Wishram Village, referred to as nixlúidix by its residents, was a summer and winter village on the Columbia River,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

occupied by

Upper Chinook Upper Chinook, endonym Kiksht, also known as Columbia Chinook, and Wasco-Wishram after its last surviving dialect, is a recently extinct language of the US Pacific Northwest. It had 69 speakers in 1990, of whom 7 were monolingual: five Wasco and ...

people. It is considered the largest prehistoric Chinook village site. The site is now part of Columbia Hills State Park.

History

Located near

Five Mile Rapids Celilo Falls (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 ...

, the village was located at the far eastern reach of Chinookan lands. Archaeologists believe the site was occupied for about 10,000 years. The village was a common trading site for Indians in the surrounding areas, acting as a link between tribes from the Pacific Coast, and the interior Northwest. The site was visited by nearby

Yakama The Yakama are a Native American tribe with nearly 10,851 members, based primarily in eastern Washington state. Yakama people today are enrolled in the federally recognized tribe, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Their ...

s, as well as those from as far away as the

Nez Perce The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...

, who would come to trade fish, berries, skins, buffalo, amongst many other items. The village was visited during the westward journey by Lewis and Clark, and again on their eastward return journey, though by the time of the second visit, the village was at a site about downstream from the site visited the previous fall. Lewis and Clark estimated that there were about 600 people living at the site during the first visit (October 1805), and around 1,000 during the second visit (April 1806). Clark noted in his journals that there were about 20 wooden houses at the site, near a man-made earthen

mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher ...

called Wakemup (or Wakamup) Mound. By the time of the July 1841 visit by the

United States Exploring Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

Charles Wilkes Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War (1861–1865), he commanded ' during the ...

described the village as having forty lodges, and 400 inhabitants. In 1854, the village was struck by an epidemic of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

, which killed 257 residents. Survivors of the epidemic blamed a "medicine-man" for failure to cure the disease, and killed him by putting him on a horse with a

noose A noose is a loop at the end of a rope in which the knot tightens under load and can be loosened without untying the knot. The knot can be used to secure a rope to a post, pole, or animal but only where the end is in a position that the loop can ...

around his neck. Around 1860, residents of Wishram began moving to the

Yakama Indian Reservation The Yakama Indian Reservation (spelled Yakima until 1994) is a Native American reservation in Washington state of the federally recognized tribe known as the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The tribe is made up of Klikitat, ...

, under treaties signed in 1855, but Indians continued to be allowed to use the site for fishing. Until 1957, the village located at the site was referred to as Spearfish, which was flooded by the creation of

The Dalles Dam The Dalles Dam is a concrete-gravity run-of-the-river dam spanning the Columbia River, two miles (3 km) east of the city of The Dalles, Oregon, United States. It joins Wasco County, Oregon with Klickitat County, Washington, 300 miles (309&nbs ...

Wakemap Mound

Wakemap Mound is a

at the site that measures roughly long, by wide, and deep.OAS, p.15 The site is now surrounded by water caused by the construction of

References

Sources

*Boyd, Robert (1996). ''People of the Dalles: The Indians of Wascopam Mission'', University of Nebraska Press. *Oregon Archaeological Society (1959). ''Wakemap Mound'', Binford and Mort. *Ruby, Robert H.; Brown, John Arthur. ''A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest'', University of Oklahoma Press. *Samson, Karl (2008). ''Frommer's Washington State'', Frommer's. *Spranger, Michael S. (1996). ''Columbia Gorge: A Unique American Treasure'', DIANE Publishing.

External links

{{National Register of Historic Places Populated places in Klickitat County, Washington Native American history of Washington (state) National Register of Historic Places in Klickitat County, Washington Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) State parks of Washington (state) Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state)