The Yakama Indian Reservation (spelled Yakima until 1994) is a
Native American reservation in Washington state of the
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 ...
known as the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The tribe is made up of
Klikitat,
Palus
Palus may refer to:
* Palus, Maharashtra, a place in India
* 24194 Paľuš, a main belt asteroid, named for Pavel Paľuš (born 1936), Slovak astronomer
* Palus tribe, or Palouse people
* ''Palus'', a grade of gladiator
See also
* Palu (dis ...
,
Wallawalla,
Wanapam,
Wenatchi
The Wenatchi people or Šnp̍əšqʷáw̉šəxʷi / Np̓əšqʷáw̓səxʷ ("People in the between") are Native Americans who originally lived near the confluence of the Columbia and Wenatchee Rivers in Central Washington state. They spoke Interio ...
,
Wishram, and
Yakama
The Yakama are a Native American tribe with nearly 10,851 members, based primarily in eastern Washington state.
Yakama people today are enrolled in the federally recognized tribe, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Their ...
peoples.
[
]
Geography
The reservation is located on the east side of the Cascade Mountains
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...
in southern Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
state. The eastern portion of Mount Adams lies within this territory. According to the United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the reservation covers 2,185.94 square miles (5,661.56 km²) and the population in 2000 was 31,799. It lies primarily in Yakima
Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The uninco ...
and the northern edge of Klickitat counties. The largest city on the reservation is Toppenish
Toppenish () is a city in Yakima County, Washington. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 8,854. It is located within the Yakama Indian Reservation, established in 1855.
Toppenish calls itself the city of Murals, as it has more than 7 ...
.
About 80% of the reservation's land is held in trust by the federal government for the benefit of the tribe and tribal members.[Mark T. Baker]
The Hollow Promise of Tribal Power to Control the Flow of Alcohol into Indian Country
88 Va. L. Rev. 685 (2002). The remaining 20% of the reservation's land is privately owned.[Robert J. Haupt]
"Never Lay a Salmon on the Ground with His Head toward the River": State of Washington Sues Yakamas over Alcohol Ban
26 Am. Indian L. Rev. 67 (2001).
Some 410,000 acres of the reservation are shrub-steppe rangeland
Rangelands are grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, wetlands, and deserts that are grazed by domestic livestock or wild animals. Types of rangelands include tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and shrublands, woodlands, savannas ...
; as of 2014, about 15,000 wild horse
The wild horse (''Equus ferus'') is a species of the genus ''Equus'', which includes as subspecies the modern domesticated horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') as well as the endangered Przewalski's horse (''Equus ferus przewalskii''). The Europea ...
s roamed these lands—an unsustainable population, many times what the land can support.
History
The reservation was created in 1855 by a treaty signed by Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...
Gov. Isaac Stevens
Isaac Ingalls Stevens (March 25, 1818 – September 1, 1862) was an American military officer and politician who served as governor of the Territory of Washington from 1853 to 1857, and later as its delegate to the United States House of Represe ...
and representatives of the Yakama tribe. Several Native leaders believed that those representatives did not have the authority to cede communal land and had not properly gained consensus from the full council or tribe. A dispute over the treaty conditions led to the Yakima War
The Yakima War (1855–1858), also referred to as the Yakima Native American War of 1855 or the Plateau War, was a conflict between the United States and the Yakama, a Sahaptian-speaking people of the Northwest Plateau, then part of Washington T ...
(1855–1858), which the Yakama and allied tribes waged against the United States.
Following the Bannock War
The Bannock War of 1878 was an armed conflict between the U.S. military and Bannock and Paiute warriors in Idaho and northeastern Oregon from June to August 1878. The Bannock totaled about 600 to 800 in 1870 because of other Shoshone peoples b ...
of 1878, the United States government forced the Northern Paiute people
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ra ...
out of Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
and onto the Yakama Reservation, although most had not been involved in the war. The more than 500 Paiute in Washington were subjected to privation for more than a decade before being allowed to return to Nevada.[Omer Stewart, Review: "Gae Whitney Canfield, 'Sarah Winnemucca of the Northern Paiutes', Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma, 1983"](_blank)
''Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology,'' 5(2), 1983. Retrieved February 12, 2014. They were forced to compete for the limited resources and housing on the reservation with peoples who had been established there for decades. The Paiute did not return to Nevada until the 1886 expansion of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation
The Duck Valley Indian Reservation () was established in the 19th century for the federally recognized Shoshone- Paiute Tribe. It is isolated in the high desert of the western United States, and lies on the state line, the 42nd parallel, betwee ...
permitted them to reunite with their Western Shoshone Western Shoshone comprise several Shoshone tribes that are indigenous to the Great Basin and have lands identified in the Treaty of Ruby Valley 1863. They resided in Idaho, Nevada, California, and Utah. The tribes are very closely related cultural ...
brethren.
