Spilyay Tymoo
8 March 13, 1997
Warm Springs, Oregon
Life on the River : Fish,
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V Mr-
A hanging scafold at lower Tenino Rapids. The water would rise at
least 30 feet during the spring runoff.
by George Aguilar, Sr.
With the advent of the spring
runoff Chinook salmon near at
hand, this writing will be directed
at the harvesting of all fishing in
the Columbia River and in the
local tributaries of the Deschutes
River.
In preparing this writing, some
excerpts are from the book "The
Indians of the Pacific Northwest"
by Robert H. Ruby and John A.
Brown. The journals of Lewis and
Clark's expeditions of 1805 are
used as well. Other information is
from childhood recollection that
was orally passed do wn to me by
the elders of my family.
Salmon Feast:
Upon Lewis and Clark's return,
they observed the Wishram
(Wasco) celebrating the arrival of
salmon by ceremoniously cutting
the fish into small pieces that were
given to the children. These
natives of The Dalles believed that
they should not take the first
salmon runningbecause those fish
had been endowed by the Great
Spirit with powers that made them
bolder and better able to swim to
the spawning grounds from which
their fingerhngs would return to
the sea. Elsewhere on the
Columbia and its tributaries
"Salmon Chiefs" saw to it that
rituals were rigidly observed with
dances and first-run taboos to
ensure good subsequent runs. The
Chinooks believed that they
should place a berry in the mouth
of the first salmon caught to
nourish it on what they believed
to be its foodless journey to the
spawning grounds.
In June 1855, there was an
assembly of the Colombia River
Indians. They were requested to
meet at the Wascopum Springs,
near the present day city of The
Dalles.
The bands involved were the
Dog River Wasco, Wishram
Wasco, Tiaiau (Tenino) Tygh
Shahaptain (upper Deschutes),
John Day (Shahaptain) Wy-Am
(Celilo) Cascade, Klik-kit-tat, Wai-il-lat-paun
(Molalla), a few Whah-Lah-Whah-Lah
(Walla Walla) and
some Wa-Na-Pum (So-kulks). The
gathering was for the purpose of
signing the Treaty of 1855. For
Joel Palmer, the representative for
the whiteman, this was an
opportune time to propel this
Treaty for the United States. This
was because the salmon run was
now going full bore and some of
the smaller bands had returned to
the Columbia River to their usual
and accustomed fishing places to
harvest the salmon.
June 1855:
The Columbia River this time
of the year is slowly receding from
the spring melt off. There are
thousands, maybe millions, of
blueback (sockeye), the now
almost extinct salmon is presently
in the river. They were "knockin'
'em dead" (a slang term used by
Columbia River fishermen in the
1930s and 1940s, referring to an
abundant run of salmon). The
early June hog Chinook also ran
at this same time. This species of
Chinook weighed as much as 100
pounds or more. This species is
now extinct.
Fifty years had come and gone
since the Lewis and Clark
expedition. Excerpts are as
follows: October 21, 1805: Lewis
and Clark's observation enroute
to the Pacific Ocean was: "We were
received with great kindness.
They examined everything they
saw with much attention. The
language (Shahaptain) did not
differ m uch f rom the above Chop-pe-nish
(Nez Perce)." The two Nez
Perce chiefs that guided the
exploration party down river from
the Idaho Territory stated, "These
are our relatives," referring to the
Eeople that dwelled on the Lower
blumbia River. "Among other
things, we observed were
acorns....They all have pierced
noses wearing a long tapered shell
through the nose."
October 22, 1805: They
observed inhabitants of an island,
where 11 huts of Indians (Tygh
Shahaptain) were at the mouth oi
the Towannohooks (Deschutes
River). They were giging
(spearing) fish from their canoes.
Note: At this time of the year, all
the fall Chinook salmon have
passed this area. The only possible
species at this time of the year
(where they were spearing) is the
silverside salmon (coho) and the
steelhead. This late in the fall
season, and in the earlier years,
my grandfather caught the silvers
at Tenino. Also, some of the other
Wascos fished the Spearfish area.
The last known silverside we
caught was in the year of 1947 or
1948. From that time on, we never
saw this species of silverside
salmon in this area. Also, Lewis
and Clark observed that most of
the inhabitants lived on islands or
on the north side of the river. This
practice was from the upper Snake
River to the Cascade Rapids. Upon
inquiry, they were lea to do this
because this provided a barrier
against the marauding war-like
Snake Indians. It was noted that
this area had many tons of
processed salmon ready for trade.
