Death of Celilo Falls by Katrine Barber

Author:Katrine Barber [Barber, Katrine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, State & Local, West (AK; CA; CO; HI; ID; MT; NV; UT; WY), Americas (North; Central; South; West Indies)
ISBN: 9780295800929
Google: Gxn2sAdFEyoC
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Published: 2011-07-01T00:42:58+00:00

C. G. Davis, Bureau of Indian Affairs field agent at The Dalles; Andrew Barnhart, Celilo Fish Committee chairman; and Tommy Thompson, chief of the Wyam; all standing in front of Thompson’s fish drying shed at Celilo Village, 1940. National Archives—Pacific Northwest Region.

Two of the men most responsible for governing the community in the 1940s and 1950s were Chief Tommy Thompson and Bureau of Indian Affairs subagent C. G. Davis. Tommy Thompson had been elected salmon chief of the Wyams when he was about twenty years old. He aided in governing Celilo, provided spiritual guidance to the community, and oversaw the fishing activities at the falls. According to Thompson, “Every year during fishing season I am always giving lectures” regarding restrictions and accident prevention. Illness prevented him from speaking to fishers directly in 1940, but from his bed he decreed that only five men were to fish at any given time, that fishing would stop for the day at 6:30 P.M., and that those who indulged in drink would not be permitted to fish.12 In a later interview, Russell Jim recalled how Thompson insured escapement of some of the salmon run:

One day, usually on a Sunday, he’d go down there and put two, three locks on somebody’s cable cars…. He’d shut that down at least three to five days to let fish go by. You know, without going out there and writing a note or declaring war or yelling or anything—a little symbol of a lock here and there, and the word would get around, ‘Hey, he shut us down.’ No dispute. It would stop until they went down and the lock is gone, and they say, ‘Okay, now we can go back to fishing again.’13

Federal, state, and county officials understood that without Thompson’s approval, the community would not accept proposed projects, relocations, or regulations.

The qualities that made Thompson highly regarded by Indians at Celilo Village were the qualities that often caused BIA officials to complain. Thompson persistently fought for his treaty rights, which he interpreted broadly in the favor of Indian people. Thompson had some important white allies: Marshall Dana, with the U.S. National Bank of Portland and eventually editor of the Oregon Journal, and Martha McKeown, a prominent resident of Hood River and author of children’s books.14 Thompson was adept at drawing publicity to issues significant to Celilo residents and exerting outside influence on those who officially oversaw the community. Because of his skills, white officials perceived Thompson as a difficult person.

BIA subagent Davis frequently characterized Thompson as someone who attempted to “work the system,” using his ethnicity and position to demand special treatment. When Thompson’s wife, Ellen Andrews, died, Davis complained that Thompson burned her mattress, a traditional practice, and then expected the agency to replace it. He also became exasperated at Thompson’s numerous requests that the BIA or the Wasco County welfare office offset the cost of feeding “Indians who come and stay … on account of old Indian custom.”15 To Davis it seemed apparent that if Thompson could not afford to feed guests, he should not invite them to stay.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.