Along The Columbia River

Along The Columbia River

The Columbia River (Inchi Wana) is home to many bands, villages, and tribes of the Native American people since time immemorial. The Natives have been and remained here along the Columbia River for many generations through there ancestors and long before colonialism. This tour will take you on an adventure of the scenic views along the Columbia River. These sites that you are about adventure all have significant meaning and are rich with beautiful views of the river, so don’t forget to take some photos. As you follow and travel along the Columbia River you will see the Indian fishing platforms along the riverbank throughout the gorge. In the treaties of 1855, the Tribes of the area ceded lands to the federal government but they retained some rights.
Indigenous foods, culture, and history intertwine throughout the Columbia River Gorge. When you visit the Gorge today, the stories of Native Americans who’ve lived here for time immemorial spring forth and run deep and powerfully—just like the salmon and steelhead who’ve migrated through the Columbia River for thousands of years. Collectively, salmon, huckleberries, and camas roots are among some of the “first foods” of Oregon in Indigenous communities, because they’ve provided nourishment since before contact with Europeans. The Mt. Hood and the Columbia River Gorge region is one of Oregon’s premier locations for all three of these “first foods,” so we’ve created a guide for how you can explore, learn their importance, and experience them for yourselves.
The salmon and the tribes are indelibly linked, and their history spans the entire length of the Columbia River Basin including Troutdale, to Cascade Locks, and out to the site of the former Celilo Falls, past The Dalles. The Cascade Mountains extend 700 miles north-to-south, but the Gorge is the only passage through the range that drops to sea level. As such, it’s the ideal passage route for steelhead and salmon whose life cycle depends on migrating from upriver spawning grounds to the ocean, and back again. The fish are a vital underpinning to multiple tribes’ heritage, diets, religions, and culture. The river and salmon today continue as a crucial focal point in Native American culture for the entire region.