Mom used to bake the little critters.
I don’t remember how she skinned
them. Seems she used a nail somehow
and pulled the skin off. I don’t like them;
Clarinda Black holds an eel.
they’re very greasy to me. In fact, when
dry, they’ll bum like a candle. This
haven’t been to Rock Creek to check out
makes me wonder if they’re related to a
any run, but haven’t seen any day eels
candlefish. Dad would like one big meal
though. It was when they were running
of them, some like myself, and smelt
that there would be thousands of dead
one meal, and that’s good for the year.
ones on the river bottom and the crawdads
I’ve been told that the eel is on the
would have the potluck of potlucks.
upswing now, especially in Siletz. I
Maybe one day this will happen again.
August 2003 □
Siletz News
□
9