Their right to fish in their former territory is protected by treaties and was re-affirmed in late 20th-century court cases such asUnited States v. Washington (known as theBoldt Decision, 1974) andUnited 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.[1] TheColumbia Basin Initiative aims to improve salmon-fishing for the tribe.
Scholars disagree on the origins of the name Yakama. TheSahaptin words,E-yak-ma, means "a growing family", andiyakima, means "pregnant ones". Other scholars note the word,yákama, which means "black bear," orya-ki-ná, which means "runaway".[2]
They have also been referred to as theWaptailnsim, "people of the narrow river," andPa'kiut'lĕma, "people of the gap," which describes the tribe's location along theYakima River.[2] The Yakama identify as theMamachatpam.[2]
″Yakima″ or ″Yakama″ was first a collective term for five (originally six)regional bands who spoke the same language ordialect ofSahaptin, also known asIchishkíin 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):[3][4]
Yakama (proper) orLower Yakama (Autonym in Yakama:Mámachatpam) –Chief Kamiakin's people: Their territory encompasses the watershed of the Lower Yakima River east of the Cascade Range, hence they were calledLower 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 asYakama orYakama proper. Their lands stretched fromSelah (″Quiet Water″) and Wenas just north of today'sYakima south to the area around today'sProsser (named for the nearby Prosser Falls asTapteil, 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.[5]
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 theTieton andNaches rivers (the latter meaning ″roaring, rough or turbulent water″), the largest tributary of the Yakima River. They were closely linked to theTaitnapam (″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 alongAhtanum Creek, a right tributary to the Yakima River, entering the Yakima River immediately upstream ofAhtanum Ridge anticline (Union Gap), their main villagePa'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 asPa'kiut'-ħlama / Pa'kiut'lĕma (″People of the gap″, lit. ″People of Mountain Heads Coming Together″) was transferred by the Europeans asPah-quy-ti-koot-lema /Pakiutlema or asNarrow 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 afterTẋápniš / Txápni-sh (″that which suddenly goes forth″ or ″protruded, stuck out″, an allusion to a large landslide that occurred on the ridge south ofWhite Swan, Washington – the contemporary Yakima Indian Reservation town ofToppenish is a corruption of this native term); this self-designation was transferred by the Europeans asToppenish to refer to all Lower Yakama and neighboring Yakama bands)
second Thápnĭś-ħlama / Thap-pah-nish (on Toppenish Creek north of theSimcoe Mountains (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 establishedFort Simcoe, this area, originally known as "Mool-mool", had been a camp site for the summer and early fall seasons)
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 asTap-teil-lema / Tap-teil-min or its proper variantWaptail-lema / Waptailmim to all Lower Yakama and neighboring Yakama bands)[7]
Upper Yakama orKittitas (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)[a] (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 andChief Qualchan's people: Their territory was usually north of Wenas Creek and Selah Creeks and along the Upper Yakima River, therefore they were calledUpper Yakima in reference to the downriver living Yakama / Yakama proper (or Lower Yakama) bands. They occupied the northern Yakima River tributariesCle Elum River (in Yakama: Tie-el-Lum – "swift water"),Teanaway River (in Yakama: Tyawnawí-ins – "[salmon] drying place"),Kachess River 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,Kachess Lake ("more fish") andKeechelus Lake ("few fish").
