Hi rvincentiv,
Thank you for the interesting question. :)
The name Wauna is an old Native American Indian word representing a
mythological being (The Great Spirit of the Wauna, or Colombia River).
In other words it's the name of a River God.
*****
Wauna Federal Credit Union
https://www.waunafcu.org/wauna/default.htmlWhat
What Does "WAUNA" Mean?
"WAUNA is an American Indian name, probably Klickitat. It describes a
mythological being supposed to represent the Columbia River. Thus it
became the name of an old Columbia River lumber mill town 10 miles
west of our main office in Clatskanie, Oregon, where the Georgia
Pacific Paper mill now exists and is still referred to as the Wauna
Mill. The city of Clatskanie is named from the Tlats-Kani, a small
tribe of Native Americans once inhabiting the region."
*****
Mountains and River Gods Fight - from:
The Oregonian, Portland, OR., February 7, 1926, section 3, page 9
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~westklic/lore.html
TRIBAL LORE OF WISHRAM INDIANS RICH IN TRADITIONS OF COLUMBIA
"Anacotta" (in days long ago) bitter quarrels and strife sometimes
arose between the river god and the mountain demons. During one of
these wars the mountain demons upreared a rocky barrier in an effort
to chain up and subdue the spirit of the Wauna, or Columbia river.
But, summoning all his powers, the river god, in berserker rage, broke
asunder those stony chains, and under guidance of Tamanawas pierced a
passage through the mountains and tore a wide subterranean canal
between the rocks of that mighty bulwark. (And, as our modern
geologists state, the Columbia carved its own channel through the
Cascade range.) Thus the mighty force of the raging waters cut a long,
rock-walled tunnel at the site of the present Cascades. This left a
broad stone arch spanning that majestic stream - a Tamanawasa
structure "not built by hands," across which people could pass at
will. Then, by the tongues of prophetic tyees, the Great spirit
announced to the tribes of the Wauna that the Bridge of the Gods was a
sacred causeway of right and justice, dedicated to the peaceful, happy
intercourse of Indians on both sides of the great river. So long as
they were friendly, virtuous, kind and "kloshe" that God-made arch
which spanned the silvery waves; but if they never gave way to sin and
crime, to cruel warfare and bloodshed, then those stony pillars would
fall apart and tumble into the angry waters below.
For some generations the red men on both sides of the Wauna dwelt in
peaceful intercourse. But there came a generation which "knew no
Joseph," and which departed from the teachings of their forefathers;
bitter feelings grew up between the tribes and cruel warfare ensued.
At length a bloody battle was waged for the possession of the sacred
causeway. Then suddenly at dead of night the solid earth began to
shake and tremble as if in the throes of internecine strife; the
mountain demons belched forth flaming thunderbolts and hurled molten
lava and burning rocks upon this smooth crystal tide of the Wauna; the
enraged river god dashed his foaming waves in fury against the sides
of the bridge abutments, the pillars began to give way give way and
slide downward to the stream. Then with a thunderous crash the
glorious archway fell - and rocks, earth and trees came tumbling into
the swirling waters of that storied stream!"
*****
Google Search terms:
"Wauna", "Indian word Wauna", "Meaning of Wauna"
Best regards,
tlspiegel |
