Louie Pitt (Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs) talks about the devastation of the river and the extinction of over-fished species. 1:19.

Bio: Louie Pitt works for the Warm Springs tribe in Governmental Relations. Louie Pitt works to continue traditional culture education opportunities, and advocates for treaty rights and protection of natural resources. He is the brother of artist Lillian Pitt.

Transcription:

“My dad used to talk about there were lots of Celilos up and down the river, it became famous because it was the last place left. Pretty much the story of Indian people on the River was just getting displaced all the time. All up and down the River. The best fishing spots were taken over by non-Indians. Fish wheels wiped out whole runs of fish, whole runs–they call them ‘races’ too–never be seen again. No genetics, nothing left them. They were wiped out totally. They would do that with the fish wheels. And Oregon was behind Washington to make those illegal. But Indian people would just scratch their heads and just wonder what kind of dummies are these guys? They make their living off fish but yet they’ll destroy whole runs and they’ll never come back again. Gee whiz you know, cause our Indian ways is you know, you view the circle of life as being important.”