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Yakama

 
Dictionary: Ya·ka·ma  Ya·ki·ma (yăk'ə-mə, -mô) pronunciation
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also n., pl., Yakama, or -mas, also Yakima or -mas.
    1. A Native American people inhabiting south-central Washington.
    2. A member of this people.
  2. The dialect of Sahaptin spoken by the Yakama.

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US History Encyclopedia: Yakama
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Calling themselves Mamachatpam, the Native inhabitants of south central Washington State occupied the drainage of the Yakima River, a major tributary of the Columbia River. These five bands spoke Sahaptian languages and engaged in plant harvesting, hunting, and fishing, particularly salmon fishing. In the late twentieth century, nuclear waste, dams, and water diverted to irrigation destroyed many traditional foods. Although they suffered various epidemics, there were roughly 10,000 Yakamas at the end of the twentieth century, or double their estimated precontact population. The arrival of horses in the 1730s expanded their mobility and allowed the Yakamas to hunt bison on the northern Plains under the leadership of Weowich. The increased need for horse pastures led the Yakamas to explore the coastal meadows and villages east of the Cascade Mountains; this spread their language and led them to intermarry with other tribes in the region. By the mid-1800s, the Yakamas were led by three brothers, Kamiakin, Skloom, Shawaway, and their uncles, Teias and Owhi, who served as leaders of the native resistance during the 1855 Treaty War, which was fought in the aftermath of their forced land surrender. Despite strong pressures, such as withholding food and supplies, from the Methodist James Wilbur and both Oblate and Jesuit missionaries, Yakama beliefs and spiritual blessings continued to thrive at seasonal thanksgivings, or root feasts, held in mat lodges. In the late twentieth century, their prophet Smohalla preached for a return to Native American ways. His influence was enormous, and the community of his followers continued to shun all modern conveniences. With an industrial park and forestry reserves, Yakama Industries provided steady employment, as well as seasonal stoop labor in fields and orchards, while the Yakama nation pursued a major water rights case.

Bibliography

Schuster, Helen. "Yakama." In Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 13: Plateau. Edited by William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1998.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Yakima
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Yakima (yăk'əmô, -mə), indigenous people of North America whose language belongs to the Sahaptin-Chinook branch of the Penutian linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In the early 19th cent. they lived along the Columbia and Yakima rivers, in central Washington. They then numbered some 1,200. In 1855 an attempt by the United States to place the Yakima on a reservation in Washington resulted in war. Under a capable leader, Kamiakin, the Yakima fought until 1859, when they were subdued. Several other tribes subsequently joined them on the reservation there and were absorbed by the Yakima. The culture of the Yakima was of the Plateau area (see under Natives, North American); they subsisted on salmon, roots, berries, and nuts. Today most live on the Yakima Reservation, where the main sources of income are forestry, construction, and casino gambling. In 1990 there were over 7,500 Yakima in the United States.

Bibliography

See C. Relander, Strangers on the Land (1962).

Wikipedia: Yakama
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Yakama
Total population
10,851 (2000 Census)
Regions with significant populations
United States (Washington)
Languages

English, Ichishkíin Sínwit
Related ethnic groups

Klickitat

The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, or simply Yakama Nation (formerly Yakima), is a Native American group with nearly 10,000 enrolled members, living in Washington. Their reservation, along the Yakima River, 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 and bands.

Many tribal members engage in ceremonial, subsistence, and commercial fishing for salmon, steelhead, and sturgeon in the Columbia River and its tributaries within land ceded by the tribe to the United States. The right to fish is protected by treaties and has been re-affirmed through court cases such as United States v. Washington (the Boldt Decision) and United States v. Oregon (Sohappy v. Smith.)

Contents

History

The Yakama people were similar to the other native inhabitants of the Columbia River Plateau. They were hunters and gatherers most well-known for trading salmon harvested from the Columbia River. In 1805 or 1806, they encountered the Lewis and Clark Expedition where the Yakima River merges with the Columbia River. As a consequence of the Walla Walla Council (1855) and the Yakima War of 1855 (led by Chief Kamiakin), the tribe was forced to move onto their present reservation. The Treaty of 1855 identified the 14 confederated tribes and bands of the Yakama including "Yakama, Palouse," (now written "Palus"), "Pisquouse, Wenatshapam, Klikatat, Klinquit, Kow-was-say-ee, Li-ay-was, Skin-pah, Wish-ham, Shyiks, Ochechotes, Kah-milt-pay, and Se-ap-cat, confederated tribes and bands of Indians, occupying lands hereinafter bounded and described and lying in Washington 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.

Language

Yakama Indian Teepee - Edward Curtis collection - 1910

Yakama is a northwestern dialect of Sahaptin, a Sahaptian language of the Plateau Penutian family. In recent years there has been a concerted effort by some native speakers to use a traditional Yakama name for this language, which is "Ichishkíin Sínwit". This usage has been promoted by the tribal Cultural Resources program to supersede the word Sahaptin, which means "stranger in the land". [1]

Notes

  1. ^ Beavert, Virginia and Hargus, Sharon (in preparation) Ichishkíin Sínwit. Yakima Sahaptin Bilingual Dictionary: Sahaptin-English and English-Sahaptin. Ms., University of Washington, 512 pp.

References

Further reading

  • Helen H. Schuster (1990). The Yakima. Chelsea House. ISBN 1-55546-735-0. 
  • Donald M. Hines (1992). Ghost Voices: Yakima Indian myths, legend, humor, and hunting stories. Great Eagle Pub. ISBN 0-9629539-2-X. 
  • A. J. Splawn (1917). Ka-mi-akin, the last hero of the Yakimas. Kilham Stationery & Printing Co.. online

External links

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
US History Encyclopedia. © 2006 through a partnership of Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Yakama".  Read more