Day 3 : A bright future for the white salmon river


July 9th/ day 3


So today we were woken up at 5 in the morning and were rushed to make lunch and eat breakfast our trip to the new area was around 3 hours long when it could have taken about one hour. We arrived at the white salmon field office and met up with Jeanette Burkhardt who was a Watership planner for the Yakama Nation. She spoke to us about Condit dam which was taken down in 2013 she spoke to us about the different types of fish that were sadly unable to pass because of the dam blocking them. They mentioned that the dam was built for hydroelectric purposes that had become relevant by this day in age.
She showed us around the site where the dam was actually located and we got to take a few group pictures. On the way back we walked by some Oregon berries, I thought they would be inedible but when Pablo asked about them Jeanette said we could go ahead and eat them however she did warn us that they would be very sour so most students got discouraged all except for me Pablo, and rudy. I thought they tasted a bit like unripened peaches, and because of the fact that I had lost my lunch, I ate as much as I could.
white salmon river after the dam removal








The next place we visited with her was a site where only native members were allowed we met an elder chief Jonny Jackson who told us the story of how he once was a young child and how he would love fishing and drying what he would harvest on the now pavemented land that we were standing on. He told us how European settlers took nearly all their land without even bothering to ask.
He also told us how most of the tribe members fled because they did not want to live on land that was pavemented. He also explained to us how they could no longer harvest fish or even collect water from the creek that once provided the tribe members with fresh drinking water. His stories were truly sad and it really made me think about how little we really give back to native people who lost everything when they were taken over by the settlers.
On a much needed brighter note rudy somehow managed to befriend a baby bird who he picked off a beach area that we got to visit.

our new bird friend








I was jealous because of his great connection to the wildlife. On the ride home, Rudy came up with a brilliant new way to sleep through the long rides, as you can see from the picture he’s clearly going places.


A genius at work

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