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The Yakama are a
Native American tribe In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, Indigenous tribe, or Tribal nation may be any current or historical Tribe (Native American)#Other uses, tribe, band, or nation of Native Americans in ...
with nearly 10,851 members, based primarily in
eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...
Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...
. Yakama people today are enrolled in the
federally recognized tribe A federally recognized tribe is a Native American tribe recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs as holding a government-to-government relationship with the US federal government. In the United States, the Native American tribe ...
, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Their
Yakama Indian Reservation The Yakama Indian Reservation (spelled Yakima until 1994) is a Native American reservation in Washington state of the federally recognized tribe known as the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The tribe is made up of Klikitat ...
, along the
Yakima River The Yakima River is a tributary of the Columbia River in south central and eastern Washington state, named for the indigenous Yakama people. Lewis and Clark mention in their journals that the Chin-nâm pam (or the Lower Snake River Chamnapam N ...
, covers an area of approximately 1.2 million acres (5,260 km2). Today the nation is governed by the Yakama Tribal Council, which consists of representatives of 14 tribes. Many Yakama people engage in ceremonial, subsistence, and commercial fishing for
salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...
,
steelhead Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the Fish migration#Classification, anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or Columbia River redband trout (''O. m. gairdneri'', also called redband steelhead). Steelhead are native to cold-wa ...
, and
sturgeon Sturgeon (from Old English ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European *''str̥(Hx)yón''-) is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the ...
in the
Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
and its tributaries, including within land ceded by the tribe to the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Their right to fish in their former territory is protected by treaties and was re-affirmed in late 20th-century court cases such as ''United States v. Washington'' (known as the
Boldt Decision Boldt may refer to: * Alwin Boldt (1884–1920), German Olympic cyclist * Carl Boldt (1932–2015), American basketball player * David Boldt (1918–2007) * Georg Boldt (1862–1918), Finnish philosopher of religion * George Boldt (1851–1916), Pr ...
, 1974) and ''United States v. Oregon'' ('' Sohappy v. Smith'', 1969), though more than a century of U.S. industrial pollution has contaminated these waterways with dangerous levels of toxic chemicals. The
Columbia Basin Initiative The Columbia Basin Initiative is a 2023 agreement between the U.S. government, four sovereign Tribe (Native American), Native American Tribes (Nez Perce, Yakama, Warm Springs Indian Reservation, Warm Springs and Umatilla people, Umatilla) and th ...
aims to improve salmon-fishing for the tribe.


Etymology

Scholars disagree on the origins of the name Yakama. The
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- ...
words, ''E-yak-ma,'' means "a growing family", and ''iyakima,'' means "pregnant ones". Other scholars note the word, ''yákama,'' which means "black bear," or ''ya-ki-ná,'' which means "runaway"."Yakama," ''U*X*L Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes'', U*X*L. 2008.
/ref> They have also been referred to as the ''Waptailnsim,'' "people of the narrow river," and ''Pa'kiut'lĕma,'' "people of the gap," which describes the tribe's location along the
Yakima River The Yakima River is a tributary of the Columbia River in south central and eastern Washington state, named for the indigenous Yakama people. Lewis and Clark mention in their journals that the Chin-nâm pam (or the Lower Snake River Chamnapam N ...
. The Yakama identify as the ''Mamachatpam.''


