“The Last Victims of the Indian War”:

1 William Yallup, Jr., quoted from The Confluence Project (2022b).

Celilo Falls, the Dalles Dam, and Infrastructural Colonization

Abstract

In 1957, the Dalles Dam was constructed on the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon. When the dam was completed, it inundated Celilo Falls, a Native American fishery and cultural gathering point that had been in use for at least 12,000 years. Prior to dam construction, the federal government and local agencies issued a number of reports stating the necessity of the dam for economic development through hydroelectric power generation, improved shipping navigation, flood control, and expanded irrigation capacity. These reports often sought to determine the financial payout that would be made to the groups with treaty rights to fish at their “usual and accustomed” places, such as Celilo Falls. However, the reports rarely engage with the cultural significance of Celilo Falls or the depth of opposition that people had to the dam. The research discussed here is based on archival government reports alongside the voices of affected tribal members preserved through The Confluence Project and other sources. This article develops the idea that reclamation infrastructure in the U.S. West plays a key role in colonizing efforts from federal to local scales, reflecting the aims of the settler state. Through an analysis of government documents alongside the recollections of Indigenous elders from the mid-Columbia region, this article offers insights into how reclamation infrastructure functions as an aspect of settler colonialism and relies on theorizations of this process from the people most affected by the loss of Celilo Falls.

1957年, 在美国华盛顿州和俄勒冈州之间的哥伦比亚河上建造了Dalles大坝。大坝建成后, 淹没了Celilo瀑布。Celilo瀑布是一个使用了至少12,000年的美洲原住民渔业和文化汇聚点。在大坝建成之前, 联邦政府和地方机构发布了一系列报告, 阐述了大坝通过水力发电、改善航运、防洪和扩大灌溉能力从而促进经济发展的必要性。这些报告试图确定支付给有条约权利在其“通常和习惯”地方(例如Celilo瀑布)捕鱼的团体的财政支出。然而, 这些报告很少涉及Celilo瀑布的文化意义以及对大坝的强烈反对。本文基于政府报告档案, 以及“汇流项目”等保存的受影响部落成员的声音。本文提出这样一种观点: 美国西部的开垦基础设施在联邦和地方的殖民行为中发挥着关键作用, 它反映了定居者国家的目标。通过分析政府文件和哥伦比亚中部地区土著老年人的回忆, 本文深入理解了作为定居者殖民主义的一个方面, 开垦基础设施如何发挥作用、并依赖于受Celilo瀑布淹没影响最大的人群对这一过程的理论化。

En 1957 se construyó la Represa de Dalles en el Río Columbia, entre los estados de Washington y Oregón. Cuando la presa se completó inundó el área de CeliloFalls, un sitio de pesca y punto de encuentros culturales que se había usado por lo menos durante 12.000 años. Antes de la construcción de la presa, el gobierno federal y las agencias locales difundieron un número de informes en los que se proclamaba la necesidad de la presa para el desarrollo económico inducido por la generación de energía hidroeléctrica, el mejoramiento de la navegación en barcos, el control de las inundaciones y la ampliación de la capacidad de riesgo. A menudo los informes buscaron enfatizar la compensación económica que sería entregado a los grupos que por tratado se concedieron derechos de pesca en sus lugares “habituales y acostumbrados”, como era el caso de Celilo Falls. Sin embargo, raramente se tocaba en esos informes la importancia cultural de aquellos rápidos del río, o la oposición profunda de la gente hacia la presa. La investigación que aquí se analiza se basa en los archivos de informes del gobierno, junto con las voces de los miembros tribales preservadas en el Proyecto de la Confluencia, y otras fuentes. El artículo elabora sobre la idea de que la infraestructura de recuperación de tierras en el Oeste de los EE.UU. juega un rol clave en los esfuerzos de colonización desde las esferas federales a las locales, reflejando los objetivos del Estado colonizador. A través del análisis de documentos gubernamentales, junto con los recuerdos de ancianos indígenas de la región central del Columbia, este artículo ofrece una visión sobre cómo funciona la infraestructura de la recuperación, como uno de los aspectos del colonialismo con pobladores, y se basa en las teorizaciones de este proceso provenientes de la gente más afectada por la pérdida de Celilo Falls.

Key Words:

• Columbia River
• Indigenous geographies
• reclamation
• settler colonialism
• U.S. West

关键词:

• 哥伦比亚河
• 土著地理
• 开垦
• 定居者殖民主义
• 美国西部

Palabras clave:

• colonialismo con pobladores
• geografías indígenas
• recuperación
• río Columbia

Acknowledgments

I remain forever inspired by and grateful for the mid-Columbia elders who have publicly shared their experiences to tell the story of Celilo Falls and their side of this history. I am grateful to Brian King and two anonymous reviewers for their generous and thoughtful feedback on this article. I am indebted to all those who helped along the way, whether by reading drafts, listening to me talk about the ideas, or holding space to write with me. I thank the archivists, record-keepers, and past researchers, without whom this work would not have been possible. Finally, I am thankful for a conversation long ago with my father, Greg Mott (1950–2005), who first told me about Celilo Falls and the dam.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 William Yallup, Jr., quoted from The Confluence Project (2022b).

2 Throughout this article, I have named specific tribal affiliations to the best of my ability. When speaking in broad terms, or in places where I could not determine tribal affiliation, I have used the terms Indigenous or Native American. In the absence of reliable information regarding tribal affiliations, I have used the (admittedly inadequate) terms Native American or Indigenous.

3 It is important to note that there were also unincorporated tribes in the area who historically fished at Celilo Falls and who were significantly marginalized in the processes leading up to construction of the dam. Fisher’s (2010) book is very helpful for understanding this history.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carrie Mott

CARRIE MOTT is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geographic and Environmental Sciences at the University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include the historical processes associated with settler colonialism and white hegemony in the U.S. West.