Matt Winters | Chinook Observer | June 22, 2021 |
TANSY POINT — As they have for many years, representatives of the Chinook Indian Nation gathered June 19 to pay tribute to the honorary First Salmon to return to the Columbia River.
It was a more private ceremony than in recent years when held at Chinook Point in Fort Columbia State Park — a site with deep significance for the tribe that has lived around the Columbia’s lower estuary since ancient times. This year, in recognition of pandemic dangers, only a few invited tribal members met across the river at Tansy Point in northern Clatsop County.
Under the leadership of Chairman Tony Johnson, the tribe two years ago bought 10 acres along Tansy Creek. The property is near where, in the summer of 1851, members of all five Chinookan tribes gathered to negotiate with Anson Dart, the first superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Oregon Territory, to avoid relocation east of the Cascade Mountains. It is the only known instance when all tribal ancestors were gathered in one place, Johnson said in 2019.
The Chinook plan a cultural center similar to the Cathlapotle Plankhouse built in the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge at the site of a former Chinookan village once visited by the Corps of Discovery in 1805.
Led by tribal elders, this past weekend’s ceremony included solemn expressions of thanks to the salmon, which have nourished tribal members for many generations and which play a central role in Chinook beliefs about the balance between humanity and nature. There also was time for laughing conversations as tribal members caught up on the news and gossip of this troubled past year.
