Oregon Sea Grant

This documentary examines a turning point in the history of the Pacific Northwest. For more than 10,000 years the native peoples of the region lived successfully off the land and waters as hunters, gatherers, and fishers. Salmon was a mainstay of the Indians' diet, and the tribes of the Columbia River were particularly linked to the fish not only for their food but also as an integral part of their religion and way of life. For millennia Celilo Falls was the great Indian fishery on the mid-Columbia, and it drew Indians there from throughout the West to trade for salmon. But in 1957 the federal government began operation of a giant hydroelectric dam at The Dalles that drowned Celilo Falls and ended the fishery there.

Through a combination of rare historic films and photographs, Celilo Falls and the Remaking of the Columbia River provides a glimpse of life at Celilo as it once was, and considers the cultural, social and political forces that brought about its end, signaling a new era in the relationship between people and nature. The history of the development of the Columbia for industry and commerce is conveyed through archival film footage from the Bonneville Power Administration, the Oregon Historical Society, and other sources. This 2007 edition marks the 50th anniversary of the inundation, with additional rare Celilo footage provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 2007. 29 minutes, color, DVD.