Rivers Reborn · Episode 7 of 12 · 30 min
Ceremony of Tears: The Drowning of Celilo Falls
In 1957 the gates of a new dam closed and Celilo Falls, one of the oldest fishing sites in North America, vanished in hours. The episode centers the treaty question the dams raised and mostly ignored: the 1855 Stevens treaties' 'usual and accustomed' fishing right, the 1940 Ceremony of Tears at Kettle Falls, and the legal fiction that the treaties were unbroken.
Who's who
- Isaac Ingalls StevensWashington's first territorial governor who negotiated the 1855 treaties
Where it happens
- Celilo Falls, Columbia RiverOne of the oldest fishing sites in North America, drowned in 1957
- Kettle Falls, Columbia River, WashingtonGreat fishery drowned by Grand Coulee's reservoir
- Colville Reservation, Washington+2 more episodesHome of the tribes who hosted the 1940 Ceremony of Tears
- The Dalles Dam, Columbia RiverDam whose reservoir drowned Celilo Falls
Timeline
- June 9, 1855Stevens treaties reserve the right to fish at usual and accustomed places.
- 1933-1942Grand Coulee Dam is built with no fish passage.
- June 14-16, 1940Ceremony of Tears held at Kettle Falls, drawing an estimated 8,000-10,000 people.
- July 1941Kettle Falls slips beneath Lake Roosevelt.
- 1957Dam gates close and Celilo Falls vanishes in hours.
Still debated
Whether drowning a fishing place while leaving the paper right intact honors or breaks the 1855 promise is contested, though later litigation largely vindicated the tribes' view that the right survived. The adequacy of the monetary settlements is also questioned.