Gorge Festival of Nations Returns to Cascade Locks
Gorge Festival of Nations at Marina Park on June. Photo: Cole Goodwin
By Cole Goodwin
Cascade Locks, Ore., June 21, 2024 —The Columbia River Gorge Festival of Nations returned to Cascade Locks Port in Marina Park after a 14 year hiatus on Saturday, June 15. More than 1,000 people traveled from across the region to celebrate the traditions and culture of the Columbia River tribes.
A dancer greets a festival goer. Photo: Jill-Marie Gavin
“We served over 300 people with the salmon bake, had fifty plus dancers in regalia, thirty plus vendors, six Mayors plus other Gorge reps, ten traditional exhibitors, Six River Chiefs and Native representative speakers, and two drum circles,” said Emily Reed, Network Director of the Columbia Gorge Tourism Alliance.
The festival included a kids’ mini pow wow, demonstrations of the tribes’ cultural traditions, a salmon bake and food vendors, Native American vendors and talks by tribal chiefs and elected leaders.
“River chiefs and tribal elders delivered powerful talks on the history and resilience of the Columbia River tribes, addressing the federal government's obligations to honor trust responsibilities and highlighting the unjust prosecution of tribal fishers from the 1950s to the 1970s. Their stories of perseverance and community rebuilding were a reminder of the tribes' enduring and optimistic spirits,” said Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commisison in a post on facebook.
Photo: Jill-Marie Gavin
Chief Wilbur Slockish, Hereditary Chief of the Klickitat Band of the Yakama Nation was the first to speak. He told of how Cascade Locks used to be an Native American village and fishing site and reminded folks to be weary of historic colonial narratives which neglect the Native American perspective
“It wasn’t always what your history books say. This was an Indian fishing grounds,” said Slockish. “This area was not a big fishing area but a small one. And we traded with the coastal tribes. It wasn’t as big as Celilo but we had places here to fish. My family has a natural flat rock alongside the river that they could fish off. It’s underwater. We don’t have access to any of these flooded fishing sites.”
“We’ve lost a lot of fishing grounds for these dams…We don’t have too much left,” said Slockish. “So when you read your history books, remember it’s his story not our story…I don’t want to guilt trip anybody but you need to know these things. You need to know what happened here. How the railroads split villages, condemned the lands, took them from us.”
Slockish and many others spoke of how colonialism, the commodification of their first foods, and the dams on the Nch'i Wana (Big River) have “taken away a good way of life” and the need to advocate for the conservation of natural resources. Several seemed to make the point that their tribes were “river people” but the Columbia River is no longer a free and wild river, but rather a series of reservoirs. Many also spoke to how water quality, salmon and lamprey populations have deteriorated since the installation of the dams.
“And look how our water is. That water is very slow. It heats up. Our salmon are making the sacrifice too because they can’t live in hot water, they have to have cold water,” said Slockish.
Slockish, also spoke of how he remembered when schools sought to “civilize” him and other Native Americans in the area by denying them the right to speak their Native languages in schools.
“I started school in Klickitat and I’ll never forget those two teachers Mrs. Buckle and Mrs. Belfield. They said they were civilizing us. We couldn’t speak. We couldn’t interact and do the things we did,” said Slockish. “So please remember what our people have lost and we’re here to align with you to clean up this water, to let all of the foods grow.”
Teepees at Marina Park. Photo: Jill-Marie Gavin
Chief William Yallup Jr. also spoke to those gathered. He emphasized the importance of gathering lines such as the Festival of Nations, which allow people to speak their hearts.
“I hope that we can have kindness and purity of heart and mind like the air and water so we can open up and share our lives together, our history. We’re willing to share what we know with those who are willing to hear,” said Yallup.
Yallup also spoke to the importance of the Chief's role as a bridge, to help communities see less of each other's differences and more of each other’s likeness.
“We have a saying in our people that you allow somebody to free themselves with talk, so they don’t keep it inside. If they keep it inside; they’re not allowed to express themselves, it can make them sick. So we take the time to listen to each other, to take care of each other's heart, mind, spirit. We’re always supposed to be together, never separate,” said Yallup.
“So when we look at one another we don’t see difference. We see the likeness of what we have,” said Yallup.
Chief David Sohappy Jr. spoke of the “Fish Wars” of the 1960’s, and the 1982 federal sting operation which scapegoated and criminalized Columbia fisher people for diminishing salmon runs. During the Fish Wars, in an incident that came to be called “Salmon Scam” in the media Wanapum fishing rights activist David Sohappy, Sr.; his son David Jr.; Leroy Yocash. Matt McConville, and Wilbur Slockish, Jr., the Hereditary Chief of the Klickitat, spent years in prison for exercising treaty-protected rights to fish in their usual and accustomed places.
“He sentenced me to five years for fishing 28 fish,” said Sohappy Jr.
David Sohappy Sr. was also sentenced to five years for selling 317 fish to federal sting agents. The case was presided over by Judge Jack Tanner or “Maximum Jack” as Sohappy dubbed him.
David Sohappy Sr. quickly became a symbol of resistance in the eyes of the nation.
David Jr. also recalled conversations he’d had with his dad and how they spoke of what they would do when they got out of prison.
“In prison:
“Oh Dad when you get out we’ll do some real father and son things too.”
“Oh yeah? What are we going to do?”
“We’re going to go fishing.”
“He just laughed,” said Sohappy.
Sohappy also shared how his father, mother, and himself had retained their sense of humor despite everything.
“One time a reporter asked my father, if they make a movie out of you Mr. Sohappy who would you want to portray you? And he goes…Tom Selleck,” said Sohappy, delighting audiences with some humor.
Other tribal leaders and elders also spoke to the animosity they experienced from the federal government and sports fisherman following the court decisions that came out of the 1960’s fish wars that affirmed tribal fishing rights, missing and murdered indigenous people, environmental deterioration, the importance of fire ecology, the inundation of Celilo falls, religion, Native Americans in Congress and the impact of wind turbines and dams on important first foods.
“We’re losing our foods,” said one leader.
Salmon baking at the event. Photo: Jill-Marie Gavin
Kat Brigham of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, spoke to tribal efforts to return salmon to the Umatilla River and the importance of protecting and preserving natural resources.
“We used to be able to drink from the Columbia River, I remember somebody asked Wilbur will you drink that water and he said ‘you can’t pay me to drink that water’. And he’s not the only one. That water used to be drinkable up until The Dalles dam was built,” said Brigham,
“We need other people to say yes, the environment is important. Working together gets us there. We need to be willing to say we are willing to do this. We are willing to move forward to rebuild our natural resources for future generations. And it’s not just our culture, our traditions, and our future, it’s everyone’s,” said Brigham.
Following presentations by tribal leaders and elders, youth dancers shared dances passed down from generation to generation. The dances were followed by a salmon bake, stick games, basket weaving demonstrations and a mini pow wow.
Youth dancers perform a dance at the Gorge Festival of Nations. Photo: Cole Goodwin
Vendors serving up fry bread at the event. Photo: Cole Goodwin
Photo: Jill-Marie Gavin
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