The purpose of this essay is to examine and analyze Katrine Barber's book, "Death of Celilo Falls". In this book, Barber successfully seeks to tell the story of a momentous event in the history of the West, the building of the Dalles Dam in 1957. Celilo Falls was part of a nine-mile area of the Long Narrows on the Columbia River. Despite the fact that the Celilo Village still survives to this day in the state of Oregon (it is the state's oldest continuously inhabited town), the assembly of The Dalles Dam in 1957 changed the way of life for the surrounding areas forever. Barber tells this story very well, and as it is the first book-length account of the inundation of Celilo Falls, it is a very valuable and insightful look at an influential event in the history of the American West. Barber's purpose for writing the book is summed up in the introductory chapter of the book when she says, "
this book examines what happened to two neighboring communities when a large public dam was built adjacent to them." (pg. 9). She goes on to say "This is not a story about impersonal federal force swooping down to rearrange two defenseless communities: it explores relationships between federal representatives and local residents, as well as between residents of The Dalles and Celilo Village." (pg. 9). Barber argues that the Columbia River and those living in its vicinity would never again be the same. The effects of the building of the dam have impacted society up until this very day, with Barber describing the dam as "a tangible reminder if the complexity of Indian-white treaties and their ongoing negotiation, the simultaneous promise and destruction of progress, the loss of a natural river and the life it sustained, and the transformative power ...
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...ry ago. One of the fascinating things about Barber's book is its showing how the federal government framed this project (and all dam projects) as essential to winning the Cold War. The propaganda was: Dams mean cheap electricity, boundless economic growth, more jobs and a defeated Soviet Union. In that context, how could native peoples and their ancient customs stand in the way? Barber also makes very good use of primary sources (despite the lack of those from the native tribes), as well as pictures and charts to illustrate her points clearly and effectively. "Death of Celilo Falls" does not seek to romanticize this important event in history, as can be seen simply by the choice of title, but nor is it completely biased towards one side. This book is and will be an influential point of reference for future historians looking to interpret what happened at Celilo Falls.
There are many ways in which we can view the history of the American West. One view is the popular story of Cowboys and Indians. It is a grand story filled with adventure, excitement and gold. Another perspective is one of the Native Plains Indians and the rich histories that spanned thousands of years before white discovery and settlement. Elliot West’s book, Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers and the Rush to Colorado, offers a view into both of these worlds. West shows how the histories of both nations intertwine, relate and clash all while dealing with complex geological and environmental challenges. West argues that an understanding of the settling of the Great Plains must come from a deeper understanding, a more thorough knowledge of what came before the white settlers; “I came to believe that the dramatic, amusing, appalling, wondrous, despicable and heroic years of the mid-nineteenth century have to be seen to some degree in the context of the 120 centuries before them” .
“California is a story. California is many stories.” But whose story is heard? What stories are forgotten? In the memoir, Bad Indians, Native American writer and poet Deborah A. Miranda constructs meaning about the untold experiences of indigenous people under the colonial period of American history. Her memoir disrupts a “coherent narrative” and takes us on a detour that deviates from the alleged facts presented in our high school history books. Despite her emphasis on the brutalization of the Indigenous people in California during the colonization period, Miranda’s use of the Christian Novena, “Novena to Bad Indians,” illustrates an ‘absurd’ ironic stance amidst cruelty and violence. The elocution of the Novena itself, and the Christian
In a lively account filled that is with personal accounts and the voices of people that were in the past left out of the historical armament, Ronald Takaki proffers us a new perspective of America’s envisioned past. Mr. Takaki confronts and disputes the Anglo-centric historical point of view. This dispute and confrontation is started in the within the seventeenth-century arrival of the colonists from England as witnessed by the Powhatan Indians of Virginia and the Wamapanoag Indians from the Massachusetts area. From there, Mr. Takaki turns our attention to several different cultures and how they had been affected by North America. The English colonists had brought the African people with force to the Atlantic coasts of America. The Irish women that sought to facilitate their need to work in factory settings and maids for our towns. The Chinese who migrated with ideas of a golden mountain and the Japanese who came and labored in the cane fields of Hawaii and on the farms of California. The Jewish people that fled from shtetls of Russia and created new urban communities here. The Latinos who crossed the border had come in search of the mythic and fabulous life El Norte.
The Plains region extends from south Canada into modern-day Mexico and from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. The relatively large area hosts many Native American tribes, which includes the Comanche, Kiowa, and Pawnee just to name a few. One of the biggest events and aspects of Plains region culture is what is known as the Powwow. This event is what makes this region unique and will be the main focus of this part of the essay.
Joseph Porter’s, “A River of Promise” provides a detailed report of the first explorers of the North American West. The piece engages in a well written secondary source to argue that the expedition of Lewis and Clark, the two famously known for exploring the American Western frontier, were credited for significant findings that were not completely their own. Joseph C. Porter utilizes text from diaries and journals to highlight the help and guidance from the natives and prior European explorers which ultimately allowed the Lewis and Clark expedition to occur. The document by Porter also reveals that Lewis and Clark at the time were establishing crucial government documents which were the structure for scientific, technological and social understanding
Hooks, Gregory, and Chad Smith. “The Treadmill of Destruction: National Sacrifice Areas and Native Americans.” American Sociological Review 69.4 (2004): 558-575. EBSCO Host. Web. 01 December, 2009.
