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Time-worn photographs of Native Americans standing on platforms over roaring waterfalls, scooping salmon with long dip nets are common in books depicting life in the Pacific Northwest.

That lifestyle, the abundant fish and a thriving spot on the trade networks of the region were a critical part of the wealth and commerce of the tribes for nearly 10,000 years.

The Dalles Dam silenced the roar of Celilo Falls at the confluence of the Sandy and Columbia rivers in 1957, covering the platforms and forever altering a way of life for four treaty tribes of the area: the Yakima, Nez Perce, Umatilla and Warm Springs Indians.

A park designed by architect b Lin will pay tribute to the concept of that area as a sacred space. Lin鈥檚 designs for the Celilo Park Confluence Project include a long, curved wooden walkway, which drew its inspiration from the traditional fishing platforms.

Additional elements will be spread along a 438-mile stretch from the mouth of the Columbia River to Hell鈥檚 Canyon. Each installation will include information on the area tribes and the expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

鈥淭he focus of the Confluence Project is not only completing the park, but (providing) ongoing maintenance and education,鈥� Executive Director Colin Fogarty said. 鈥淚t will be managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We鈥檝e found them to be extremely supportive and responsive.鈥�

The total cost for the project is expected to be $10.5 million. Funding has come from the tribes, the federal government, the state of Oregon, the city of The Dalles and private donors. Completion is scheduled for 2017.

The project leaders have worked closely with the tribes and their ideas were paramount to direction and design, according to Fogarty. Anton Minthorne, chairman of the Umatilla Reservation Board, has been a driving force on the project 鈥� as was Patty Whitefoot of the Yakima Nation Tribal Council.

鈥淭his was a prosperous and robust area culturally, socially and economically for thousands of years before Lewis and Clark,鈥� Fogarty said. 鈥淚n the past century, the people whose ancestors made up those tribes have become marginalized and largely forgotten, but they are still here.鈥