- Published on
On November 11, Randy Lewis and I drove Washington Wide to the Colville Tribal Museum at 512 Mead Way in Coulee Dam. Randy, a Colville elder and storyteller, wrote the book’s foreword. Museum supervisor KeAnna Cawston met us there, and the museum’s gift shop now carries the book.
The museum tells the history of the twelve tribes of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, which today enrolls more than 9,290 descendants. The Colville Tribes’ History/Archaeology Department runs it. The displays include dipnets and spears, beaded picture bags from the 1890s, stick game pieces, and photographs and documents from the termination era of the 1950s through the 1970s. A “Ceremony of Tears” display describes the flooding of the Columbia River and the fishing places at Kettle Falls after Grand Coulee Dam backed up the river.
Washington Wide is a 172-page hardcover of panoramic film photographs from 30+ years across Washington State, shot on Fuji Velvia 50. It is $59.99 at washingtonwide.com, with free shipping in the contiguous US.
The museum opens for the season in December. It is open Wednesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and admission is free.