Overview
Lesson 1: A Treaty is Supreme
Lesson 2: Shopping at Celilo
Lesson 3: Traditional Homelands, Traditional Foods
Lesson 4: How Salmon Teach Us History
Lesson 5: Defining What’s Important in Your Life
Standards
GEOGRAPHY
- SS.CM.GE.03—Locate and identify places, regions, and geographic features that have played prominent roles in historical or contemporary issues and events.
- SS.CM.GE.04—Analyze changes in the physical and human characteristics of places and regions, and the effects of technology, migration, and urbanization on them.
- SS.CM.GE.05—Understand how worldwide transportation and communication patterns have affected the flow and interactions of people, ideas, and products.
- SS.CM.GE.06—Analyze and evaluate the impact of economic, cultural or environmental factors that result in changes to population of cities, countries, or regions.
CD Segments to Play
For this topic, go to Historical Introduction with Arlie Neskahi.
Neskahi: With the signing of the Walla Walla Treaty of 1855, many of the tribes along the Columbia were moved to the timbered forests and rangelands 90 miles to the south. They were joined in 1879 by members of the Northern Paiute. In 1957, the traditional fishing sites along the Columbia River were flooded by The Dalles Dam. It was a tragic loss for these nations.
However, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indians have graciously and courageously maintained their rich way of life, hunting deer and elk, fishing for salmon and eels, and gathering huckleberries and camas roots. Their 640,000 acre reservation runs along the Deschutes river up to the crest of the Cascade Mountain Range.
Using their timber and agricultural resources, they have become good stewards of the land they now call home. In 1980, they purchased back a traditional fishing site along the Deschutes River. Also on the Deschutes, a hydro-electric project is now jointly owned and managed by the Warm Springs Tribes and a local power company. The Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort and Casino generates income and tourism. The tribe is positioned for a prosperous future but retains the values of its heritage.
Background
Suggested Strategies
Activities
1. Mapping exercise
Study a map of north central Oregon and identify the landmarks mentioned on the CD. Outline the traditional homelands for the three tribes that comprise the Warm Springs Confederation. Find present-day Celilo Falls and go to websites on the Internet that describe the area and its history such as www.ccrh.org/ for a comprehensive history of the Columbia River system, including a close look at The Dalles dam and others that impacted salmon fisheries and www.critfc.org/ which contains a map showing salmon restoration projects in the basin.
2. Discuss
Describe huckleberries and their sociocultural meaning, habitat and locations on a map of the area. Describe camas in a similar manner. Determine if these plants also grow in your area. Describe the role of salmon in native culture for Columbia River tribes and those who traded to obtain fresh and cured salmon. For your own culture, are there also foods and customs that define your history, your values and your belief systems? How do operation of a power company, resort and casino compare to the lifestyle of Warm Springs ancestors?