Historic Yakama Band and Territories

″Yakima″ or ″Yakama″ was first a collective term for five (originally six) regional bands who spoke the same language or
dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...
of
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- ...
, also known as ''Ichishkíin Sɨ́nwit'' (″this language″). Usually they named the individual bands, village groups, local groups, and rivers after a specific rock formation, their main camps, or after an important village or fishing site. The English names of the following local rivers were derived from Sahaptin: the Klickitat, Umatilla, Walla Walla, Palouse, Yakima, Satus, Toppenish, Tieton, and Wenatchee (in each case the original native term referred not to the river itself, which generally was left unnamed): * Yakama (proper) or Lower Yakama (Autonym in Yakama: Mámachatpam) –
Chief Kamiakin Kamiakin (c. 1800–1877) (Yakama) was a leader of the Yakama, Palus people, Palouse, and Klickitat people, Klickitat peoples east of the Cascade Mountains in what is now southeastern Washington (state), Washington state. In 1855, he was disturbe ...
's people: Their territory encompasses the watershed of the Lower Yakima River east of the Cascade Range, hence they were called ''Lower Yakima'' to distinguish them from their upriver cousins – the ″Kittitas or Upper Yakama.″ As they were the largest group in population, they were often termed as ''Yakama'' or ''Yakama proper''. Their lands stretched from
Selah (; ) is a word used 74 times in the Hebrew Bible. Its etymology and precise meaning are unknown, though various interpretations are given. It is probably either a liturgical-musical mark or an instruction on the reading of the text, with the m ...
(″Quiet Water″) and Wenas just north of today's
Yakima Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the state's 11th most populous city. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The ...
south to the area around today's Prosser (named for the nearby Prosser Falls as ''Tapteil, Tap tut, Toptut'' – ″rapids or falls″). All major rivers in this area – such as the Naches River, and Ahtanum, Toppenish and Satus reeks – are tributaries of the Yakima River. ** Síla-ħlama (along the Yakima River between Wenas and Umtanum creeks, the northernmost Lower Yakama Band) ** Wínas-ħlama (along Wenas Creek, the ″cross river″ between the Upper Yakama and Lower Yakama) ** Nahchísh-ħlama (″People along the Roaring Water, i.e. Naches River″), lived along the Tieton and Naches rivers (the latter meaning ″roaring, rough or turbulent water″), the largest tributary of the Yakima River. They were closely linked to the ''Taitnapam'' (″People of the Tieton River″) regional band west of the Cascade Range) ** Tkaíwaichaś-ħlama / Tkai'waichash-hlama (along Cowiche Creek near the eastern foothills of the Cascade Mountain range) ** Átanŭm-ħlama (″People along Ahtanum Creek″, named after their territory along Ahtanum Creek, a right tributary to the Yakima River, entering the Yakima River immediately upstream of Ahtanum Ridge anticline ( Union Gap), their main village ''Pa'kiut / Páxutakyuu-t'' ("both hills together or gap", "heads joined") in the valley between Ahtanum Ridge and Rattlesnake Ridge was the most important of the Lower Yakama; hence the self-designation of this particular local or village group as ''Pa'kiut'-ħlama / Pa'kiut'lĕma'' (″People of the gap″, lit. ″People of Mountain Heads Coming Together″) was transferred by the Europeans as ''Pah-quy-ti-koot-lema /Pakiutlema'' or as ''Narrow River Indians'' to all Lower Yakama bands and later to neighboring Yakama bands to) ** Písko-ħlama / Pisko-pum (″Sagebrush People″, along Toppenish Creek of the Toppenish plains, a right tributary of the Yakima River) ** Sí-ħlama (on Yakima River above the mouth of Toppenish Creek) ** first Thápnĭś-ħlama / Thap-pah-nish (also on Toppenish Creek – Toppenish Creek was named after ''Tẋápniš / Txápni-sh'' (″that which suddenly goes forth″ or ″protruded, stuck out″, an allusion to a large landslide that occurred on the ridge south of White Swan, Washington – the contemporary Yakima Indian Reservation town of Toppenish is a corruption of this native term); this self-designation was transferred by the Europeans as ''Toppenish'' to refer to all Lower Yakama and neighboring Yakama bands) ** second Thápnĭś-ħlama / Thap-pah-nish (on Toppenish Creek north of the
Simcoe Mountains The Simcoe Mountains Volcanic Field, sometimes called the Simcoe Highlands, is a group of lava flows and extinct cinder cones located to the east of the Cascade Range in south-central Washington, United States. The mountains lie within Klickitat ...