Klikatat / Klickitat (a corruption of the place namelátaxat for a key fishery at the falls of the Klickitat River orládaxat, anUpper Chinook name for a Klickitat village with resident Kiksht-speaking Wishram,[b] 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 orLewis River Klickitat Band, erroneously calledUpper Cowlitz orLewis River Cowlitz, sometimesLewis River Chinook (in Yakama: Taitnapam / Taidnapam / Táitinpam – ″People of theTieton River″): 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 nameTaitnapam 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 theNaches River; 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 nearMossyrock on the east end of the Klickitat Prairie along Upper Cowlitz River)
Lalalxɫa'ma / Lalalx-lá-ma (their main settlementlalálx was at the mouth of the Tilton River, which was also called lalálx)
Wasaɫa'ma (lived aroundMorton at the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in the Tilton River Valley southwest ofMount Rainier)
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 ofKiona, Washington)
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 atPriest Rapids, 1953 the construction of thePriest Rapids Dam and theWanapum Dam flooded the Wánapam living and fishing grounds to create thePriest Rapids Lake reservoir. Today still about 60 Wánapam are living near today's Priest Rapids Dams. The Wanapam dreamer-prophetSmohalla (″Dreamer″ or ″Preacher″) was the most prominent leader of theWashane ("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 includedChief Joseph 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 calledUpper (Mountain) Nisqually, today also commonly known asMeshal / Me-Schal / Mashel / Mica'l Band of Nisqually –Chief Leschi's people: Their territory was generally on the west side of the Cascade Range and northwest of the kindredKlikatat / Klickitat and encompassed theMashel River, tributary of the Nisqually, and theUpper Nisqually andUpper Puyallup River Valleys reaching up toMount Rainier (Talol/Tacoma/Tahoma) ("bigger thanMount Baker") – together withKlikatat / Klickitat they occupiedOhop Valley inPierce County (around present-day cities Eatonville andRoy); their primary village site wasBasha'labsh on Meshal River, near present-dayLa Grande, Washington. They intermarried with downstream and closer to the coast livingSouthern Lushootseed-speakingNisqually (Squalli-Absh / Sqʷaliʼabš) ("People of the Grassland"), aCoast Salish people, had switched from Sahaptin toNisqually / Sqʷali'abš no later than in the 19th century. Chief Leschi (fromBasha'labsh, with a Yakama mother) was one of the most important leaders during thePuget Sound War (1855 und 1856) of an intertribal alliance of Coast Salish (Nisqually,Puyallup (S'Puyalupubsh) andMuckleshoot) and Sahaptin (Mishalpam, Klikatat / Klickitat and Yakama) peoples.
Their lands lay within theYakima Rivers (in Yakama:Tapteal – ″rapids″ because of the waterfalls atProsser, Washington) watershed and for the most part east of theCascade Range, to the south along the northern tributaries of theColumbia River (in Yakama:Nch'i-Wána – ″great river″) (here the Yakama bands frequently lived inbilingual villages together with Southern/Columbia River Sahaptin-speaking bands: Umatilla, Skin-pah/Skin, Tenino/Warm Springs), to the southwest along theLower 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 theWenatchee River (because of frequently intermarriages some of the originally Interior Salish-speakingWenatchi bands switched to Sahaptin as first language), in the north to the lakes ofCle Elum Lake (after the Upper Yakama / Kittitas nameTie-el-Lum, meaning "swift water", referring to the Cle Elum River),Kachess Lake ("more fish") andKeechelus Lake ("few fish") at the headwaters of the Yakima River (with the directly northwest living Coast-Salish-speakingSnoqualmie the Yakama bands kept family ties), in the west across the Cascade Range to the headwaters of theCowlitz River (shch'il),Lewis River ((wl'ɫt'kh) andWhite Salmon River (where there were also family ties with Coast-Salish-speakingLower Cowlitz and Upper Chinookan/Kiksht-speakingWasco-Wishram).
The Yakama people are similar to the other native inhabitants of theColumbia River Plateau. They were hunters and gatherers well known for tradingsalmon harvested from annual runs in the Columbia River. In 1805 or 1806, they encountered theLewis and Clark Expedition at the confluence of theYakima River andColumbia River.
As a consequence of theWalla Walla Council[8] and theYakima War of 1855, the tribe was forced to cede much of their land and move onto their present reservation.[9] 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 writtenPalus, Yakama name: Pelúuspem), Pisquouse (P'squosa, nowWenatchi), Wenatshapam (Yakama name: Winátshapam, nowWenatchi),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, nowWishram, speakingUpper Chinook (Kiksht)),[10] 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 aKittitas (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 inWashington Territory, 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.[11]
Yakama is a northwestern dialect ofSahaptin, aSahaptian language of thePlateau Penutian 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".[12]
^Another interpretation is that the bread made from the root kous was called kit-tit. Kous grew in the Kittitas Valley. "Tash" is generally accepted to mean "place of existence."
^another version for the origin of the tribal nameKlickitat is probably aChinookan word meaning "beyond" in reference to theRocky Mountains
^"Treaty with the Yakama, 1855".HistoryLink. April 24, 2007. RetrievedSeptember 3, 2020.Note that while the Tribe's name is spelled 'Yakama' in the treaty, the spelling 'Yakima' later became common, and is still used in the names of the river, county, and city derived from the tribal name, but in 1994 the Yakima Tribe changed the spelling of its name back to the original Yakama Tribe.
^Beavert, Virginia and Hargus, SharonIchishkíin sínwit yakama = Yakima Sahaptin dictionary. Toppenish, Wash. : Heritage University ; Seattle : in association with the University of Washington Press, 2009; 492 pp. OCLC 268797329
Washington)
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