Overview
Lesson 1: The Importance of the Land
Lesson 2: Trade among the Columbia River People
Lesson 3: European Contact and the Impact on Tribal Life
Lesson 4: Retaining Traditions
Lesson 5: Remembering the Ancestors
Standards
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
EL.CM.RE.08—Understand, learn, and use new vocabulary that is introduced and taught directly through informational text, literary text, and instruction across the subject areas.
EL.CM.WR.02—Discuss ideas for writing with classmates, teachers, and other writers, and develop drafts alone and collaboratively.
EL.CM.SL.10—Formulate judgments about ideas under discussion, and support those judgments with convincing evidence.
EL.CM.WR.30—Synthesize information from multiple sources and identify complexities and discrepancies in the information and the different perspectives found in each medium.
CD Segments to Play
Background
“On October 23rd, the sound of the falls beckoned to Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery as they rowed down the quickening current of the Columbia toward what is today called Celilo Falls.”
From Wisdom of the Elders Radio Series 3, Program 6
And so, with Lewis and Clark, there began a change in the way of life of the tribes of the Columbia. Fur trappers, traders and immigrants from the east began to come into the area, lured by tales of richness and bounty.
In 1821, the Hudson’s Bay Company built Fort Vancouver, not far from the Wasco and Warm Springs homeland. A Methodist Mission was built in 1838 at The Dalles and by 1852 as many as 12,000 settlers crossed through the land of the Warm Springs.
In a treaty in 1855, a reservation was established for the Warm Springs, but in doing so, the tribes lost approximately ten million acres. The reservation itself was isolated and located south of the Columbia River in an area considered unusable by settlers. On this land, the people of Warm Springs attempted to sustain themselves, but the land did not provide the wealth that was possible along the Columbia River. The trading system was no longer workable and federal policies and laws forced the Warm Springs people to abandon the former lifestyles in favor of “modern” technologies such as the logging industry, schools and cities.
In 1937, the Warm Springs, Wasco and Paiute formed the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs which began a long period of self-government that still exists today. The confederation has since gone on to begin operation of Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort and Casino and many other Indian owned enterprises. (Kah-Nee-Ta Village was completed in 1964 and named for the Indian woman Xnitla, “Root Digger” who had owned the property. Xnitla was a scout and spiritual leader who used the natural hot springs and indigenous plants and roots for medicinal purposes and religious ceremonies.)
Suggested Strategies
Activities
Discuss
Discuss the coming of the trappers, traders and settlers. For the most part, these people were well received by the Columbia River tribes until they saw that the immigrants were taking control of the land. Ask the following questions:
Why did the Columbia River tribes greet the newcomers with friendliness?
What might have happened to make things change?
How did change affect the tribes?
Writing exercise
Each student will try to visualize themselves as a tribal member. Have them write their impressions of seeing the first explorers. Be sure they give descriptions of how the explorers traveled, what they looked like and what kind of clothing they were wearing. An important part of the narrative is “What is my first impression of the visitors? How did I feel?”
Discuss some of the responses.
Research
Allow time for the three student groups to research their project.
Vocabulary
Kah-Nee-Ta
barter
isolated
treaty
