"Fishing Celilo Falls" - Estacada, OR
Posted by: 
beagle39z
N 45° 17.279 W 122° 20.675
10T E 551397 N 5015151
“Fishing Celilo Falls” features a large scene of the Columbia River with groups of Native Americans, working from log platforms over the river, bringing in fish.
Waymark Code: WMBFQE
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 05/16/2011
Views: 3
Designed by: John Freese
Location: Harvest Market Thriftway in downtown Estacada
Freese examined photos of Celilo Falls from the 1940s and 1950s and Native American art to develop the mural design, which features Native Americans netting fish from the Columbia River below the falls where the river spilled over basalt cliffs more than 30 feet tall. It was a mecca for giant chinook and mammoth salmon and served as a hub for fishing and trading for around 15,000 years until it was submerged by The Dalles Dam, constructed in 1957. It was probably one of the biggest fisheries on the west coast of North America at the time.
“This site represents thousands of years of traditional fishing for the Native Americans,” Freese said. “People used the same ancestral fishing holes for generations. A family would have their right to a fishing spot and build platforms out over the river where they would dip their nets. I’m sure a family would bring home a ton of fish in a day.”
The mural showcases the span of Celilo Falls, which was once a centerpiece for the river before the dam was built. In framing the sides of the mural, Freese features Native American art and the stone petroglyph “She Who Watches,” an actual rock formation that overlooks the river and ancient Native American fishing grounds.
A group of very talented local artists banded together in 1994 and painted the first mural in Estacada - the ArtBack Artists were born.
Since then, the group has added their handiwork to dozens of buildings in the community, featuring murals depicting Native Americans, Estacada in its heyday as a timber town, pioneers on their way to Oregon City and numerous other themes. Each mural is largely completed in a weekend during the last full weekend in July by members of the Artback.
The annual Estacada Summer Celebration arts and music festival was created in 2000 to celebrate the ArtBack's annual mural-in-a-weekend project, which takes place every 4th weekend in July.
These murals have made Estacada a very special place to live. Estacada is growing as a community that really cares about its surroundings and the arts. Creating is the essence of our purpose and is imperative to our progress as a humanity.
Estacada is a small town of around 2800 located 30 miles southeast of Portland, Oregon. It is the art community that has encouraged the murals of Estacada you see there. They are painted on various businesses about town.
City: Estacada
Location Name: Building
Artist: John Freese
Date: 2010
Media: House paint on wall
Relevant Web Site: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and description of your visit. One original photo of the mural must also be submitted. GPSr photo NOT required.