NORTH BEND, Ore. — Nearly 2,000 pounds of fresh salmon helped feed around 1,800 guests at this year’s ninth annual Mill-Luck Salmon Celebration at The Mill Casino-Hotel.
The coals in the bake pit sizzled for hours as a huckleberry reduction sauce dripped from large Chinook salmon and hungry customers waited in long, quick-moving lines.
The Sept. 8 celebration, which was free to attend and spanned more than two days, gave people hands-on experience with various aspects of Native American culture.
Stations were set up where visitors learned how to basket-weave, make traditional hunting weapons and play different instruments such as the Native American flute.
“This has a powwow flavor,” said event organizer Vickie Standridge.
“But it is really for guests to come and share the tribal culture and have a fun experience.”
Canoe races were one of the main attractions as people from various tribes across Oregon and Washington, as well as non-tribal members, raced a mile-long course in West Coast-style canoes.
Shirod Younkev, from the Miluk and Coquille tribes, shared his passion for canoes with bystanders as he emceed the races.
Younkev said canoes play a vital role in the history of tribes. Not only were they the main form of transportation, but they also taught people how to work together and set aside differences.
“It reminds us of our responsibility to the water and the animals in it,” Younkev said of canoes.
“These are the passages of our ancestors. It is another way to affirm ancestral kinship ties.”
They also give people a chance to enjoy each other’s company.
“It is a fun way to get people on the water, and everyone has a good time doing it,” he said.
John McCallum, who made many of the canoes that raced at the event, and who captained a Kalapuya-style canoe, said a lot of pride and time go into making one.
“It took a few months to make,” he said about the canoe he raced. “It is always a great amount of fun.”
While many guests learned different aspects of Native American culture, the center of the celebration was the salmon. Chef Chris Foltz, with help from tribal elders, used a “stake method” to cook the 20- to 30-pound fish.
Each salmon, which came from the Columbia River, was sewn back and forth on an alder stick, with the skin and bones left on and in to ensure it wouldn’t crumble under the intense heat. The stakes then were put into the ground around the pit, and the salmon slow roasted for about an hour and a half before being served.
A fire was started in the pit Sept. 7 and burned all throughout the night to ensure the coals were hot enough to give the salmon the alder smoke flavor.
Foltz said the deep heat from the pit and salmon fat that dripped into the coals gave the salmon a flavor and texture that can be found nowhere else.
“It is the best fish anybody will have,” he said. “It is amazing.”
Foltz said cooking in the pit was great because of the flavors that have accumulated in it over the years and the texture of the dirt.
“There is so much coal and salmon fat in there,” he said. “It’s an earth oven.”
