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4 / Kettle Falls M y first clear awareness of life occurred while I was walking on a railroad bridge. The bridge crossed the Columbia River to the little town of Marcus, Washington. I was two years old, and the date was July 4, 1933. My mother was carrying Luana, my youngersister.Iwaswalkingbesideher.Halfwayacrossthebridge,Iheard explosions that sounded like gunfire. I asked, “What is that, Mom?” My motheranswered,“Don’tworry,thoseareonlyfirecrackers.”Iasked,“Are they good to eat?” My mother answered, “Firecrackers are not food but playthingsof thewhitepeople.”WhenIhearthemtoday,Ithinkof something to eat. After crossing the railroad bridge, we soon reached Marcus. There was much noise as white people celebrated the Fourth of July by setting o¤ an assortment of firecrackers. We stayed awhile and watched the events. Then we returned across the bridge to the Kettle Falls fishing grounds. The falls were powerful and beautiful. Close in, one was engulfed by the roar of the falls. Here and there, Indians could be seen going in and out of tepees and tents. Horses in large numbers grazed on nearby grassy areas. Several men with spears perched on rocks or pole platforms above the falls. Others equipped with fish-traps made from the limbs of trees 43 waited for the salmon as they tried to clear the falls. Salmon that failed fell back into the traps. Those that cleared the falls went on to their places of origin upriver to spawn. I was awed by their beauty and strength. For centuries, Kettle Falls had been an important place for Indians of many tribes. Archaeological digs reveal that Indians lived at Kettle Falls more than 10,000 years ago, but many of the elders say their ancestors were there earlier. The confluence of two rivers, the Kettle and the Columbia, with sources far apart, join and create the powerful falls. The banks of the falls were terraced with large, flat rock slabs that reached up to pine-covered hills. Higher elevations produced beautiful ranges of mountains heavily forested with pine, fir, and tamarack. During June, the salmon arrived in great numbers. Many tribes of Indians came during the harvest season to take their share of this important staple. Tribes came from all directions. Those from as far east as western Montana and the Dakotas came to trade bu¤alo meat and hides for salmon. My mother told me that before the salmon harvest, the men hunted deer in the adjoining mountains. They sought not only the meat but the hides to be tanned into buckskin. Since there was no flint in the area, granite was used to scrape the hides. Granite lined the cli¤s on the eastern side of the falls. The granite was chipped into the shape of a fan, and the cutting edge was chipped further to create an edge that would remove the hide from the deer. The hide was considered green as it came o¤ the animal. It was soaked in water, and then weighted down with rocks for two or three days. When the hair was loose, the hide was placed on a smooth post about six feet long and six inches wide and was braced against a tree for support. A deer rib, or later a dull butcher knife, was used to scrape the hair o¤ the hide. People did this by leaning against the end of the post and pushing with both hands in a strong downward motion. When the hair was o¤, the hide was washed and hung to dry thorkettle falls 44 oughly. It was then given its first smoking over a smudge fire of rotten fir wood and underwent another soaking in lukewarm water overnight. The next day, the hide was drained by attaching it to a pole at one end, wrapping the other end around a sapling, and twisting the hide tightly by turning the pole. Next, the hide was worked until dry. It was stretched in a log frame and rubbed with the main stem of a deer’s antler that had been shaped for that purpose. It was again soaked overnight in warm water, mixed with crushed brains, and boiled in the whitish liquid. The smellof thisactivitywasunpleasanttome.ThefirsttimeIsawthisprocess as a boy, I watched in wonder. I stood for a long time studying every move. After soaking, the hide was stretched, rubbed, and dried. Then the process was finished unless the hide was going to be dyed. If it was meant to be golden brown, it was smoked over a smudge...

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