22 // COASTWEEKEND.COM Continued from Page 16 DAVID CAMPICHE PHOTOS Descendants of Chinookan peoples gather at Fort Columbia State Park as a canoe docks bear- ing a Tyee (Chinook) salmon for a ceremony. keeping alive those legends and stories and a spiritualism that defines human beings as significant. By any social standard, this was a viable civilization living in a green paradise. This was their home! Today, on that tide that rounds Scarborough Hill, the hereditary real estate of Chief Comcomly — around that same rocky bulk- head — came a handsome cedar vessel carved by these same folks that had prided themselves for centuries on a brand of extraordinary craftsmanship — on the art- ful, practical execution of a water vessel we call a canoe. Johnson beckoned the vessel home. He intoned an ancient greeting song in his ancestor’s language. And if you weren’t impressed, you weren’t there. And from the hold of that lovely vessel, the canoe men and women carried in a spring Chinook on a plank draped with cedar boughs. The tribe carried it up the hill to the gathering place, and after more ceremony (the young people feed the slain Tyee salmonber- ries) the fish was filleted, staked and seared before an open pit fire that radiated the warmth of the annual reunion. The fish was then shared with guests and with the Nation. Tyee (Chinook) salmon, filleted and staked and seared before an open fire pit. The Nation will rise again Pride is like a tide. It ebbs and floods. It dances and parries. We see it in art, in literature, in winning baseball teams. And when it peaks, it is as powerful as that big flood tide that we see twice a day on the Columbia. It arrived that Friday in that historic cove on the river these people call “Wimahl.” And there was hope and ex- pectation that one day these First Peoples would be whole again — that the tribe would be whole again. Of course, civilizations rise and fall. Of course, those in power seldom hang on to the principles and eth- ics that brought them power and comfort. It happened in Egypt and Syria, in England and Spain. It happened everywhere on this fragile planet. Sooner or later it will happen in America. That is why a great nation protects the free press. That is why there is social protest and dissenting voices. That is why we remember Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, Rosa Parks and Sitting Bull. And that is why there will be a renaissance for these peoples, the Chinook. Praise this fish. Share its flesh and bounty. Rever- ently lower the bones back into the great river. Send the message into the deep ocean waters. The salmon will rise again and return in great numbers. The Nation will rise again. They are the Chinook. They have re- newed pride. And they shall overcome. CW Your Adventure Starts Here! FLOWER • CONCENTRATES • EDIBLES PREROLLS • ACCESSORIES • TOPICALS hi Casual Cannabis • 193 Marine Dr., Astoria, OR 97103 • 503.325.4078 • hiAstoria.com Mystic Roots Cannabis • 38012 Highway 26, Seaside, OR 97138 • 971.225.7420 • MysticRootsCannabis.com Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. For use only by adults twenty-one years of age and older. Keep out of reach of children.