MULTNOMAH FALLS, OREGON
The spectacular Multinomah Falls is in the Columbia River Gorge in northern Oregon.
Plummeting 620 feet from its origins on Larch Mountain, the double-tiered Multnomah Falls is the second largest waterfall
in the USA.
The mighty Columbia River Gorge is a testament to the power of flowing water moving over
the eons with the deep gash worn into the volcanic rock of the Cascade Range nearly down to sea level. The
canyon walls towers over 400 feet above the river where frequent rain nourishes a lush rain forest and replenishes the water
that cascades over the majestic cliffs. The Oregon side of the Gorge is a place of stunning beauty with 77 waterfalls
where black basalt cliffs, ribbon-like waterfalls and lush forests are filled with dark verdure of conifer, sheltering strands
of big-leaf maple, cotton wood, Oregon ash and vine maple.
Multnomah Falls has been a sacred place to native tribes for thousands of years.
There is evidence that this location was one of the earliest settlements on the North American Continent. This
ancient waterfall is known for its sacred powers and has been a shamanic power spot for thousands of years.
Beyond its physical beauty, the gorge was a native settlement for 10,000 years before the arrival
of the first European explorers. Indian bands of the Columbia Gorge included the Cascades, Watlala, Wasco and Wishram.
These natives called the Columbia River the "Great River" where the Coyote was known as the most powerful of the animal
people.
These tribes possesed a common understanding and beleived the animal deity Coyote created
it and for everything to be right, each person had to honor and follow its traditions. These traditions passed down
from generation to generation through the oral stories. This was the sacred place where Coyote Medicine was originated
in this forest next to the "Great River."
Scattered along the Columbia River Gorge are many power spots where the native people held
this particular stretch of the river sacred. Dozens of petroglyphs illustrate aspects of Indian life and traditions
depicting the Indians in an inter-connected relationship with the land. The local Indian clans knew of one such sacred
power site as the "Navel of the World."
