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Relocation and the Celilo Village Community

2007; Oregon Historical Society; Volume: 108; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/ohq.2007.0002

2329-3780

Carol Craig,

Archaeology and Natural History

CAROL CRAIG Relocation and the Celilo Village Community ON FEBRUARY 15, 1955, thetribal peoplewho residedatCelilo Falls, about fiftyin all, began conducting weekly meetings to discuss their eventual relocation to the new village across the highway. Celilo Village would be disrupted by both The Dalles Dam and a railroad right-of-way relocation that resulted from the dam's construction. The Celilo people wanted to remain by thebones of their ancestors? a cemetery on top of thehigh bluff overlooking the falls.They wanted to restore theirworship pole, which had been destroyed bywhite vandals, and place it in front of the longhouse. The bird on top of the pole was a symbol of the chief of the village and carried the chief's messages to the Creator. At aMarch 16,1955,meeting, the group adopted the name Celilo Com munity Club and elected Edward Edmo, Sr., as chairman, Bill Tahkeal as vice-chair, Shirley Bacon, as Secretary/Treasurer, and Edwin Edsall as Sgt at-arms. Abe Showaway served as interpreter for tribal elders, including the last fisheries chief at Celilo, Tommy Thompson, at whose house many of themeetings were held. Chief Thompson had worried for a long time about what would happen to the people who wanted to stay by the river and not go to the reservations. The meeting minutes and records of correspondence document the people's determination tomaintain control over the ancient village, which is located tenmiles east of The Dalles, on theOregon side of theColumbia River. Only a sign on Interstate 84 designates the location of the falls now silent and gone. This essay isadapted from a talkCarol Craiggave at the "Celilo Stories" conference inThe Dalles, Oregon, in March 2007. OHQ vol. 108, no. 4 ? 2007 Oregon Historical Society The Celilo Community Club invited officials from theU.S Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Indian Affairs aswell as their own attorneys tomeetings, where they discussed what was going to take place and how itwould affect them. Being un-enrolled on any reservation, many people living at Celilo Falls were considered non-reservation Indians. At aMarch 8,1955, meeting, Percy M. Othus of theCorps of Engineers discussed how the agency would address "the general fishing problem": You have rights by treaties. That problem has been pretty well solvedbyvirtueof tribal rights. We have signed settlement with the Warmsprings [sic],Umatilla and Yakima tribe. They signedwith theengineers. We have agreed topay the tribes$3,750 foreach member. So all the Indians in this room and anywhere else take part in that settlement. Now the Indianswho arenot enrolled andwho livehere and have interestinthefishing rights will be settled with individually.' He went on to explain that the "other ... problem, namely the acquisition of Indian properties, houses, etc_is being handled by our Real Estate Division."2 Craig, Relocation and theCommunity atCelilo Village 699 Children play nearChief Thompson s home,where many Celilo Community Club meetingswere held,while he and Flora Thompson lookon inOctober 1949. Many whites dismissedCelilo Village homes as "shacks,"and the ArmyCorps initiallyassumed that it would be responsibleonlyfor their market value. The Celilo Community Club and efforts by concerned citizens like Wasco County Judge Ward Webber persuaded the federal government toprovidefundsfor new homes to villagerswho lostthem. One week later, Othus told the group: "We have got tobuild thatdam and railroad. You have got the problems of fishing and relocation."3 He empha sized that the five or six families in theway of the new railroad right-of-way would have to be moved by July1955 and the restwould have to be moved by October 1956.At the same meeting, J.W.Elliott, BIA superintendent at Warm Springs, told the Celilo Community Club that if their homes were in the proposed right-of-way of the railroad, then the procedure for buy ing the houses would take place and, if the government didn't agree with theCelilo people's price, then their property would be condemned and the matter would be taken to court. Othus said that his agency had no legiti mate authority to give relocation funds beyond themarket appraisal of the 700 OHQ vol. 108, no. 4 buildings themselves. Henry Thompson, Tommy Thompson's son, noted that "the drying...