(in Yakama: ''Sim Quwe'' – "saddle back" or ″a dip between two hills like a saddle back″) ** Símkoe-ħlama (along Simcoe Creek in the Simcoe Valley, later there was established Fort Simcoe, this area, originally known as "Mool-mool", had been a camp site for the summer and early fall seasons) ** Se'tas-ħlama / Setass-lema (on Satus Creek) ** Taptat-ħlama (″People at the rapids, i.e. Prosser Falls″, along Yakima River from the mouth of Satus Creek to present Kiona, with a key fishery at Prosser Falls (today: Prosser, in Yakama: ''Tapteil'', ''Tap tut'', ''Toptut'' – ″rapids, waterfalls″; this self-designation was also transferred by the Europeans as ''Tap-teil-lema / Tap-teil-min'' or its proper variant ''Waptail-lema / Waptailmim'' to all Lower Yakama and neighboring Yakama bands) * Upper Yakama or Kittitas (meaning of the word Kittitas vary – perhaps ″shale rock, white chalk, or white clay ″, but in any case the name probably refers to the region's soil composition) (in Yakama: Pshwánwapam / Psch-wan-wap-pam / Pish-wana-pum – ″Many Rocks People″ or ″Stony Ground People″, also given as ″River Rock People″) – Chief Owhi's and Chief Qualchan's people: Their territory was usually north of Wenas Creek and Selah Creeks and along the Upper Yakima River, therefore they were called ''Upper Yakima'' in reference to the downriver living Yakama / Yakama proper (or Lower Yakama) bands. They occupied the northern Yakima River tributaries
Cle Elum River The Cle Elum River is a tributary of the Yakima River, approximately 28 miles (45 km) long in the U.S. state of Washington. A Northern Pacific Railway station at the future site of the city of Cle Elum, Washington was named Clealum after the ...
(in Yakama: Tie-el-Lum – "swift water"),
Teanaway River The Teanaway River is a tributary of the Yakima River, in the U.S. state of Washington. It flows into the Yakima River near Cle Elum. The Teanaway River is part of the Columbia River basin, being a tributary of the Yakima River, which is a tributa ...
(in Yakama: Tyawnawí-ins – " almondrying place"),
Kachess River Kachess River is a tributary of the Yakima River, in the U.S. state of Washington. From its source on Chickamin Ridge in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness region of the Cascade Range, the Kachess River flows south into Kachess Lake, a natural lake regul ...
to the Wenatchee Mountains and Saddle Mountains in the east. Their territory included three large lakes in the Cascade Range (from east to west):
Cle Elum Lake Cle Elum Lake is a lake and reservoir along the course of the Cle Elum River, in Washington state USA. At the site of the future city of Cle Elum, Washington, a Northern Pacific Railway station was named Clealum after the Kittitas name Tle-el-L ...
, Kachess Lake ("more fish") and
Keechelus Lake Keechelus Lake () is a lake and reservoir in the northwest United States, near Hyak in Kittitas County, Washington. Approximately southeast of Seattle and a few miles southeast of Snoqualmie Pass, it is the source of the Yakima River. Keech ...
("few fish"). * Klikatat / Klickitat (a corruption of the place name ''látaxat'' for a key fishery at the falls of the Klickitat River or ''ládaxat'', an Upper Chinook name for a Klickitat village with resident Kiksht-speaking Wishram, in Yakama: Xwálχwaypam / Qwû'lh-hwai-pûm / X̣ʷáɬx̣ʷaypam – ″Prairie People″ or ″People of the village χwálχway (Steller's Jay')″, located at the junction of the Klickitat and Little Klickitat Rivers) – Chief Slockish's people: Their territory was generally situated north of the Columbia River, at the headwaters of the Cowlitz, Lewis, Washougal, White Salmon, and Klickitat rivers. * Cowlitz Klickitat or Lewis River Klickitat Band, erroneously called Upper Cowlitz or Lewis River Cowlitz, sometimes Lewis River Chinook (in Yakama: Taitnapam / Taidnapam / Táitinpam – ″People of the
Tieton River The Tieton River is a tributary of the Naches River, in Yakima County, Washington in the United States. The Tieton River begins in two forks, the North Fork Tieton River and South Fork Tieton River. The North Fork originates at McCall Glacier ...
″): Closely allied with their Yakama kin (Áypaχ-pam – ″People of the Plains″ or ″People of the river mouth″) east of the Cascades – they had permanently occupied and controlled the Upper Cowlitz (shch'il) above Mossyrock, Cispus River (shíshpash), Tilton River (lalálx), the uppermost Nisqually River and Lewis River basins. They apparently intermarried with Salish-speaking Lower Cowlitz (in Yakama: T'lkwi'lipam / λ'kwílipam) communities downriver and travelled freely as far as the mouth of the Cowlitz River (in Yakama: shchil-aypáχ – ″Cowlitz River mouth″), as well as moving freely through adjacent Yakama-controlled territory east of the Cascade Crest. Their own name ''Taitnapam'' indicates that they originally came from east off the Cascades – along the Tieton River (in Yakama: Táitin) hence territory of the Nahchísh-ħlama, a Yakama/Lower Yakama band along the
