TOLEDO — Members of the Cowlitz Tribe, long known as the Salmon People, now have another touchstone connecting them to their ancient past.

    Two touchstones, actually.

    On Saturday a pair of artifacts found their way back into the hands of the Cowlitz during the tribe’s annual community powwow at the St. Mary’s Center outside Toledo.

    Cowlitz chairman Bill Iyall received two ancient stones from a visiting Choctaw woman who wished to remain nameless. As she unwrapped the colorful blanket, she laid into his hands a stone once used for pounding salmon, and a second stone once used to sink fishing lines into the Cowlitz River.

    “I have been approaching the river communities for a long time,” said the Choctaw woman, who explained she had been given the stones 20 years before and had been caring for them ever since.

    Iyall held the stones reverently, his own emotion evident in his voice as he spoke.

    “Artifacts have been returned home,” he said. “These will be put in a safe.”

    “The stone people are home,” said the Choctaw woman. Tears glistened in her eyes. “This is a good day for me.”

    As a warm September sun played across the Cowlitz prairie, a drumbeat and melodious voices sang with a sound that was at once fresh and strong, yet as ancient as the prairie itself. This was the 10th gathering of the Cowlitz people at St. Mary’s Center in Toledo for their annual powwow.

    “A powwow is a celebration of the friends you know from all different tribes, and a lot of non-natives and a lot of first-timers come to share songs and dance,” explained Suzanne Donaldson-Stephens, of the Powwow Committee. “This is a social powwow. The social powwow is more for fun, but we do have competition powwows also.”

    And one of the most important aspects of the powwow is to honor the elders.

    “We honor our elders,” Donaldson-Stephens said. “Anybody who is over the age of 60 — and our ancestors.”

    Dancers in regalia and various friends from different tribes gathered for the grand entry, some dancing fully to the drumbeat music. Once the people had entered the room, all the veterans in attendance were honored. Each veteran had a chance to step forward and announce his or her service to the country. There were natives who had served in every war and conflict dating back to World War II. Each received a medicine bag placed reverently around the neck.

    “This is a gathering to celebrate who we are as Native Americans,” said Cowlitz member Patty Kinswa-Gaiser. “We are the original people who lived here.”

    Victoria Stewart is a freelance writer and photographer. She can be reached at creative01writer@yahoo.com.