13
In d ia n s a t
C elilo Falls
Às their fathers, and their Bathers
berc|l||ihem far back in dim time, In-
dians to this day follow 'ways of their
âncestpr^at roaring feelilo Falls on
Oregon’s mighty Columbia. Here thé
“river of the west” gives up gamey
salmon to spears and net of redmen
who WfeveO r om afar to "replenish trib
al larders "for reservation wintéfs ? I
In long ago r,iime, Indians came io
the falls with nets made of tough, Na
tive Oregon grasses, and w ithjftears
tipped with laboriously carved points
of volcanic rocks. Indians lived their
I simple lives as children of nature.
They had no knowledge, pérhap lihap-
pily so, that white men existed and
thait there- were great nations beyond
the seas they never knew.
Through the shades of a million yes-
terda-^S the Indians knew the river
and the river was their friend. And
the redmen ;;W,eref; thankful for -the
largess bestowed upon them by the
divine-, providence of roaring waters^,
and a bénéficient n a | u r e which
brought giant ¿Çhinôpk salmon up
stream to be netted.,
In rituals, origin of which have been
lost in, antiquity, they paid honor'¿to
the king of the river, the Chipook, and;
reverence to the Great Father who
brought him there? To some extent
the ceremonies have carried on into
modern times. The old time Indians
hope the ancient rites will always be
opslrved.
In the past at such ceremonials7,, the
firgjk salmon netted ’onfsp eared from
the spring run is sprinkled with the
down of a3 young eagle and borrfe on
a cedap?Ægl tray to assembled In
dians’?; in the long-house, abon^haÌF
meeting hall.
Prayefs are offered to th® Great
Father for bringing the salmon to the
river, g g ls p r in g feast,' is then ready,
Providing, of course,«'^ ^ ^ Éfong' with
camas r°°t> wild I parsnip and* -wild
■carrot, pipilo wed by a salmon dance.
Ceremonies preliminary to the feast
are m tg M ik è H litany. Indian theol
ogy is recited in the form of questions
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