Naches River The Naches River is a tributary of the Yakima River in central Washington in the United States. Beginning as the Little Naches River, it is about 75 miles (121 km) long. After the confluence of the Little Naches and Bumping River the name b ...
; they had strong linguistic and family ties to that band and to the Klikatat / Klickitat. ** Qw':ltɫa'ma / Qwiilt-lá-ma (occupied the Mossyrock Prairie near Mossyrock on the east end of the Klickitat Prairie along Upper Cowlitz River) ** Lalalxɫa'ma / Lalalx-lá-ma (their main settlement ''lalálx'' was at the mouth of the Tilton River, which was also called '' lalálx '') ** Wasaɫa'ma (lived around Morton at the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in the Tilton River Valley southwest of
Mount Rainier Mount Rainier ( ), also known as Tahoma, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. The mountain is located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With an off ...
) ** Nucnu:ɫa'ma (lived in Cowlitz River Canyon) ** Sw:ktsw'ktɫa'ma / Swikt-swikt-lá-ma (lived around today Nesika, Washington, on Riffe Lake, south of Morton and upriver of Mossyrock, and in Steel Canyon, Winters Mountain and Green Mountain) ** K'wpɫa'ma (lived at the Cowlitz Falls of Cowlitz River, which was a key fishery site) ** Cicpacɫa'ma (lived along Cispus River) ** Qiyanxuɫa'ma / Q'iyanxw-lá-ma (lived along Cowlitz River, ca. 7 miles west of
Kiona, Washington Kiona is an unincorporated community in Benton County, Washington, United States. Kiona is a term belonging to North American indigenous people meaning "brown hills." Kiona and Benton City share a school district (commonly called "Ki-Be"). Hi ...
) ** Ca'q'kɫa'ma / Shíq'k-lá-ma (lived along Kiona Creek, a tributary of the Cowlitz River) * Wanapum / Wánapam (″River People″): They lived south of the Saddle Mountains on both sides of the Columbia River downriver to the mouth of the Snake River, most important settlement as well as fishing grounds was at Priest Rapids, 1953 the construction of the Priest Rapids Dam and the Wanapum Dam flooded the Wánapam living and fishing grounds to create the Priest Rapids Lake reservoir. Today still about 60 Wánapam are living near today's Priest Rapids Dams. The Wanapam dreamer-prophet Smohalla (″Dreamer″ or ″Preacher″) was the most prominent leader of the Washane ("Dreamer Religion"), other prophets were Chief Homli (of the Walla Walla), Kotiakan (of the Pa'kiut'-ħlama local group of Lower Yakama) as well Lishwailait and Ashnithlai (both Klickitat). Adherents included
Chief Joseph ''Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt'' (or ''hinmatóowyalahtq̓it'' in Americanist orthography; March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904), popularly known as Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger, was a leader of the wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa) ...
and his Nez Percé followers as well as Native people from other tribes in the region. * Mishalpam (in Yakama: Mical-ɫa'ma – ″ Eatonville people″, lit. ″Mashel River people″), later called Upper (Mountain) Nisqually, today also commonly known as Meshal / Me-Schal / Mashel / Mica'l Band of Nisqually –
Chief Leschi Chief Leschi (; ; c. 1808 – February 19, 1858) was a chief of the Nisqually Indian Tribe of southern Puget Sound, Washington, primarily in the area of the Nisqually River. Following outbreaks of violence and the Yakima Wars (1855–1858), ...
's people: Their territory was generally on the west side of the Cascade Range and northwest of the kindred ''Klikatat / Klickitat'' and encompassed the Mashel River, tributary of the Nisqually, and the Upper Nisqually and Upper Puyallup River Valleys reaching up to Mount Rainier (Talol/Tacoma/Tahoma) ("bigger than
Mount Baker Mount Baker (; ), also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is a active glacier-covered andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States. Mount Baker has the second-most ...
") – together with ''Klikatat / Klickitat'' they occupied Ohop Valley in Pierce County (around present-day cities Eatonville and Roy); their primary village site was ''Basha'labsh'' on Meshal River, near present-day La Grande, Washington. They intermarried with downstream and closer to the coast living
