Celilo Falls
I am writing a large-scale work for chamber orchestra with text and story-telling by Ed Edmo (Shoshone-Bannock) and photographic images by Joe Cantrell (Cherokee), titled "Celilo Falls: We Were There," which explores the geologic and human history of Celilo Falls and portrays the experience of the Native Americans who lost not only their livelihoods but their cultural anchor when the Dalles Dam flooded the Falls in 1957. Ed Edmo is a renowned poet and storyteller, and will tell this story as only he can, incorporating Native legends and personal recollections. Images by photographer Joe Cantrell will add an immersive element, conveying a sense of Native peoples’ long presence there and the universality of the power of place.
The plan was for the Siletz Bay Music Festival to premiere one section of the complete work this summer, but SBMF has been cancelled for this summer, a COVID-19 casualty. The plan is still for the complete work to be included in a concert by Portland Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Yaacov Bergman, to celebrate the opening of the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in Beaverton, OR in the Fall of 2021. The music, words and images will join together in a multimedia depiction of the history of Celilo Falls and the Native communities who have lived there for millennia -- from the Missoula floods that formed the gorge, the inundation of the Falls on March 10, 1957 and to the present day experience of those who have lost so much. The project will also include educational and participatory activities for the public hosted by the Reser Center.
I am deeply moved by the history of Celilo Falls, and also aware that many Oregonians are not aware of what was there and what was lost. The flooding of Celilo Falls on March 10, 1957 and the destruction of the traditional fishery there was a heartbreaking and irremediable loss for the Native peoples whose culture had been closely intertwined with the river and its salmon for at least 11,000 years. Many non-Native people don’t realize what happened – what was there before and that the people who lost so much in 1957 are still suffering. The flooding of Celilo, a byproduct of “progress” towards cheap electricity, flood control and easier river navigation, was a devastating blow for cultures already suffering from oppression. I am motivated to amplify the voice of Ed Edmo and those who are still suffering from that loss, and to use the power of music to bring a wide audience together in a shared emotional experience.
The plan was for the Siletz Bay Music Festival to premiere one section of the complete work this summer, but SBMF has been cancelled for this summer, a COVID-19 casualty. The plan is still for the complete work to be included in a concert by Portland Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Yaacov Bergman, to celebrate the opening of the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in Beaverton, OR in the Fall of 2021. The music, words and images will join together in a multimedia depiction of the history of Celilo Falls and the Native communities who have lived there for millennia -- from the Missoula floods that formed the gorge, the inundation of the Falls on March 10, 1957 and to the present day experience of those who have lost so much. The project will also include educational and participatory activities for the public hosted by the Reser Center.
I am deeply moved by the history of Celilo Falls, and also aware that many Oregonians are not aware of what was there and what was lost. The flooding of Celilo Falls on March 10, 1957 and the destruction of the traditional fishery there was a heartbreaking and irremediable loss for the Native peoples whose culture had been closely intertwined with the river and its salmon for at least 11,000 years. Many non-Native people don’t realize what happened – what was there before and that the people who lost so much in 1957 are still suffering. The flooding of Celilo, a byproduct of “progress” towards cheap electricity, flood control and easier river navigation, was a devastating blow for cultures already suffering from oppression. I am motivated to amplify the voice of Ed Edmo and those who are still suffering from that loss, and to use the power of music to bring a wide audience together in a shared emotional experience.