Celilo Falls
Words and music by Tom May and Fuzzy Purcell


Written the year of the 50th anniversary of the building of the Dalles Dam in Oregon, which drowned Celilo Falls-possibly the most verdant fishing area in North America, where millions of salmon migrated yearly. It could never be built today, breaking so many native american treaties and raping the environment for the benefit of big business; however, the falls still live on beneath the water.


Verse 1
There’s an echo in the wind of falling water, you can hear it is you listen close, from 50 years ago
Long before the white man, long before his roads, Ponderosa pine and alder, guard the river down below
It narrows falling swiftly towards the sea; at the only point where water breached the rugged Cascade range
Nature’s wonder to behold, the falls were liquid gold. As salmon journeyed home, the air was sweet with sage

Chorus
Celilo Falls is only sleeping, tucked beneath a blanket of Columbia River Blue
Someday the steel and concrete man made walls will crumble
And the mighty roar of Celilo Falls will once again break through

Verse 2
The old man stares down at the water, rolling slowly towards that massive concrete dam
He remembers stand on the scaffolding, waiting patiently with a dip net in his hand
The young folks they left long ago, for jobs in the city, and the Pendleton rodeo
Riding hard to escape the generations call, and the silvery violence, that was Celilo Falls

Chorus
But now ...
Celilo Falls is only sleeping, tucked beneath a blanket of Columbia River Blue
Someday the steel and concrete man made walls will crumble
And the mighty roar of Celilo Falls will once again break through

Verse 3
By canoe, horse, and foot they traveled there; long before Lewis and Clark ever saw the sea
Celebrations in stories,dance, and song; where the sacred salmon dried beneath the weeping willow tree
From the praries came hides and Buffalo. From the seacoast came shells, to decorate their clothes
Turqouise and obsidian from the south came forth; a rendezvous of bounty, at the crossroads of the north

Chorus
And now ...
Celilo Falls is only sleeping, tucked beneath a blanket of Columbia River Blue
Someday the steel and concrete man made walls will crumble
And the mighty roar of Celilo Falls will once again break through

Verse 4
No treaty was ever signed by the elders; in 1957 they were told what the whites would pay
They would take this hallowed land, and build a massive dam;
Now the salmon run is just a fraction, of what is was yesterday.
When the gates were closed 6 hours of rising water, put traditions of 12,000 years to a bitter end
But as with all men’s creations, there will come a day; when nature takes her vengeance,
And the falls will rise again ...

Chorus
But now ...
Celilo Falls is only sleeping, tucked beneath a blanket of Columbia River Blue
Someday the steel and concrete man made walls will crumble
And the mighty roar of Celilo Falls will once again break through

©2007 Blue Vignette Publishing, ASCAP