The NAYA Native American Literature class has been studying
the history of Celilo Falls, shown at right, and the impact of the building of
the dam on Native communities. Students wrote two-voice poems, capturing two
perspectives on the building of the dam and the loss of the falls. The voices
are distinguished between straight text and italics.
Dam and Culture
By Maria Olsen
I have been passed down
from generation to generation
I come to stay,
not leave
I am a spiritual place,
for I bring food and tradition to my people
I have been built
To stop this parade
The pain my people suffer,
I suffer
I destroyed the homes of many
Why is there still hope?
Falls and Profit
By Tosha Jones
I am at peace with nature
There are no jobs on my land
My water falls so peacefully
See my streams flow down
Pay us the price we need to provide
For our families and their families
The fish that flow within me
Go less and less from me
Save me!
Save me! Bring to me our share of pay
The waterfall was swallowed by water.
At the Water’s End
By Damien Stankewitsch
I energize the people
I provide energy for the people
I swim and eat daily
I sit and eat fish gravy
I penetrate the ecosystem naturally
While I imagine the world dividing
My home is in a spiritual place
Built upon walls tearing down river’s destiny
Dam life is not permanent
Automatic life is crucial
Sediment and litter clutter up my eyes
A building meant to stop, block and divert the water to
my sides
Everything tries to stop me, but I survive
I erode away until humans decide I’m more valuable than
to just die.
I Am
By Destiny Robideau
I am a woman, a mother and a wife
I am a woman, a mother and a wife
I love my family of five
I love my tribe of five hundred
I’m dressing for a family day out
I’m dressing for a long day at work
High heels, flower print dress and a blazer
Moccasins and an Elk skin dress
I keep my hair short and brush
Products through it
I keep my hair long, braided down my back with only bear
grease
I tell the children to go to the car
I tell the children to go and
get the fishing nets and spears
It’s a long drive to the site of the new dam
It’s a short walk to the beautiful falls
There are so many people here,
Crowded, waiting
There are more people here than usual,
So many white
people
We hear the machines fire up, it’s time!
What is that sound?
Why are people getting closer?
The children scream with excitement
There are tears in my children’s eyes
I take their hands
And we watch as this magnificent dam goes up
I take their hands
And try to explain
why we can’t fish today
We watched the whole day
We left as quickly as we arrived
Celilo
By Nene Johnson
The creator made the falls
He wants them back.
Why does he want them?
To bring peace to our tribes.
Why the rivers, the dams and the falls?
Because they give power and hope to our culture.
Why is it a spiritual place?
It’s a place of majestic power, a place we grew up and
grew to love.
How will the legend live on?
Where we stand is where we were made to make a legend.
What about your home the dam flooded?
We have our tribes. We rebuild them and love our culture
Even though it takes time, our people love the falls and
the river.
The creator made the falls; he wants them back
So we will do everything we can to bring them back.
Bear and Fish
By Rae Roulac
I am a bear who looks for food often
I am a fish who tries to stay out of harm’s way
I try to show my cubs how to get their food
I swim all day to get to the waters where I lay my
offspring
I claw at the cold, harsh waters
I try to get away in the cold, harsh waters
I go to a place of power
I go to a place of power
Celilo Falls
Celilo Falls
I am not that important to the waters
I am important to the waters
I fall into the cold river as I bite at the water
People come from all over to get me because I am a way of
life
The coming of the dam made it harder to get fish
The coming of the dams made it harder for me to spawn
I was sad as my cubs went hungry
We all started to die; we couldn’t spawn
We were saved
We were saved
I had food
I was able to spawn
I am a bear
I am a fish
This article appears in 2013-04-12.