A Look at Native American Life on the Columbia River

Caitey Andersen shows that it takes children to raise a village too.

Caitey Andersen did not come to Pacific University with the intention of studying anthropology. As she explains, it was Pacific's liberal arts approach that allowed her to uncover her true passion: "I originally came to Pacific in order to study another subject, but enrolling at Pacific as an undergraduate allowed me to sample all areas of study." Caitey stumbled upon professor Dr. Cheleen Mahar's Introduction to Anthropology course and immediately changed her major.

Today, Caitey is a senior in Pacific's anthropology, sociology, and social work program, and a student who

has taken advantage of many opportunities while here at Pacific. Caitey has earned credit at Pacific while teaching English in Mexico, working with elementary students on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona, and traveling across Spain. She has also been extremely active in the Forest Grove campus community having worked as a First-Year Seminar mentor and founding the Anthropology/Sociology Club. Most recently, though, Caitey has been recognized for her work in the Celilo Village near The Dalles, Oregon for which she has received both Elise Elliott Grant (Pacific University) and the Justice and Witness Ministries Grant (United Church of Christ).

"The Celilo Village is home to the Wyam Native Americans of the Columbia River," Caitey explains. Once a part of the Five Mile Rapids in the Columbia Gorge, Celilo Falls was an important fishing ground for native people. This was prior to the construction of The Dalles Dam in 1957. Caitey's work in the Celilo Village focuses on examining this community's history, as well as its potential future, through the perspective of the children who will carry on the Wyam culture. Caitey has been promoting education and encouraging the children to take an active role in their own futures. Not only has she purchased books

for the village's new school house and been a volunteer in the local summer school program, but Caitey is helping the Wyam children create a book of their own stories and artwork related to the history of Celilo.

Caitey's project comes at a time of change for the people of Celilo Village. "The Village is currently undergoing a government regulated redevelopment plan," she says. "This includes fourteen new houses, a new school house, and their first water and sewage system." Caitey plans to examine how the redevelopment plan reflected the children of Celilo Village.