PORT ANGELES — This is a story of healing, a story of connection between a strong people and a powerful river.
The Lower Elwha Klallam people have been borne on a current through time: from thousands of years ago, long before the Europeans came to this place on the far edge of a “New World,” all the way to now.
And now that the nearly century-old dams are coming down, there is a lot of talk, around the world, about the $325 million restoration project, about the steps of demolition process and the sediment flows.
On the first anniversary of the ceremonies marking removal of Elwha Dam last September, three Elwha Klallam women took time to reflect on another part of the story.
Adeline Smith, 94, Tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles and Klallam language teacher Jamie Valadez got together with filmmaker and biologist Shelly Solomon to talk about “River as Spirit,” the 30-minute documentary Solomon made about the Elwha.
The movie will screen at noon today at the Rose Theatre, 235 Taylor St., Port Townsend. Admission is $9. DVDs are available for $19 via www.LeapingFrogFilms.com.
Solomon brought a gift for Smith, who with Valadez had translated “River as Spirit’s” script into Klallam.
The two women made it possible for the film to be narrated in the tribe’s native tongue — while Solomon provided English subtitles.
Solomon gave Smith a book of photographs by Edward Curtis, who shot pictures of Native Americans across the United States, saying they were “a vanishing race.”
Smith beamed.
Valadez, sitting beside her, said: “We didn’t vanish. We’re still here.”
Valadez then told Smith what an extraordinary summer this has been.
The Lower Elwha’s creation site, a legendary place of spiritual renewal, has been rediscovered, Valadez explained.
Olympic National Park archeologists located it, she said, and in July, Valadez and other tribal members went there.
At the creation site are two bowls shaped like coiled baskets, Valadez said.
It is remembered as the place where the Creator bathed the Klallam people, where they began their vision quests and where they could ask forgiveness, Valadez said.
“It was where we could let go of the heartaches and burdens we carry,” she added, “and where we set goals.
“It is a blessing,” Valadez said, “to reconnect with such a special place.”
Smith remembers her family speaking about the creation site.
She grew up beside the Elwha, remembers how it teemed with salmon and remembers taking buckets of fingerlings around the dam, with a child’s hope of helping them survive.
Charles remembers, too: days and nights of listening to her family’s stories.
“Our history wasn’t written down; we all sat together and talked,” she said.
Recalling history: “That’s what your ears are for,” Charles said with a smile.
At NatureBridge, the environmental school at Lake Crescent, Charles talks with youngsters about listening — to the trees, wind and water.
She speaks about reading the sun and stars — which is news to teens who are used to cellphones and GPS.
“It’s hard for the younger generations to grasp — until they go camping,” Charles said.
“But when they’re out there, they’re in heaven.”
Walking beside the river now, with the dams almost gone and land that was underwater now revealed, Charles feels that sense of connection.
She feels gratitude, too, for her fellow tribal members who advocated for their river, eventually bringing about an act of Congress in 1992.
In the early years, “our homes were our offices. We didn’t have facilities” like the tribal center.
“We went door to door for donations to travel to Washington, D.C.”
Charles is also grateful for the renewed teaching of the Klallam language.
There was no opportunity for her to learn it in school — so when her daughter, who studied it at Port Angeles High School, would practice in the back seat of the car, Charles would gradually turn down the radio and listen.
Now, just as her daughter, Ashley Pitchford, studied Klallam, so is Charles’ 2-year-old grandson, Maurice, who’s learning Klallam words in his Head Start class.
Smith, all this time, has been fluent in Klallam.
She, too, is pleased to see younger tribal members learning their language — and learning about the creation site.
“I no longer have to hold back what was told to me by my ancestors,” Smith said.
The creation site “is no longer a mystery.”
The freeing of the river around it, after all, is a revelation to the young.
“Things are opening up,” Smith said. “We can see where we stand.”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
