Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
February 27, 2019
Page 7
Sixty-two years ago the loss of Celilo Falls
I n early 1957—sixty-
two years ago this March
10—the steel and con-
crete floodgates of The
Dalles Dam closed on the
Columbia River, the
N’Chi Wana, the Big
River.
Within just a few
hours—13 miles up-
stream from the newly-
built dam—the great
tribal fishery Celilo Falls
disappeared.
The silence was haunt-
ing—still felt by some el-
ders to this day. An idea
of the sound the Indian
people had heard from
the falls for thousands of
years:
The name ‘Celilo’ itself
may be a reference to the
roar of the water upon
the rock formations.
From time immemo-
rial Celilo had been the
great fishing and trading
center of the entire
Northwest, and beyond.
On this anniversary
of the great tragedy we
look back at the circum-
stances.
Recalling the Falls
The morning of
March 10, 1957, ten-
thousand people—includ-
ing many tribal mem-
bers—arrived at The
Dalles dam. They wit-
nessed the destruction of
the oldest continually in-
habited place in the re-
gion—one of the oldest
communities in North
America.
The falls for med a
rough horseshoe shape
across the river, and
nearby were two ancient
Indian villages—Wyam,
on the Oregon side of the
Courtesy photos
Historic photos of tribal fishing at the
mighty Celilo Falls.
river, and S’kin on the other
shore—which also disap-
peared into the reservoir
behind the dam.
The name ‘Celilo Falls’
was adopted from the Indian
name some time after Lewis
and Clark and their Corps
of Discovery reached the
area, first in October 1805
and again the following April.
They referred to the cata-
ract as simply ‘the Great
Falls.’ They gave non-Na-
tive names to other nearby
sites: A very short distance
below the falls, for example,
came a funnel where the
river was less than 50 yards
wide—essentially turning the
river on its side. They called
this place the ‘Short Nar-
rows.’
This was followed by a
stretch of rock-strewn rap-
ids that ended at the ‘Long
Narrows,’ a three-mile nar-
rowing along which the
river’s width did not exceed
100 yards.
Indians fished along the
entire stretch of the river
from the falls to The Dalles,
but were most active near
the base of the falls and at
the Long Narrows.
In the narrows areas, ba-
salt outcroppings provided
places to stand along and in
the river’s flow, and the pro-
truding rocks swirled the
river into opaque turbu-
lence that concealed the In-
dians’ nets from the sharp-
eyed salmon.
Farther upstream, others
fished with spear, hook, and
net from perches on timber
scaffolds built over the boil-
ing water at the very base
of the falls.
The Indians called the
Columbia river ‘Nch’i Wana,’
and from it they gathered
huge numbers of fattened
fish returning upstream to
spawn.
When the spring thaw
bloated the river, the Na-
tives would concentrate their
efforts at the Long Narrows,
a few miles downriver from
Washington state could
step into dam regulation
Washington could gain
regulatory control over fed-
eral hydropower dams in the
Columbia and Snake rivers,
allowing the state to better
protect its waters and restore
its salmon population.
The dams are a major
contributor to the rivers’
high temperatures, which are
killing the region’s salmon
populations.
The dam operators have
not had to follow state stan-
dards since they were built.
Now, their operators might
have to follow state guide-
lines for the first time,
thanks to a lawsuit filed by
an environmental group.
The nine federal dams in
the Columbia and Snake riv-
ers within the state of Wash-
ington were built before the
Clean Water Act, which gov-
erns water pollution in the
U.S.
Until now, the federal
dam operators have not
been required to follow the
law’s standards and also
haven’t been required to
adhere to the state’s stan-
dards, which include pollu-
tion discharge limits and a
temperature limit of 68 de-
grees in the Columbia
River.
But Washington state
might finally have its chance
to regulate the federal dams,
thanks to lawsuits filed by
Columbia Riverkeeper, an
organization dedicated to
protecting and restoring the
Columbia River.
The organization reached
a settlement in 2014 with
the Army Corps of Engi-
neers and the Bureau of
Reclamation — which operate
the dams — to reduce the
dams’ toxic oil pollution dis-
charge.
The federal hydropower
dam operators must now ap-
ply for discharge elimination
permits from the Environ-
mental Protection Agency
for each federal dam.
This is where Washington
state enters the picture: The
EPA
must
consult
Washington’s Department
of Ecology to make sure its
permits meet state stan-
dards. In a related develop-
ment:
More dam spill
While federal officials
consider breaching one or
more dams in Washington to
increase salmon survival,
state officials are consider-
ing increasing spill over the
dams to help more smolts
survive in the meantime.
If there is too little spill
at hydrodams, more young,
vulnerable salmon are sent
down more dangerous tur-
bines to get past them. If
there is too much spill, they
can die from the pressure,
with gas bubbles suffocating
their gills. It’s similar to ‘the
bends.’
At the direction of the
governor’s orca task force,
Washington is trying to strike
a balance by increasing spill
thresholds so more smolts
can make it through.
Session Times & Dates:
the tumultuous and danger-
ous falls. In the summer
months, when the river had
calmed down, they would
move back upstream to
Celilo Falls and the Short
Narrows to continue fish-
ing there.
The fishery was unbeliev-
ably rich. It has been esti-
mated that before commer-
cial fishing began, between
six million and ten million
fish returned to spawn in
the Columbia and its
tributaries each year.
Archaeological find-
ings have established
that Indians had been
catching salmon be-
tween The Dalles and
Celilo Falls for as long
as 11,000 years, and
Wyam was one of the
oldest continuously in-
habited sites in the re-
gion.
The largest tribes liv-
ing near the falls year
around were the Upper
Chinookan Wasco, who
lived on the south bank
near the Dalles; the Sk’in-
a-ma, who lived on the
north side of Celilo Falls
near the present town of
Wishram; the Klickitat,
who ranged throughout a
large area of the Colum-
bia Basin; and the
Sahaptins, who lived and
fished on the Oregon side
of the falls and whose vil-
lage, Silailo (also called
Wyam), is believed to be
the origin of the name
Celilo.
It may also the
Sahaptin who gave Wyam
its name, which in their
language meant, appropri-
ately, ‘the sound of wa-
ter upon rocks.’
Lewis and Clark also
took the first rough cen-
sus of the population
along this portion of the
Columbia.
They estimated that
in 1805 and 1806, be-
tween 7,400 and 10,400
Indians were living per-
manently or seasonally
encamped between the
Cascade Rapids and The
Dalles.