In 1994, the Yakima Tribal Council unanimously voted to change the spelling of the tribe's name from ''Yakima'' to ''Yakama'', matching the spelling of the 1855 treaty.['Yakamas' Alter Spelling of Tribe](_blank)
''Seattle Times'' News Services (January 26, 1994). The pronunciation remained the same.
The Yakama reservation was affected by the Cougar Creek fire, one of the 2015 Washington wildfires. About 80% of the Cougar Creek fire burned on reservation land. The Yakama responded by salvage logging Salvage logging is the practice of logging trees in forest areas that have been damaged by wildfire, flood, severe wind, disease, insect infestation, or other natural disturbance in order to recover economic value that would otherwise be lost.
Alt ...
.[Timothy Brown]
For Native Foresters, Land Management About More than Economics and Timber
Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
Yale School of the Environment (YSE) is a professional school of Yale University. It was founded to train foresters, and now trains environmental leaders through four 2-year degree programs ( Master of Environmental Management, Master of Environm ...
(May 20, 2016).
Membership
Roughly 10,000 people were enrolled members of the Yakama Nation in 2009. The required blood quantum
Blood quantum laws or Indian blood laws are laws in the United States that define Native American status by fractions of Native American ancestry. These laws were enacted by the federal government and state governments as a way to establ ...
for tribal membership is .
Economy
The Yakama Nation suffers from high poverty and unemployment; a 2005 report indicated that 42.8% of Yakama Nation families lived in poverty. As of 2017, there was a wait list of 1,800 families for tribal housing, and high rates of homelessness
Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are:
* living on the streets, also kn ...
.[Lauren Dake]
The quiet crisis: mass eviction shows toll of homelessness on Native Americans
''The Guardian'' (June 12, 2017). In 2016, an encampment
Camp may refer to:
Outdoor accommodation and recreation
* Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site
* a temporary settlement for nomads
* Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...
at the reservation was set up by about 130 people evicted from tribal housing.[Yakama Nation building tiny houses for homeless](_blank)
Associated Press (October 11, 2016). Members of the tribe responded by building tiny house
The tiny-house movement (also known as the small house movement) is an architectural and social movement that advocates for downsizing living spaces, simplifying, and essentially "living with less."Ford, Jasmine, and Lilia Gomz-Lanier. Family ...
s, but the structures do not have plumbing and are not viewed as a permanent solution.
The tribe undertakes forest management Forest management is a branch of forestry concerned with overall administrative, legal, economic, and social aspects, as well as scientific and technical aspects, such as silviculture, protection, and forest regulation. This includes management for ...
activities, including a lumber mill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
that supports several hundred jobs in the region. The tribe owns one of the largest commercial forests in the country, which makes up a sizable percent of the tribe's income.
The tribe operates a 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 ...
, one of the few Native American casinos
Native may refer to:
People
* Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth
* Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory
** Native Americans (disambiguation)
In arts and enterta ...
in the United States that are "dry" (alcohol-free).[Maria L. La Ganga]
Yakama tribe just says no to Washington state's legal pot market
''Los Angeles Times'' (December 21, 2013).
Law and government
The governance of the tribe is the responsibility of a 14-member tribal council, elected by a vote of the tribe's members.
In 1963, most criminal and civil jurisdiction over tribal members was transferred from the tribe to the Washington state government under Public Law 280
Public Law 280 (, August 15, 1953, codified as , , and ), is a federal law of the United States establishing "a method whereby States may assume jurisdiction over reservation Indians," as stated in '' McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission'' ...
