[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 61 (Tuesday, April 17, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H3409-H3412]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCERNING THE
50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FLOODING OF CELILO FALLS
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to
the resolution (H. Res. 217) expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives concerning the 50th anniversary of the flooding of
Celilo Falls.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 217
Whereas Celilo Falls, located near The Dalles, Oregon, was
a great fishing and trading location for Indian tribes and
has been called the ``Wall Street of the West'' by
historians;
Whereas artifacts suggest tribes as far as Alaska, the
Great Plains and the Southwest United States came to trade
and fish at Celilo for over 10,000 years;
Whereas the Umatilla, Nez Perce, Yakama and Warm Springs
tribes reserved their fishing rights at their usual and
accustomed places, including Celilo, when they signed
treaties with the United States;
Whereas on March 10, 1957, to provide hydroelectricity and
irrigation, The Dalles Dam was constructed;
Whereas the completion of the dam inundated Celilo in six
hours, quickly changing the way of life for tribes that
fished at Celilo; and
Whereas tribes still live and fish along the river,
exercising their treaty rights agreed with the Congress of
the United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives recognizes the
50th anniversary of the flooding of Celilo Falls and the
change of life it imposed upon tribal peoples.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) and the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.
General Leave
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous
material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Arizona?
There was no objection.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
The purpose of House Resolution 217, introduced by our colleague from
Oregon, Mr. David Wu, is to express the sense of the House of
Representatives concerning the 50th anniversary of the flooding of
Celilo Falls. Celilo Falls was a unique natural feature formed as the
Columbia River carved a path
[[Page H3410]]
through the hard volcanic rock east of the Cascade Mountains. On March
10, 1957, the Dalles Dam was completed, flooding the historic fishing
and trading area around Celilo Falls.
For over 10,000 years, the falls had been an area of intense trading
and commerce for Indian tribes from as far away as Alaska, the Great
Plains, and the Southwest. The falls were also noted as an extremely
abundant fishery, where tons of Columbia River salmon were caught,
dried, and traded.
Mr. Speaker, this resolution simply seeks to recognize the 50th
anniversary of the flooding of the falls, and to remember Celilo Falls
as an important area of fishing and trading for many tribal peoples.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting House Resolution 217,
and I offer my congratulations to Congressman Wu for his leadership on
this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
H. Res. 217 recognizes the flooding of Celilo Falls in Oregon. In
1957, the U.S. Corps of Engineers constructed the multipurpose Dalles
Dam to provide much needed hydropower and irrigation for the Pacific
Northwest. As a result of the dam, the falls were inundated, changing
the way four tribes fished at the location.
This resolution recognizes the 50th anniversary of that change.
It is my understanding that this resolution will not be used for
future litigation claims and legislative purposes, so we have no
objection.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to
the sponsor of this resolution, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Wu).
Mr. WU. I thank the gentleman from Arizona.
Mr. Speaker, for thousands of years, a village stood at Celilo Falls
on the Columbia River, which today is the boundary between the States
of Oregon and Washington.
Celilo Falls was known to Native Americans as a center for gathering
and trade in the Pacific Northwest. It was so important that some have
even called Celilo Falls the Wall Street of the West. Lewis and Clark
described it as a great emporium where ``the neighboring nations
assemble.''
Artifacts suggest that tribes as far away as Alaska, the Great
Plains, and the Southwest of the United States came to trade at the
falls for salmon and other goods. The trade was so extensive and the
number of tribes who came to Celilo was so extensive that the number of
languages spoken developed into a trade jargon known as Chinookan, and
it was used among the people conducting business at Celilo.
Celilo Falls was also known as a great salmon fishery. Salmon were
both sacred to and provided economic wealth for the tribes who fished
in the area. Thousands gathered to fish and trade along the river.
Fifty years ago, Celilo Falls changed forever. In 1957, the Dalles
Dam was completed a few miles downriver from Celilo. Once the dam was
completed and the flood gates closed, Celilo Falls was inundated in
just 6 hours.
The Dalles Dam was constructed to provide hydroelectricity,
irrigation, and to enable navigation. The dams along the Columbia and
other rivers created numerous benefits for the Pacific Northwest. The
slack water created by the dams provided easy and safe river navigation
upriver to deliver goods to the inland Northwest. Today, barges can
travel as far as Lewiston, Idaho, because of the navigable waters
created by the dams.
However, the benefits created by the dams changed a way of life for
the tribal peoples who were the first inhabitants of the Columbia River
Basin. While some may not remember Celilo Falls before the Dalles Dam
was completed, its effects remain fresh in the minds of many of the
tribes of the Pacific Northwest. Recently, the 50th anniversary of the
flooding of the falls was acknowledged by these tribes. This event both
mourned what was lost and celebrated what remains today, tribal stories
and culture, a way of life. Attendees included tribal officials and
tribal members throughout the Pacific Northwest, nontribal members, and
various Federal, State, and local governmental officials. The attendees
reflect the relationship of the various groups who now work together to
manage the river for all those who live in and visit the region today.
This resolution seeks to acknowledge and commemorate the flooding of
Celilo Falls. I urge my colleagues to support the resolution.
Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
Mr. WU. I yield to the gentleman from New Mexico.
Mr. PEARCE. I would appreciate engaging in a brief colloquy regarding
H. Res. 217.
Is it the understanding of the gentleman from Oregon that the
enactment of this resolution will not be used for litigation or
legislative purposes?
Mr. WU. The gentleman is correct. The purpose of the resolution is
commemorative, and limited to an expression of the sense of the House
of Representatives.
Mr. PEARCE. I thank the gentleman for that clarification.
Mr. WU. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I would yield such time as he may consume to
the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden).
(Mr. WALDEN of Oregon asked and was given permission to revise and
extend his remarks.)
Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, colleagues, today we memorialize
and remember the events of more than 50 years ago when the gates closed
for the first time on the Dalles Dam, and within 6 hours another wild
and noisy stretch of the mighty Columbia River fell silent and serene
in the name of progress.
Celilo Falls was also known as Wyam, which means echo of falling
water, or sound of water upon the rocks. And, indeed, what a sound it
must have been to hear the fourth largest river in America as it
crashed over basalt rocks and cliffs. Lewis and Clark's journals refer
to the falls as a place where ``the river turned on edge.''
This photograph here to my left is actually one my father took as a
colorized slide before the falls was inundated. It shows the tribal
members fishing from these wooden platforms, roped to the edge with
ropes around their waist. They would spread sand out on the platforms
because all the water made the platforms so slick, and then they would
engage with the dip nets to hoist 40-pound, 50-pound, 60-pound salmon
out of the river. The trick was not to get more than two fish in your
net because that might be more than you weighed, and you ran the risk
of being dragged into the river. Indeed, there was a young man who fell
in the river, and later was rescued and saved because he ended up in a
net and was able to be pulled out.
What a river it was and what a river it is. As the Columbia River
passed over these falls, the sound could be heard from miles away.
During periods of high water, nearly 1 million cubic feet of water per
second would pass over these falls. Now, let me put that in comparison:
Niagara Falls in New York, 200,000 cubic feet of water passes over
those falls.
{time} 1245
A million would have passed over these. But it wasn't just these
falls, because you see the basalt rapids continued on toward the Dalles
for 11 miles. So not only were there these falls, but there were other
rapids and falls along the way. And it was more than just a roaring
falls or an historic and bountiful fishing area. It was, as some
historians noted, ``the Wall Street of the West.''
In his book, ``The Columbia River Salmon and Steelhead Trout, Their
Fight for Survival,'' author Anthony Netboy described the scene this
way:
``Here came Indians from the interior who had no fishing grounds of
their own or whose fishing was poor, to trade for dried salmon,
offering peltries from Montana, jade axes from the Fraser River area,
horn of mountain sheep, baskets, rabbit or bearskins. The Klamath and
Modoc peoples from Klamath Lake brought slaves and dentalia shells,
their medium of exchange. Trade connections with the Dalles, says the
anthropologist Philip Drucker, in `Cultures of the North Pacific
Coast,' stretched across the Rockies and into the Great Plains.''
This was one of the most significant fisheries of the Columbia River.
In
[[Page H3411]]
``Recalling Celilo,'' author Elizabeth Woody writes:
``Historically, the Wyampum lived at Wyam for over 12,000 years.
Estimates vary, but Wyam is among the longest continuously inhabited
communities in North America. The elders tell us we have been here from
time immemorial.
``Today we know Celilo Falls as a lost landmark. It was a place as
revered as one's own mother.''
Woody goes on to write:
``What happened at Wyam was more significant than entertainment.
During the day, women cleaned large amounts of finely cut fish and hung
the parts to dry in the heat of the arid landscape. So abundant were
the fish passing Wyam on their upriver journey that the fish caught
there could feed a whole family through the winter. Many families had
enough salmon to trade with other tribes or individuals for specialty
items.
``No one would starve if they could work. Even those incapable of
physical work could share other talents. It was a dignified
existence.''
The tribes called themselves ``salmon people.'' And it is easy to
understand why. In 1805, Lewis and Clark estimated seeing five tons of
dried salmon stacked in a single village near the Dalles.
The dawn of the 20th century brought change to the area with the
construction in 1913 of the Dalles-Celilo Canal, providing the first
safe passage around the falls. Then in the 1930s and 1940s, more
pressures built as down-river communities suffered from floods, river
traffic increased, and a Nation at war needed more electricity to power
its industry.
In 1950, Congress authorized the construction of the Dalles Dam, and
on March 10, 1957, the gates of this river-blocker closed and within
hours, silence overtook Celilo Falls, Wyam and the way of life known
for centuries.
Now, plans for construction of the dam were battled by Chief Tommy
Thompson as he and the tribal members knew that the end of the falls
would mean the end of life as they had known it. But they could not
stop the effort. Their village was relocated. The government paid
tribal members in one-time sums of nearly $4,000, and promised
sustained fisheries and access to new fishing sites.
Layfee Foster, of the Dalles, took this famous photograph of Chief
Tommy Thompson and his wife, Flora, and their granddaughter, Linda
George, whom I met at the ceremony at Celilo Falls last month.
