Precontact: The Large Confluence People

. . . the true educational benefits of being on a place where your people have been for thousands of years is a physical connection that allows you to take your spirit back to a time when our people lived by what we call the old laws - the laws of respect, the laws of the natural world, the laws that we are only a part of the natural world. Jeff Van Pelt, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

The Umatilla, Niktoway (Columbia Joe), and Family, July 4, 1901. According to Thomas Morning Owl,
a descendant of Niktoway, ". . . because he lived on the Columbia River and he was an Indian, rather
than calling him Indian Joe, they called him Columbia Joe." Photo by Dr. Edward H. Latham,
Courtesy of Thomas Morning Owl

  The Umatilla Rapids provided the main attraction for indigenous settlement - good fishing grounds. Dwelling along both sides of the Columbia and on the islands within it, the imeqicimenikenpu' or "large confluence people" of the Umatilla were part of a broadly related group of Sahaptin-speaking neighbors known as the Plateau culture area. Plateau groups often shared hunting and berrying grounds, fishing sites, and culture, as well as language.

This stretch of river was once home to many groups of Native peoples

To view full size map of Indians of the Pacific Northwest, click here

Chart of Language Relationships on the Columbia Plateau

Oral History of Thomas Morning Owl whose family comes from Umatilla

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