Southern Lushootseed Southern Lushootseed, also called Twulshootseed () or Whulshootseed () in the Muckleshoot and Snoqualmie dialects, is the southern dialect of Lushootseed, a Coast Salish language in western Washington State. It was historically spoken by the M ...
-speaking Nisqually (Squalli-Absh / Sqʷaliʼabš) ("People of the Grassland"), a
Coast Salish The Coast Salish peoples are a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak on ...
people, had switched from Sahaptin to ''Nisqually / Sqʷali'abš'' no later than in the 19th century. Chief Leschi (from ''Basha'labsh'', with a Yakama mother) was one of the most important leaders during the Puget Sound War (1855 und 1856) of an intertribal alliance of Coast Salish (Nisqually, Puyallup (S'Puyalupubsh) and
Muckleshoot The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe ( ; ), also known as the Muckleshoot Tribe, is a federally-recognized tribe located in Auburn, Washington. The tribe governs the Muckleshoot Reservation and is composed of descendants of the Duwamish, Stkamish, ...
) and Sahaptin (Mishalpam, Klikatat / Klickitat and Yakama) peoples. Their lands lay within the
Yakima River The Yakima River is a tributary of the Columbia River in south central and eastern Washington state, named for the indigenous Yakama people. Lewis and Clark mention in their journals that the Chin-nâm pam (or the Lower Snake River Chamnapam N ...
s (in Yakama: ''Tapteal'' – ″rapids″ because of the waterfalls at
Prosser, Washington Prosser () is a city in and the county seat of Benton County, Washington, United States. Situated along the Yakima River, it had a population of 6,062 at the 2020 census. History Prosser was long home to Native Americans who lived and fish ...
) watershed and for the most part east of the
Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...
, to the south along the northern tributaries of the
Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
(in Yakama: ''Nch'i-Wána'' – ″great river″) (here the Yakama bands frequently lived in
bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...
villages together with Southern/Columbia River Sahaptin-speaking bands: Umatilla, Skin-pah/Skin, Tenino/Warm Springs), to the southwest along the Lower Snake River and Columbia River (here the Yakama bands lived also in bilingual villages together with Lower Snake River Sahaptin-speaking local groups of Chamnapam/Chem-na-pum, Wauyukma and Naxiyampam), to the northeast their tribal territories ranged up to the
Wenatchee River The Wenatchee River is a river in the U.S. state of Washington, originating at Lake Wenatchee and flowing southeast for , emptying into the Columbia River immediately north of Wenatchee, Washington. On its way it passes the towns of Plain, Le ...
(because of frequently intermarriages some of the originally Interior Salish-speaking
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. Their language ...
bands switched to Sahaptin as first language), in the north to the lakes of
Cle Elum Lake Cle Elum Lake is a lake and reservoir along the course of the Cle Elum River, in Washington state USA. At the site of the future city of Cle Elum, Washington, a Northern Pacific Railway station was named Clealum after the Kittitas name Tle-el-L ...
(after the Upper Yakama / Kittitas name ''Tie-el-Lum'', meaning "swift water", referring to the Cle Elum River), Kachess Lake ("more fish") and
Keechelus Lake Keechelus Lake () is a lake and reservoir in the northwest United States, near Hyak in Kittitas County, Washington. Approximately southeast of Seattle and a few miles southeast of Snoqualmie Pass, it is the source of the Yakima River. Keech ...
("few fish") at the headwaters of the Yakima River (with the directly northwest living Coast-Salish-speaking Snoqualmie the Yakama bands kept family ties), in the west across the Cascade Range to the headwaters of the
Cowlitz River The Cowlitz River is a river in the state of Washington in the United States, a tributary of the Columbia River. Its tributaries drain a large region including the slopes of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens. The Cowlitz has a ...
(shch'il), Lewis River ((wl'ɫt'kh) and
White Salmon River The White Salmon River is a tributary of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Originating on the slopes of Mount Adams, it flows into the Columbia Gorge near the community of Underwood. Parts of the river have been designated ...
(where there were also family ties with Coast-Salish-speaking Lower Cowlitz and Upper Chinookan/Kiksht-speaking Wasco-Wishram).


