History of Celilo Falls

The history and the death of the Celilo Falls Indians of the Pacific Nothwest. The Indians had to pack up and leave everything they had and the history and heritage and language they left behind. The ghost of Celilo Falls and the Dam that was built in it's place by White men. The boarding schools the children had to attend to and had to learn proper english and not to speak their own language. The death of celilo falls will always be apart of history. The Celilo Falls Indians relied of fishing to make a living by selling or bartering. It was away to feed their families. It took a heavy toll on a lot of Indians. Northwest Indians would come from all over just to throw a net and do some fishing. They also had to relocate their families when the dam was built. It was said in the "Oregon History Project" that "the federal government offered the Yakama, Warm Springs, Umatilla, and Nez Perce tribes a modest monetary settlement to compensate for the loss of tribal property rights at Celilo Falls when The Dalles Dam flooded." Indians throughout the country still mourn over the death of celilo falls.

Building the Dam also affected the celilo falls heritage. Heritage means legacy, tradition, culture, and custom. The tradition has been passed down many years to Celilo Falls Indians and how building this dam has affected their culture. The custom of tribal fishing continues to be important to the heritage, culture and economy of the Indian people. Heritage is something you can pass down from generation to generation but celilo falls Indian's can't do that they can only tell stories about the tradition they know that happened many years ago. They are probably many Indians that can tell legacy's about the death of the falls and how sad it was when the white man came and promised them that they would work with them and then it was all taken away. It was said in one of my Native American History class that one the White man write's a treaty and the Indian's sign it before the ink dries the treaty is already broken. It is also said that whatever the Indians had the White men wanted it, this was a sad day in history when the dam was built to all Indian's across the country and let's hope it will always be a never forgotten story in history.

In history and talking about the White man taking everything the Indian's had also included taking away their language. The first is that Native American languages are in crisis. Many are spoken by only a handful of elderly people. That is true with my tribe only a few people know our language and that is something that should be handed down from generation to generation. It's a tradition that no one should stop using because that is part of their heritage and culture. Some people were punished when they spoke in their own language. Knowing your language is something to be proud of and should be known to all Native American's. Taking