Event celebrates the spirit of the salmon

For one magical evening, spirits of the sacred salmon returned Saturday to Suttle Lake for a traditional salmon bake hosted by Ronda Sneva and her Suttle Lake Lodge.

Wilson Wewa, an elder member of the Warm Springs Indian Confederation, was master of ceremonies along with a brightly costumed clan of Native American drummers, dancers and singers.

Wewa began the filleting as guests arrived and the afternoon sun started to sink across the lake, laying the huge fish out on a chef's table, swiftly removing the heads and tails before exposing its bold pink flesh.

"These are Chinook salmon caught right in the Willapa Bay area," he said, his sharp knife cleanly separating the halves. "You can see some net marks on the skin a little but these all look pretty good to me. We'll bake eight fish total, each one weighing about 20 pounds or more. There should be plenty to eat."

The night before, Wewa spun some vivid native legends to a group of 50 visitors in a chilly storytelling session around the campfire.

"It went darned good," he said. "Everybody stayed warm, even when it started getting cold. I would have kept talking but I got cold, too, and excused everyone."

As the alderwood fire blazed nearby, a sold-out crowd of nearly 250 mingled with drinks and watched curiously as Wewa prepared the salmon beside an authentic Plains-type teepee.

Ed and Vickie Ott, visiting from the Oregon Coast, stood by and observed the process with great interest.

"This is great," Ed said. "I went on the Chamber of Commerce website to see what was going on this weekend and found this salmon bake. We had been up to the lodge here before during rodeo weekend and thought it was truly beautiful. We even brought our mother, Marlene Ott, too and she's having a great time."

Wewa and his crew tended the coals in the fire and skewered the salmon with long ironwood sticks, then placed them around the glowing pit.

"Alder is a good seasoning wood for smoking," he said. "It's a wood with no pitch and burns down to some super-hot ashes. I'm 56 and I've been doing this since I was 17. I can tell the temperature just by the feel of my hands. Ronda wants to make this an annual event, and if the weather's like this every September I'll gladly do them."

Head Chef Michael Valoppi and his staff set up a buffet display on the lawns for salmon-lovers, decorated with wood sculptures of salmon and chainsaw-carved horses. In addition to the salmon, guests feasted on Indian fry bread, wild rice, gourmet salads and apple-huckleberry cobbler for dessert.

After diners were stuffed to the gills with baked salmon, Wewa and his extended family entertained everyone with a series of traditional dances like the Basket Dance, the Owl Dance and the Grass Dance, simulating the stamping down of prairie grasslands. Accompanied by the rousing drums and voices of the Eagle Thunder Singers, Warm Springs brothers Charles and Timothy Kalama stomped and spun, wearing intricately made costumes fashioned with fine beadwork and rare eagle feathers.

"We were sold out; this is awesome," said Sneva, resting after joining Wewa in a friendship dance. "We brought this back to pay tribute to the land and the Warm Springs tribes. It's their land, I'm just the caretaker of it."

Wewa, sporting a grand eagle-feather bonnet, stood with his four-year-old grandson, JaVaughn, and thanked everyone for coming.

"Long ago the salmon came to spawn in this lake and they became food for eagles and wolves and badgers and our people set up camps along these shores," he said. "I am always asked why this area is so special to the Indian people. It is because these lakes that cross over to the Willamette Valley are special. We keep dreaming and wait for a day they will return."

As night fell, guests soaked in the serene atmosphere and were able to take photos with the dancers and show their appreciation for their performance.

"I'm thrilled with how the event turned out and want to give a huge thank-you to Wilson and all the dancers and drummers who participated," Sneva said. "It was a perfect night. We can't wait until next year."