. (Misdemeanors and traffic infractions continued to be handled by the tribe.)[Phil Ferolito]
Yakamas celebrate return of jurisdiction over civil, criminal law
''Yakima Herald'' (April 23, 2016). From 1983 to April 1993, thirteen women were killed on the reservation, and two other women disappeared in the early 1990s; none of the cases were solved, fueling native distrust of the FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
.
In 2016, full criminal jurisdiction over tribal members reverted to the tribe, along with jurisdiction over the five civil areas of "compulsory school attendance, public assistance, domestic relations, juvenile delinquency and operations of motor vehicles on public roads and highways on the reservation."
The Yakama Nation bans alcohol on tribal land, including its casino and convenience store, as well as on tribal powwows and other ceremonies.[Tribe Votes to Go Dry](_blank)
Associated Press (April 8, 2000). In 2000, the tribal council voted to extend its alcohol ban to the entirety of the 1.2-million-acre reservation, including private land owned by the estimated 20,000 non-tribal members who lived on the reservation.
Associated Press (October 10, 2000). Washington state, represented by its state attorney general
The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the federal district, or of any of the territories is the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state's chief law enforcement officer. In some states, the attorney gener ...
, sued the tribe. The suit was dismissed on ripeness grounds, because the ban had not yet been enforced against non-tribal members or on privately owned land.[Feds will enforce existing liquor laws](_blank)
Associated Press (April 1, 2001). In 2001, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington issued an opinion letter stating that federal prosecutors would enforce existing federal liquor laws, but would not enforce a ban on the sale of alcohol on privately owned, non-Indian communities within the reservation.
The reservation has struggled with substance abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...
over a series of decades. Although the recreational use of marijuana is generally legal in Washington state under Initiative 502 (enacted by voters in 2012), the Yakama have sought to block the issuance of licenses for the legal marijuana cultivation and sales on their lands; in 2014, the tribe filed challenges to almost 1,300 pending applications for marijuana business licenses in the 10-county area on which the reservation is located.[Jonathan Kaminsky]
Indian tribe seeks pot business ban in part of Washington state
Reuters (March 24, 2014).
Crime and public safety
In February 2018, the Yakama tribal council Yakamas passed a resolution declared a public safety crisis in response to a surge of crime on the reservation, particularly in White Swan. The resolution sought to impose greater penalties on tribal members who commit crimes (including the loss of treaty rights
In Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States the term treaty rights specifically refers to rights for indigenous peoples enumerated in treaties with settler societies that arose from European colonization.
Exactly who is indigenou ...
to hunt and fish, as well as banishment
Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
from the tribe) and stated that non-members who committed crimes on the reservation could be excluded from the reservation.[Phil Ferolito]
Yakamas declare public safety crisis, call for harsher punishment for criminals on reservation
''Yakima Herald'' (February 9, 2018).
In June 2019, the tribal council said that the reservation was plagued by drug use and violent crime, as well as "disregard for the rule of law and general civil unrest" and responded by imposing a youth curfew, establishing a telephone hotline for reporting crime, and increasing penalties for theft and assault.[Mihir Zaveri]
''New York Times'' (June 12, 2019). The announcement came after five people were killed in White Swan on the reservation in a shooting earlier that month.
Communities
* Glenwood
* Harrah
*Parker Parker may refer to:
Persons
* Parker (given name)
* Parker (surname)
Places Place names in the United States
*Parker, Arizona
*Parker, Colorado
* Parker, Florida
* Parker, Idaho
* Parker, Kansas
* Parker, Missouri
* Parker, North Carolina
*Park ...
* Satus
*Tampico
Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...
(part)
*Toppenish
Toppenish () is a city in Yakima County, Washington. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 8,854. It is located within the Yakama Indian Reservation, established in 1855.
Toppenish calls itself the city of Murals, as it has more than 7 ...
*Union Gap
Union Gap is a city in Yakima County, Washington, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 6,568. Union Gap has become the retail hub for the entire Yakima Valley as a result of Valley Mall and other thriving businesses be ...
(part)
* Wapato
* White Swan
Notes
References
* Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. .
Yakama Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Washington
United States Census Bureau
External links
Official Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation website
{{authority control
American Indian reservations in Washington (state)
Yakama
Geography of Klickitat County, Washington
Geography of Lewis County, Washington
Geography of Yakima County, Washington
Federally recognized tribes in the United States