[Interviewed by Cynthia Kelly and Tom Zannes.]
Veronica Taylor: I'm Veronica Taylor, one of the elders for the Nez Perce tribe and I work in the environmental restoration management program for the Nez Perce. One they call the community liaison.
Tell me what the Columbia River means to your tribe?
Theresa Strottman: It’s Saturday March 21, 1992, and it’s approximately 10:20 in the morning. We are speaking with Jerry Roensch. We thank you so much for coming this morning.
Eleanor (Jerry) Roensch: My pleasure.
Strottman: To start off the interview, I wonder if you could briefly tell me when and where you were born and a little something about your early education and training.
[Interviewed by Cynthia Kelly and Tom Zannes.]
Tell us your name.
Rex Buck, Jr.: My name is Rex Buck, Jr. R-E-X B-U-C-K J-R.
What's your Wanapum Indian name?
Buck: My Wanapum Indian name is Puckhyahtoot.
Can you spell that?
Buck: P-U-C-K-H-Y-A-H-T-O-O-T.
What does that mean?
Buck: That means, like, a bunch of birds coming together.
Hanford, Washington, on the beautiful Columbia River, was the site selected for the full-scale plutonium production plant, the B Reactor. Today a popular tourist desination, the Hanford Site proved crucial to the success of the Manhattan Project.