October 25, 1805: Immediately
upon passing the inhabitants of
the Celilo Falls, the Lewis and
Clark were now in the tribal
territory of the Echeloots (Wasco).
The Wasco dwelling is made of
wooden boards, the language has
changed drastically. In thejournals
of Lewis and Clark there is a long,
elaborate description of the
dwellings of the Wascos: "Which
were almost equal in size of those
left in Illinois. These inhabitants
also received Lewis and Clark with
kindness and invited them to their
houses. After passing the Tenino
and Spearfish area, Lewis and
Clark came across a Wasco war
party. The Wasco chief was
dressed in a war jacket, leggings,
moccasins, and a cap, possibly a
ta-mun-na-wus cap. The Chief had
encountered a war party of Indians
from the Towahnahihooks (high
in the Deschutes River area). "All
tribes in this neighborhood are
now at war with the Snake Indians.
During the trip down the river a
great number of seals were seen,"
relates the journals.
October 26, 27, 28 and 29, 1805:
Much time was spent in this area
(below The Dalles) for
observations, and determining the
longitude of their location. A treat
from the Wascos were fresh
speared salmon trout (steelhead).
Many trade items and articles of
the whiteman are now showing
up: blue cloth, a sword, jacket and
a hat procured from a whiteman
from below. The food of the Wasco
was fresh and pounded fish,
filberts, acorns, nuts, berries and
white bread made of roots.
Upon visiting the Wasco Chief,
the Chief brought out his bow and
quiver (time to brag) and some
war-like instruments. From the
Chief's medicine bag came 14 fore
fingers from the common enemy
nations of the Wasco. The
medicine bag is a foot long,
contain ingroots and other articles.
It is suspended in the middle of
the house. No one but the owner
has access to this bag. There is also
a smaller medicine bag carried
around the waist and neck used as
an amulet. Note: The red modicine
bag is possibly the nook nook,
which is a conk knot off of a Pacific
silver fir tree. In (orestry
terminology it is called the Indian
Rod Fungus. It is processed by
drying and scraping it to form a
powder and it is mixed with an
animal lard. I saw my
grandmother use this nook nook
as a cosmetic application on her
face and neck.
One other item my
grandmother made mention of in
my preteen years was the arrow
that the Wascos used. For those
that are interested, you may go
down to The Museum At Warm
Springs and look at the pictures of
old. You may soon discover that
no flint heads are upon those
arrows in the pictures. Those
arrows are burned and sharpened
at the tip and poison is applied.
The bow was made of yew wood,
which was easily accessible to the
Wasco since the tree grew in the
Cascade Mountain range.
"The poison was from rattle
snake venom. It was the elderly
woman's duty to collect the venom
of the rattle snake. This poison
was also prepared for inducement
of abortions." The ta-mun-na-was
hat was usually the head caps of
animal pelts, whose powers they
believed would shield them from
any form of harm. The word ta-mun-na-wus
is a Shahaptain term
meaning great supernatural
power. I was told by my
grandmother a ta-mun-na-wus
was acquired by a spiritual quest
by fasting ana a trip into the
wilderness.
The gig Lewis and Clark saw
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Fishwheels were common on the Columbia. Fishwheel owners
displaced Indian fishermen with the wheels. Their efforts took
precedence over Indian rights.
was a spear. The spear is
comprised of bone or antler for
the head. The shaft was of
hardwood. The pole is a well
seasoned fir sapling. The
spearhead was attached to the rope
made of natural hemp or elk sinew
from the backstrap. For a long
time, the construction of this spear
was a mystery to me because
trying to comprehend this
description from the Indian
language by my grandmother was
a little confusing. In 1949, 1 finally
saw one of the spears in use at
Underwood near White Salmon,
Washington. It was at this time I
was staying with my distant
cousin Johnny Queampts.
Johnny's father, Robert Queampts,
made these spears. However, they
were made of contemporary
materials (steel and modern rope)
for practical use. Johnny
Queampts is the only one I know
of who can construct this ancient
spear that was used so long ago. I
will attempt to construct one of
these spears using the primitive
methods and no contemporary
material. Hopefully, it will be
displayed at The Museum.