I would like to read from Mr. Netboy's book again, as he eloquently
states the last of the first salmon rites that were held in April of
1956. He writes:
``On Sunday, April 20, 1956, when the Dalles Dam was about to be
enclosed and the Celilo fishery, dating back to a long forgotten time
would be inundated, I witnessed the last of the first salmon rites at
Celilo village. The day was warm and sunny, and hundreds of tribesmen
gathered for this sad occasion on the banks of the Columbia, the women
wearing multi-colored flowing dresses and scarves, and the men awkward-
fitting store clothes. Emissaries of Tommy Thompson, chief of the host
band, the Wyams, said to be over 100 years old, had to seek elsewhere
than the Columbia for salmon because an early spring thaw in the
mountains made it impossible to use the historic site to catch enough
fish for the festival. They bought 400 pounds of salmon in Portland,
and members of Warm Springs Reservation who had fishing rights at
Celilo helped out with donations of venison and roots for the occasion.
``The stolid, bronze-colored chief sat at the head table in the
longhouse, surrounded by silent and respectful tribesmen squatting on
mats on the earthen floor. Outside, slabs of salmon were being smoked
over log fires tended by women, just as when Lewis and Clark camped
here in 1805 and smoked a pipe of peace with the chief.
``Chief Thompson blessed the first fish caught a few days before and
made a speech in his native language that was charged with emotion.
Before it was over, the vigorous old man was weeping. Although I did
not understand a word, I could imagine the feelings that inspired him
as he saw the last bit of land held by the tribe about to go underwater
and the ancient picturesque fishery disappear. He had seen the white
settlers pour into the valley, and the baleful impact they made on the
natives' culture. The churning river where he had fished as a youth,
from rickety platforms, would become a placid lake. There were tears in
the eyes of many who listened to him.
``When the First Salmon rites were concluded, the chief permitted
newsmen to photograph him with his younger wife, Flora. Usually the
festival lasted a few days, but this time it was confined to one. There
were bone games in the afternoon and dances in the evening. The next
morning the Portland Oregonian reported an interview with Henry
Thompson, son of the chief, who said, and I quote, `When the dam is
finished and there are no more fish at Celilo, my father will still
live here and will die here. I too will die here. Both of us were born
at Celilo, and here,' pointing to the Indian cemetery on a bluff of the
village, `amid the rimrock, we will be buried.'
``Tommy Thompson died 3 years later, and without him, without the
roaring falls, and with salmon caught elsewhere, the First Salmon
ceremonies held occasionally at the new Celilo village built by the
Corps of Engineers on the bluff lost their flavor and meaning and were
eventually abandoned.''
Today the Dalles Dam employs 150 people, generates enough electricity
to power two cities the size of Portland, Oregon, helps control run-off
in the spring. The power it produces makes no carbon emissions and is
90 percent efficient.
Today the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is rehabilitating the Celilo
village, spending $13 million to build a new sewer plant, new houses, a
playground, school and update the water and electrical system. A new
longhouse was completed last year.
Today we memorialize the situation at Celilo, the loss of that great
falls and the work that remains ahead.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to the gentleman
from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) as much time as he may consume.
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy,
and I am pleased to join with my colleagues from Oregon in recognizing
the importance of the anniversary of the flooding of Celilo Falls.
Mr. Speaker, we have, in the Northwest, I think, in recent years,
started to re-evaluate our relationship to native peoples and to the
special sites that are holy for them.
I remember in my youth Celilo Falls when it was a site of the native
fishing, going by on a train, watching the dip netting, pulling these
fish from the falls. It was something that I didn't properly appreciate
at the time. People in my own family were talking about the great dam
that was about to be constructed, and using it as a metaphor for
progress in our community.
Well, transforming the mighty Columbia River into a machine that has
aided navigation and electric generation has had many positive aspects
for the Pacific Northwest, but it has been devastating for the Native
Americans.
Sadly, our history, since the treaty of 1855, has been one where we
have not always honored even the provisions in those treaties to Native
Americans. And particularly the site at Celilo, where we are talking
about over 10,000 years of history, strikes special significance. It is
an unparalleled meeting point for people of native tribes that, slowly
but surely, now we are starting to recognize, starting to appreciate,
the Federal Government is starting to invest in working with them to
restore the heritage. I hope that this recognition of the significance
of the 50th anniversary of the flooding of the falls might be another
signal that we are appreciating our responsibility in partnership with
native people, the need to work with them in terms of first foods, in
terms of historic sites, in terms of restoring the spirit of
partnership in those treaties too often that has not been observed.
I appreciate my colleague, Congressman Wu, bringing this forward. I
appreciate the Congress focusing attention on it today, but I hope it
is the beginning of a more sustained effort to keep faith with our
native people.
Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I cannot enhance or extend the word pictures
given by my colleague from Oregon and would, therefore, reserve the
balance of my time.
[[Page H3412]]
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, let me, if I may, inquire of the gentleman
from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce) if he has any additional speakers.
Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I do not have other speakers and would yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) that the House suspend the rules
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 217.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________