 | | Preparing the Salmon. |
The worlds of the Warm Springs, Wasco and Paiute are much more than simply the sum of their physical objects - the rocks, water, plants, fish and animals. As our people need more than the nutritional value of the foods alone to live so too do the plants, animals and fish. For all these things are given their very nature and each is sustained within a web of spiritual potency derived from the Creator. It is with this understanding in mind that the various foods upon which our people depend are honored and prayers of thanks offered to the Creator. During the seasonal round and just before each new food is about to be dug, picked, or fished, a community-wide ceremony is held. The three feasts - the Wild Celery Feast (in February), the Salmon and Root Feast (in the spring), and the Huckleberry Feast (in the mid- to late-summer) - mark the yearly calendar and the rhythm of life.
Until each feast is held, no one can begin to gather the roots, pick the berries, or fish the salmon. And until the feast is held, no one can eat of the roots, the berries, or the salmon. With all assembled in one of the community longhouses, the particular food to be honored (root, salmon, or berry) is prepared and served. “Everything is put in its place, in a row” on the meal tables. A limited quantity of the roots, the huckleberries, or the salmon has been ritually dug, picked, or fished by ceremonial fishermen, hunters, and root gatherers for these special occasions. After the “pouring of a little water in a glass and drinking it,” always remembering the importance of water, the meal begins. During the meal, “everything is served to the right.” It is the right side that one enters the longhouse, moving to the right and shaking the right hands of your relatives and friends as you greet them. Following the feast, the root digging, the berry picking or the salmon fishing can commence. These feasts also remind the members of the family of each person's particular role and responsibility toward protecting and preserving the roots, salmon and berries for the future generations. The women's role as "providers" of the roots and berries, and the men's role as "providers" of the salmon and deer are thus reiterated for the entire community.
On April 19, 1806 Meriwether Lewis and the Corps of Discovery observed part of this annual "Salmon Feast," as the first catch of salmon was ritually divided into small portions and given to each child in the village. In the act of sharing this first catch, a respectful "thank you" was thus given to the salmon for allowing itself to be caught for the benefit of the people, helping ensure that the salmon would thus return again next season.
As the plants and fish are honored and thanks given to the Creator as part of their annual natural cycle, so too is there a special occasion when a human is honored as part of his or her life cycle. When a girl is about to begin her life as a root digger or berry gatherer, or when she makes her first basket, and for a boy who has caught his first salmon or hunted his first deer and is about to begin his life as a salmon fisherman or deer hunter, a very special ceremonial feast is held for her or him.
When a young hunter gets his first deer or his first salmon, the ceremonial feast is called his First Kill Ceremony or his First Salmon Ceremony. And when a girl weaves her first basket, digs her first roots or picks her first berries, a similar ceremony is performed. The family is called upon and gathers, the foods are prepared and the meal is held, with one important participant not consuming any of the roots, venison or salmon - the young person being honored! For in not eating any of his or her harvest, the new role of family provider and the importance of “sharing” is reiterated for the honoree. The transition from a child to an adult is made more complete in this recognition.
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Rose Moran, the grandmother, and Roy Spino, the father, discuss the importance of Mish Spino's First Kill Ceremony. (Interviewed by Rodney Frey, June 2003) |
Continue your visit with "Mish" in other video clips, as he and his family tell you about growing up on the Warm Springs Reservation and about hitting his first home run.
© Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs 2003
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