  Before
a network of dams controlled the Columbia River it was often a raging
torrent. Here at Wyam Falls, known today as Celilo Falls, a vertical
drop of more than 20 feet and sheer basalt bluffs on either shore
forced the river into seething, boiling rapids. From time immemorial
this region comprised the fishing grounds of all Indian tribes of
the middle Columbia River area. Early Indians speared huge salmon
while standing on the the rocks and their descendants built platforms
over the rushing waters from which they gathered fish in long-handled
nets. These fishing grounds and the right to take fish from the Columbia
River were reserved in 1855 treaties between the tribes and the United
States. Dam construction, which began in the 1930s, forever altered
the river's character. When The Dalles Dam was completed in 1957,
the storage basin behind it filled in above the falls and inundated
the fishing grounds. Treaty reserved fishing rights, however, continue
to be exercised by Indian people in the middle Columbia River area.
The loss of Wyam Falls did not mean the loss of the Indian way of
life. |
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