Fishing the Columbia River
prior to the construction of the
hydroelectric dams early March:
Grandfather commuted by
horseback to the Cascade Rapids
near the now Cascade Locks. The
purpose was to prepare for the
spring run Chinook salmon. The
spring snow melt runoff is now
starting to take place. Sometimes,
if the spring snow melts came too
early, the scaffold would have to
be rebuilt and placed at a higher
position. The river rose as much
as 20 meet or more than the winter
flow. When this salmon run was
over, a quick trip up river to the
Tenino area was made. When the
fish arrived at Tenino, the river is
still rising. Grandfather had a
fishing site at every level of the
snow melt runoff. Every fishing
scaffold had a distinctive name,
like Coyote Hole, Cement, Roping,
Resting Hole, etc. He had
approximately 13 fishing sites in
this area. The location of these
fishing sites was directly across
from Spearfish.
fear and
When the spring run Chinook
was over, there was
approximately a six-week wait
for the next salmon run to start
their journey to their spawning
ground. In late May or early June,
the blueback (sockeye) and June
hog Chinook made their fist
appearance at the Cascade
Rapids. There was one fishing
site at Tenino that was a very
high producer for the blueback.
Put the set net down and it would
have tobepulled up immediately
with two to four fish at a time.
The bluebacks' method of
running was from 4:30 a.m. to
7:30 a.m. Fishing for the blueback
after 8 a., was just a waste of time.
During the daylight hours, the
June hog salmon start tobe caught
until the night hours set in. It also
must be noted that the Chinooks
were not caught at night at Celilo
Falls. Steelhead could be caught
in daylight and night hours.
By August, the Columbia River
flow level is now stabilized. No
more snow melt runoff. The late
summer Chinook salmon and
steelhead runs are beginning to
take place. This is when many
people arrive at the Celilo Falls to
harvest this late season run. The
season lasted nearly a month. By
late September all the Chinook
salmon run has gone by. Another
run of steelhead appear in mid
October. The silverside are also
caught during this time. (This run
is now extinct.) About this time, a
species arrived at Underwood
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called Dog Salmon that weighed
about 25 to 40 pounds. It
resembled the majestic Chinook
species. Its flesh was white (mun-tul-lah).
The caudal fin of this
species is square, like a steelhead.
The Chinook's caudal fin is a 'V
type.
In my childhood days 63 years
ago, I used to sit by and listen to
my uncle Henry Polk's fishing
adventures while he was making
dipnet hoops made of a local
wood shrub. Most of the time it
was late into the night by use of a
primitive coal oil lamp, since he
was busy during the daylight
hours.
I recalled this fond memory
when I happened tobeatSherar s
Bridge one time when I ran into a
young man who was fishing with
modern equipment (made of
steel). I encouraged him to use
the wood hoops to improve his
catch, but he just insolently
laughed in my face I believe hat
wood dipnet noops have a very
slight advantage over the steel
hoops because they don't clang
when a rock is touched.
The Chinook salmon and other
waterborn inhabitants are very
sensitive to any alien sound or
scent in the water. My aunt had
demonstrated this to me once by
using a small stone with human
saliva on it and throwing it well
above an area where eels were
hanging. As soon as the rock
landed above the eels, they picked
up the foreign scent and dispersed
immediately. It was not the splash
or impact of the rock, but the
saliva that scared the eels. A
similar example would be elk if
they smell vour scent, they'll leave
for cover. The situation is exactly
the same for Chinook salmon.
One other thing that will
quickly arouse the anger of an
elder: No fish are to be stored in
the river. They are very strict
about this. Tne blood of the
salmon was sensed and it made
them detour away from the
fishing area. In 1946, 1 saw Chief
Tommy Thompson, of the Celilo
Wyam, on Chiefs Island at Celilo
Falls. He was ranting and raging
abut salmon strung up on rope in
freedom
the water. With much respect and
cowering, the guilty party
complied with the elderly Chief s
request and removed the salmon
from the river.
Robert 1 1. Ruby, MD and John
A. Brown, professor of Wenachee
Valley College wrote of conflicts
of the Columbia River tribes.
Especially disturbing in their
writings was the introduction of
the salmon trapping devices,
specifically the fishwheels.
The traps were introduced in
about 1879. In20 years' time, there
were 76 of these fishwheels in
operation. IN 1894, one wheel
reported a ca tch of 250,000nounds
between May 17 and July. This
was the June hog Chinook and
blueback runs. Using this one unit
as a rough estimate, if the catch
was all sockeye, this harvest of the
blueback would have been
approximately 4,750,000 taken in
one season for all fish traps. If
these fish were laid from nose to
tail, they would stretch about 1,800
miles. (The estimates are just
suppositions for the sake of
illustration).
The traps were installed where
the Indians dipped and speared,
the crowded tne Indians out and
restricted them from the area,
telling them to fish elsewhere. The
fishwheel owners were brought
to court and argued on April 3 and
4, 1905. The court ruled in favor of
the Yakamas on May 15, 1905.
