Longhouse helps tribe create feeling of home

To the Wanapum of Priest Rapids, Wash., a longhouse is more than a place to stay warm on a cold winter night. It is a physical and emotional icon that connects them to their past.

"Some of the elders even cried just at the sight of it," Lenora Buck Seelatsee said of a 70-foot longhouse the tribe built a few years ago, as she sat in the calm confines of a 35-foot version Thursday in Lewiston.

"It was really good because a lot of the elders who grew up in a longhouse, it felt really good for them," Seelatsee, 54, said of the memory-saturated structure, the first any Wanapum had erected in more than half a century.

A group of Priest Rapids Wanapum traveled to Lewis-Clark State College this week to put together the 35-foot tule reed longhouse and a smaller reed tepee for the Summer of Peace national signature event hosted by the Nez Perce Tribe.

One of the youngest members, 10-year-old Jeanette Wyena, hoped the cozy winter home of her ancestors would be educational.

"I think it's really interesting for the other people," she said of the curious visitors who popped in and out of the longhouse as she spoke. "I think it's important because they probably want to know about other cultures."

"She's one of our youngest root diggers," Seelatsee said proudly after Wyena's astute comments.

Seelatsee's sister-in-law, Angela Buck, said the Wanapum built their long houses and tepees out of tule (pronounced TOOL-ee) reeds because that was the most readily available material around the Columbia River.

"They lived in a different environment way back then," Buck said wistfully. "They had no worries. Everything you needed was around you. You didn't need to go to the McDonald's or to the Wal-Mart."

The reeds were easy to find in most swampy or marshy areas, said Buck, who gave her age as "old as the hills."

"If you see cattails, there will be tules."

The reeds were cut and dried before being sorted by length, width and strength. The biggest, most durable reeds were reserved for longhouses, she said.

They were tied together into long, rollable mats with natural fibers, and the mats were then draped over a pine frame to complete the longhouse.

It usually took about a week to put one together, Buck said, but her group managed to do it in just three days.

"We were pretty happy and pretty proud," she said.

She credited their speed to teamwork and the wisdom of two elders -- Helen Jim and the late Robert Tamanawash -- who taught a younger generation how to build the 70-foot longhouse.

"They were the last two elders to live in a tule-mat house," Buck said.

And the longhouse is a perfect touchstone for youngsters to leap into a greater exploration of their heritage and culture, she said.

Since the 70-foot longhouse was built, four generations of Wanapum have gotten involved with various cultural projects, including a large village that was built last year in Pasco for Lewis and Clark Heritage Days.

Buck said the Wanapum's close relationship with the Grant County Public Utility District makes such projects possible through its cultural programs.

The utility district built two dams on Wanapum ancestral lands in the 1950s, and still employs many tribal members, she said.

Some Nez Perce visited the Pasco village and were so impressed, they invited the Wanapum to Lewiston for this year's exhibition, Buck said.

"We were pretty excited and happy to come here," she said, again noting the importance of providing authentic cultural experiences for the tribe's youth.

"Every time we do this, we try to involve the young people," Buck said. "That's a good thing to keep the knowledge of it."

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Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or at (208) 883-0564.