History

The Yakama people are similar to the other native inhabitants of the
Columbia River Plateau The Columbia Plateau is an important 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 ...
. They were hunters and gatherers well known for trading
salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...
harvested from annual runs in the Columbia River. In 1805 or 1806, they encountered the
Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...
at the confluence of the
Yakima River The Yakima River is a tributary of the Columbia River in south central and eastern Washington state, named for the indigenous Yakama people. Lewis and Clark mention in their journals that the Chin-nâm pam (or the Lower Snake River Chamnapam N ...
and
Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
. As a consequence of the Walla Walla Council and the
Yakima War The Yakima War (1855–1858), also referred to as the Plateau War or Yakima Indian War, was a conflict between the United States and the Yakama, a Sahaptian-speaking people of the Northwest Plateau, then part of Washington Territory, and the tr ...
of 1855, the tribe was forced to cede much of their land and move onto their present reservation. The Treaty of 1855 identified the 14 confederated tribes and bands of the Yakama, including "Yakama (Lower Yakama or Yakama proper, autonym: Mámachatpam), Palouse (now written Palus, Yakama name: Pelúuspem), Pisquouse (P'squosa, now
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. Their language ...
), Wenatshapam (Yakama name: Winátshapam, now
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. Their language ...
), Klikatat (Yakama name: Xwálxwaypam or L'ataxat), Klinquit (a Yakama subtribe), Kow-was-say-ee (Yakama name: Kkáasu-i or K'kasawi, Tenino subtribe, today's Crow Butte, Washington, opposite of Boardman, Oregon), Li-ay-was (not identified), Skin-pah (Sk'in tribe or Sawpaw, also known as Fall Bridge and Rock Creek people or K'milláma, a Tenino subtribe; perhaps another Yakama name for the Umatilla, which were known as Rock Creek Indians), Wish-ham (Yakama name: Wíshχam, now Wishram, speaking Upper Chinook (Kiksht)), Shyiks (a Yakama subtribe), Ochechotes (Uchi'chol, a Tenino subtribe), Kah-milt-pay (Kahmiltpah, Q'míl-pa or Qamil'lma, perhaps a Klikatat subtribe), and Se-ap-cat (Si'apkat, perhaps a Kittitas (Upper Yakama) subtribe, Kittitas autonym: Pshwánapam or Psch-wan-wap-pams), confederated tribes and bands of Indians, occupying lands hereinafter bounded and described and lying in
Washington Territory The Washington Territory 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 ...
, who for the purposes of this treaty are to be considered as one nation, under the name 'Yakama'…". (Treaty with the Yakama, 1855) The name was changed from Yakima to Yakama in 1994 to reflect the native pronunciation.


Language

Yakama is a northwestern dialect of
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- ...
, a Sahaptian language of the
Plateau Penutian Plateau Penutian (also Shahapwailutan, Lepitan, Plateau) is a family of languages spoken in northern California, reaching through central-western Oregon to northern Washington and central-northern Idaho. The family is accepted by Campbell (202 ...
family. Since the late 20th century, some native speakers have argued to use the traditional Yakama name for this language, ''Ichishkíin Sínwit''. The tribal Cultural Resources program wants to replace the word Sahaptin, which means "stranger in the land". Beavert, Virginia and Hargus, Sharon ''Ichishkíin sínwit yakama = Yakima Sahaptin dictionary''. Toppenish, Wash. : Heritage University ; Seattle : in association with the University of Washington Press, 2009; 492 pp. OCLC 268797329


Notable Yakama people

*
Ella Aquino Ella Pierre Aquino (September 20, 1902 – 1988) was a Lummi-Yakama-Puyallup civil rights activist and community organizer who was a matriarch of the Native American community in Seattle. She advocated on behalf of foster children and co-founded ...
*
Colestah Colestah (died 1865), was one of the five wives of Chief Kamiakin (1800–1877) of the Yakama Native American tribe. She is described as being a medicine woman ''(twati)'', a psychic, and a "warrior woman". Early life Colestah was the youngest ...
* Bunky Echo–Hawk *
Chief Kamiakin Kamiakin (c. 1800–1877) (Yakama) was a leader of the Yakama, Palus people, Palouse, and Klickitat people, Klickitat peoples east of the Cascade Mountains in what is now southeastern Washington (state), Washington state. In 1855, he was disturbe ...
* Lavina Washines * William Yallup


Notes


References


Further reading


Treaty with the Yakama, 1855
Washington State Governor's Office of Indian Affairs. Accessed September 3, 2020. * Ray Hoard Glassley: ''Indian Wars of the Pacific Northwest'',Binfords & Mort, Portland, Oregon 1972 * *
online

Yakama Nation
Background Reading


External links


Photographs of Yakama from the University of Washington Digital LibrariesYakama Nation Cultural Heritage Center
member tribes include the Yakama
Yakama Nation Wildlife ProgramYakama Nation FisheriesYakima Klickitat Fisheries Project
{{Authority control Native American tribes in Washington (state) Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau