Hundreds Gather in Goldendale
By: Simone Anter, Senior Staff Attorney & Hanford Program Director
Towering juniper trees whipped in fierce winds atop of the rolling hills where more than 300 people gathered together on May 8, partly in celebration and partly in resistance. The celebration saw Yakama Nation Tribal members able to access an ancestral use site for the first time in nearly 20 years. The resistance came against the proposed Goldendale Pumped Storage proposal slated for development at Pushpum, a Yakama Nation sacred site. Photos highlight this duality; below are links to media coverage of the event. (All photos by Paloma Ayala unless otherwise noted.)
Tipis stand in stark juxtaposition to wind turbines, highlighting cultural resiliency.
Councilman and Rock Creek Band member Jeremy Takala looks up at wind turbines which towered over the event site.
Elaine Harvey, Rock Creek Band Member, Watershed Dept. Manager at CRTFIC, and Columbia Riverkeeper Board member.
Columbia Riverkeeper staff from left to right: Wanda McNealy, Liz Terhaar, Eric Block, Jessica Price, and Teryn Yazdani.
Introductions from Yakama Nation Swan Dancers also known as Washana’lama— a group of girls and young women “who came together with parents, children and elders to maintain the social dances of the Plateau Indian Tribes of the Northwest.” Learn More.
A full crowd listens closely to discussions of treaty resources and the threats facing them.
Yakama Nation Fisheries program sponsored a salmon lunch.
Photo taken of people participating in a round dance, photo prominently shows regalia adorned with jackets reading “indigenous resistance.”
View of the Columbia River and John Day River from the event (photo credit Kaia Kirkbride).
In the News
Tribes renew opposition to Goldendale pumped storage project during ceremony near sacred site, Devin Haskins, KGW, May 8, 2026
The Yakama Nation says it feels pushed aside for energy developments. They’re working to protect sacred sites, Courtney Flatt, NW Public Broadcasting, May 11, 2026
Pumped storage pushback, Martin Gibson, Columbia Gorge News, May 19, 2026
‘It’s not built yet’: Yakama Nation fights $3.3B energy project and data center development on sacred site, Henry Brannan, Street Roots, May 20, 2026
Yakama Nation Continues to Fight Proposed Hydroelectric Project That Would Destroy Pushpum Cultural Site, Lyric Aquino, Underscore Native News, May 25, 2026
‘Going green now for who?’ Yakama protest clean energy project on sacred site to power data center, Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capitol Chronicle , May 25, 2026
What comes next for a proposed energy project along Columbia River, and the Yakama Nation’s opposition to it, Questen Ingharm, Yakima Herald-Republic, May 26, 2026
SPECIAL REPORT: How data centers pose a unique threat to Pac NW Tribes, KC Mahaffey, Columbia Insight, May 28, 2026
Young royalty in traditional regalia with a kokum scarf blowing in the wind.
Thank you to the Rock Creek Band, Yakama Nation Fisheries Program, and the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission for opening the event to the public and inviting Columbia Riverkeeper to be involved in planning. Events such as these serve as reminders of why we do the work, sign the petitions, and file the lawsuits. Join us in urging Governor Ferguson to stop this ill-sited proposal.