| Celilo Falls | |
|---|---|
| Wyam | |
 Dipnet fishing at Celilo Falls in the 1950s | |
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| Location | Between Wasco County, Oregon and Klickitat County, Washington |
| Coordinates | 45°38′58″N 120°58′41″W / 45.64945°N 120.97792°W |
| Type | Segmented steep cascade; submerged since 1957 |
| Watercourse | Columbia River |
Celilo Falls (/səˈlaɪloʊ/;[1] called Wyam, meaning "echo of falling water" or "sound of water upon the rocks," in several native languages) was a tribal fishing area on the Columbia River, just east of the Cascade Mountains, on what is today the border between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington. The name refers to a series of cascades and waterfalls on the river, as well as to the native settlements and trading villages that existed there in various configurations for 15,000 years. Celilo was the oldest continuously inhabited community on the North American continent until 1957, when the falls and nearby settlements were submerged by the construction of The Dalles Dam.[2] In 2019, there were calls by tribal leaders to restore the falls.[3]
- ^ Noe, Katherine Schlick (2011). Something to Hold. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 0547558139. p. 250: "(suh-lie-low)".
- ^ Dietrich, William (1995). Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. p. 52. ISBN 0-671-79650-X.
- ^ "Pacific Northwest tribes: Remove Columbia River dams". AP NEWS. 2021-04-20. Retrieved 2023-01-06.