Over the years, the idea of the western frontier of American history has been unjustly and falsely romanticized by the movie, novel, and television industries. People now believe the west to have been populated by gun-slinging cowboys wearing ten gallon hats who rode off on capricious, idealistic adventures. Not only is this perception of the west far from the truth, but no mention of the atrocities of Indian massacre, avarice, and ill-advised, often deceptive, government programs is even present in the average citizen’s understanding of the frontier. This misunderstanding of the west is epitomized by the statement, “Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier thesis was as real as the myth of the west. The development of the west was, in fact, A Century of Dishonor.” The frontier thesis, which Turner proposed in 1893 at the World’s Columbian Exposition, viewed the frontier as the sole preserver of the American psyche of democracy and republicanism by compelling Americans to conquer and to settle new areas. This thesis gives a somewhat quixotic explanation of expansion, as opposed to Helen Hunt Jackson’s book, A Century of Dishonor, which truly portrays the settlement of the west as a pattern of cruelty and conceit. Thus, the frontier thesis, offered first in The Significance of the Frontier in American History, is, in fact, false, like the myth of the west. Many historians, however, have attempted to debunk the mythology of the west. Specifically, these historians have refuted the common beliefs that cattle ranging was accepted as legal by the government, that the said business was profitable, that cattle herders were completely independent from any outside influence, and that anyone could become a cattle herder.
...dly will the importance and dependence remain? Based on the tribe’s resilience in fighting any opposition and retaining traditional values, the importance of the river will not decline. Even as society has shifted from traditional tribal life to the modern world, there has been minimal cultural decline except in cultural language retention. Although there is no longer physical dependence on the river to feed an entire tribe, there is still emotional dependence. As long as elders continue to pass down stories with important values children will continue to protect their land. Other than environmental groups, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe is responsible for the major push to preserve the Olympic National Park’s most significant river. The strong ideology and political push of the Klallam tribe was responsible for the biggest dam removal to date in the United States.
Davidson, James W., and Michael B. Stoff. The American Nation. Eaglewood Cliffs: Paramount Communications, 1995.
Stevens, Joseph E.. Hoover Dam: an American adventure. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990. Print.
"Chapter 2 Western Settlement and the Frontier." Major Problems in American History: Documents and Essays. Ed. Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman, Edward J. Blum, and Jon Gjerde. 3rd ed. Vol. II: Since 1865. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. 37-68. Print.
McCullough presents a meticulously researched, detailed account of the Johnstown Flood of May 31st 1889, which provides arguments for why the disaster was both “the work of man” and “a visitation of providence”. However, it is apparent that McCullough believes that man was more responsible than nature/god for the extent of the catastrophe. In McCullough’s opinion, the storm that caused the flood was no more than the inevitable stimulus of the disaster, whereas the deferred maintenance and poor repairs on the dam were the primary reason that Johnstown was devastated in 1889. McCullough exposes the failed duties of Benjamin Ruff and other members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, whilst simultaneously questioning the responsibility of the Johnstown folk who were concerned about the safety of the dam but complacently trusted the wealthy, powerful club members to fulfil their responsibilities. McCullough clearly explains the debate that took place immediately after the flood, on what or whom was to blame for the disaster, by explaining the views of the press, the townspeople and the lawsuits that were filed. McCullough’s view is evident from the sub-title of his book. By placing the word “natural” within quotation marks, McCullough immediately suggests that the flood was unusual to any other, and implies that mankind has displaced its blame onto nature.
In Thomas Nagel’s “Death,” he questions whether death is a bad thing, if it is assumed that death is the permanent end of our existence. Besides addressing whether death is a bad thing, Nagel focuses on whether or not it is something that people should be fearful of. He also explores whether death is evil. Death is defined as permanent death, without any form of consciousness, while evil is defined as the deprivation of some quality or characteristic. In his conclusion, he reaffirms that conscious existence ends at death and that there is no subject to experience death and death ultimately deprives a person of life. Therefore, he states that Death actually deprives a person of conscious existence and the ability to experience. The ability to experience is open ended and future oriented. If a person cannot permanently experience in the future, it is a bad or an evil. A person is harmed by deprivation. Finally, he claims that death is an evil and a person is harmed even though the person does not experience the harm.
Kagan, Donald, Steven Ozment, and Frank M. Turner. The Western Heritage. 9th ed. Vol. A. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2006.
Eavan Boland’s poem “Amber” was published in the Atlantic Monthly in December of 2005. This poem starts off sad, talking about a death of a friend and how grieving seemed to last forever. Boland shows us this through lines one through five. It then goes on saying that if you think of all the good memories that the grieving process will pass and you can be happy when thinking about the lost friend. Boland’s poem “Amber” is showing us that grieving shouldn’t last forever and that memories can take away the horrible feelings and bring happiness when thinking about a lost loved one.