“Celilo Falls: We Were There” is a large-scale work for chamber orchestra by Nancy Ives with text and story-telling by Ed Edmo (Shoshone-Bannock) and projected photographic images by Joe Cantrell (Cherokee) which explores the geologic and human history of Celilo Falls, portraying the experience of the Native Americans who lost not only their livelihoods but their cultural home for millennia when the Dalles Dam flooded the Falls in 1957. Ed Edmo is a renowned poet and Traditional Storyteller, and will tell this story as only he can, incorporating Native legends and personal recollections. Images by photographer Joe Cantrell will add an immersive element, conveying a sense of Native peoples’ long presence there and the universality of the power of place.

The June 11th performance of “Celilo Falls: We Were There“ will take place in The Dalles, with free admission for Tribal members, providing meaningful access for the Native community for whom this story is so important.