The Umatilla Indian Reservation is an

Indian reservation An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it ...

in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

of the United States. It was created by The Treaty of June 9, 1855 between the United States and members of the Walla, Cayuse, and Umatilla tribes. It lies in northeastern

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, east of Pendleton. The reservation is mostly in

Umatilla County Umatilla County () is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 80,075. Hermiston is the largest city in Umatilla County, but Pendleton remains the county seat. Umatilla County is part of ...

, with a very small part extending south into Union County. It is managed by the three

Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are the federally recognized confederations of three Sahaptin-speaking Native American tribes who traditionally inhabited the Columbia River Plateau region: the Cayuse, Umatilla, and ...

. Located on the north side of the Blue Mountains, the reservation was established for two

Sahaptin The Sahaptin are a number of Native American tribes who speak dialects of the Sahaptin language. The Sahaptin tribes inhabited territory along the Columbia River and its tributaries in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Sahaptin-s ...

-speaking Native American tribes: the Umatilla and

Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to: * Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named * Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the town ...

, and for the Cayuse, whose language, now extinct, was an isolate. All the tribes historically inhabited the

Columbia Plateau The Columbia Plateau is a geologic and geographic region that lies across parts of the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It is a wide flood basalt plateau between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains, cut through by the Col ...

region. The tribes share land and a governmental structure as part of their confederation.

Geography, demographics and headquarters

The reservation has a land area of and a tribal population of 2,927 as of the 2000 census. In addition, some 300 Native Americans from other regional tribes and 1,500 non-natives live on the reservation."Who We Are" (January 2013)
, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation The largest community is

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

, which is the site of the tribal headquarters as well as the Umatilla Agency of the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...

. Some BIA agency offices serve more than one

federally recognized tribe This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...

, but the Umatilla Agency exclusively serves the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR).

History

The tribes developed the Wildhorse Casino Resort on their reservation to generate revenues for their people. The

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

is located near Interstate 84. In 2006 it started Cayuse Technologies, to provide software development and related services. These enterprises employ 1,000 persons and have markedly reduced unemployment. Pendleton photographer Walter S. Bowman photographed tribe members in the early 20th century.http://oregondigital.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/tlegacies&CISOPTR=282&CISOBOX=1&REC=2 The CTUIR founded the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, a museum that provides both historical and contemporary exhibits related to the confederated tribes, as well as exhibits of contemporary Native American arts and traditional craftwork.

Communities

* Cayuse *

Gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical rainforest from eastern Bangladesh to Northeast India ...

* Gopher Flats * Kirkpatrick *

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

* Tutuilla

References

External links

Umatilla Reservation, Oregon
United States Census Bureau

* ttp://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/ A middle-aged man reflects on his life at the Umatilla reservation {{authority control American Indian reservations in Oregon Geography of Umatilla County, Oregon Geography of Union County, Oregon

Geography, demographics and headquarters

History

Communities

See also

References

External links