By this time, the fishwheel
owners ruined the accustomed fish
areas by blasting different
channels and using concrete to
alter the fishing areas. One of the
photos shows an example of such
apracticeby the fish trap owners.
Tne channel was also blasted and
altered to divert all fish to the
trap.
Other methods of harvest by
the whiteman was beach seining
by the use of boat and horses.
Tons upon tons of the fall run
salmon were taken in the early
1940s. No more June hog Chinook
were caught at our fishing sites in
the Tenino area. In the early 1990s,
only a few, as I recall from the
Oregonian newspaper, reported
three sckeye made it to the Idaho
Lake where their spawning areas
are located.
Instead of Salmon ceremonies
of old, the modern salmon feast
should be called a ceremony of
tears at the Cascade Rapids,
Tenino and Spearfish Rapids,
Celilo Falls and all other fishing
sites along the Columbia and its
tributaries.
After relocation and settling on
the Wam-Sprin Reservation in
1866, tine local tributaries provided
some sustenance but never equal
to that of the fresh run of the
Columbia River. The early spring
Chinook run arrived at the mouth
of the Warm Springs River in abut
mid-April to early June. By mid
June all spawning areas, namely
Beaver Creek, Mill Creek and the
Warm Springs River were teeming
with salmon. Elders of the earlier
era told of the salmon streams of
being so abundant that one could
Huge boulders had to be blasted
almost walk over the top of them.
A sack-full could be gotten in a
matter of a few minutes. The
Shitike Creek was not a Chinook
salmon spawning creek. However,
the roar of the Shitike Creek Falls
is where my Grandfather James
Polk taught his sons how to spear
and gaff during the February and
early March steelhead run. The
Shitike Creek brought abundant
runs of steelhead and Bull Trout
(Dolly Varden). An example of
size for the bull trout had various
ranges form 18 inches to four feet
in length. Between 1939 and 1944,
as a youngster, I would fly fish the
Mr F P. WWILS &
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Shitike for the huge native rainbow
trout which came by in April. I
would always make an attempt to
sneak up on the logs and the
overhanging brush to sometimes
see the caudal fin of the steelhead.
During the winter smi
(whitefisli) dipnetting in the
Deschutes, a steelhead was
sometimescaught.Smidipnetting
went out of use upon the
construction of the Pelton and
Round Butte dams. During the
construction of the Pelton Dam,
about 1958,hundredsof thespring
run Chinook could be seen off the
high rock bluffs below Pelton. The
fish could go no further because
the dam restricted passage to the
Metolius River spawning
grounds. The Metolius River is
now desolate of the one majestic
Chinook salmon that caused a
stench along the head of the river
of what the river was named after.
(Metolius means stinking dead
fish). In earlier years, thousands
of the Chinook could be seen
rotting and stinking up the head
of the Metolius.
It was sometime in the mid
19403 when the Jefferson Creek J
100 road was being constructed.
We camped at Jefferson Creek.
We would fish the Metolius for
the huge rainbow truth. In about
mid-August, schools of steelhead
could be seen in the cold, pristine,
crystal clear waters. The caudal
fins of the Chinook were also seen
under log jams. The ancient foot
trail we descended down to the
stream on was perhaps hundreds,
even thousands of years old, and
was used by our ancestors.
The only thing that lives is an
old Indian legendof the once great
salmon spawning river where the
mighty Metolius River originated.
I heard the story in the Shahaptain
language and I comprehended it
in this manner.
Black Butte and Green Ridge
were newly weds. While walking
once day, Black Butte stopped to
urinate in a squatting position.
Meanwhile, Green Ridge laid there
waiting in a pouting mood because
Black Butte had refused sexual
advances (holding out....hahaha).
The urination represents the
flow of the Metolius River, which
came from a spring out of Black
Butte. So, if you ever look upon
Green Ridge, you'll see a ridge
that runs from south to north
portraying Greed Ridge, pouting
in a laying back turned position
waiting for his bride.
I have fished the salmon in a
variety of ways, from Indian
traditional set nets, roping,
dipnetting, gaffing, spearing,
gillnetting and deep sea trolling.
Salmon played a very
important part of my early life.
My thoughts sometime drift into
the past of harvesting this once
awesome anadromous species. It
was at one time, the very essence
of my being.
Thank you. I have enjoyed
telling you my fish stories.
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annually from fishing sites.
(Photos
provided by
George
Aguilar, Sr.
Taken in 1951
by George's
uncle Leonard
Polk.)
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