Traditions: Warms Springs elder to speak at library

Aguilar is a Kiksht Chinookan and a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs in north-central Oregon. Born in 1930, he has lived on the Warm Springs Reservation for 70 of his 75 years. He has written his book for his people and for the general reader. He notes that “many have looked from the outside into our way of life.” His book looks “from the inside and tells it the way it was.”

Aguilar draws on his own memories and those of the tribal elders who have kept the history and stories of the River People in their memories.

He also uses the journals and diaries of early White missionaries and settlers and anthropological studies that recorded the voices of people who practiced and remembered the ceremonies and traditions that were lost or changed during the difficult years of removal to the Warm Springs Reservation in north-central Oregon.

Waucoma Bookstore will sell Aguilar’s book at the program, with 10 percent of the proceeds going to the Library. This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Hood River Library and the Oregon Historical Society Press.