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Yakama
[edit] Yakama warrior ca. 1913 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
United States ( Washington) | |
| Languages | |
| Sahaptin | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, Waashat | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Klickitat, Kittitas, Tenino, Wanapum |
The Yakama are a Sahaptin-speaking Native American people, one of the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau. Traditionally occupying the lower basin of the Yakima River of central Washington, they were consolidated along with thirteen other tribes and bands into the modern Yakama Nation.[1] Fishing and foraging were the primary historical means of subsistence for the Yakama, supplemented with hunting.[2] They were primarily seasonal migrants, traveling between winter settlements in the Yakima Valley and summer fishing sites along the Yakima and Columbia. The introduction of horses in the 18th century was readily adopted by the Yakama, who began adopting Plains practices such as horseback bison hunting and the use of tipi.[3]
Regular contact with Europeans began with the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805, and activity of fur-traders and Catholic missionaries in Yakama territories intensified over the following decades. The opening of the Oregon Trail commenced large-scale White settlement in the Inland Northwest, and Plateau indigenous peoples came under increasing pressure from the nascent government of the Washington Territory. Territorial threats of violence pushed Chief Kamiakin to attend the Walla Walla Council of 1855 and signed the Yakama Treaty of 1855.
However, the 1855 Treaty proved impossible to enforce without Federal approval. Retributive attacks on White settlers following the rape and murder of a Yakama woman and her child led to the rejection of the treaty and the outbreak of the Yakima War. Although a Yakama-led alliance successfully resisted federal control for several years, the execution or exile of most prominent chiefs led to their defeat and consolidation of the Yakama and allied-tribes into the Yakama Nation and their territorial restriction to the Yakama Reservation.
Etymology
[edit]The etymology of Yakama is uncertain. An origin from Sahaptin iyakima 'pregnant ones' is cited from an earlier variation of Eyakima[4][5], either from pregnant Yakama refugees during the Yakama War[1], or
To distinguish from the culturally and linguistically related Kittitas (sometimes described as a sub-tribe of the Yakama), the Yakama are sometimes referred to the Lower Yakama or Yakama Proper in ethnographic sources.[3]
History
[edit]Culture
[edit]Material culture
[edit]Paƛapá, or 'Plateau basket hat', are conical hats twined from Indian hemp fiber. They are commonly worn by women of the Yakama and other Sahaptian groups.[6]
In addition to cooking, the Yakama utilized various plants for medical and practical purposes. Indian hemp or dogbane (taxús) was spun into twine, used for the weaving of bags, hats, and Ititamat. It was also used to treat heart conditions and exposure to poison ivy.[7] Tule (tk̓u) mats were used to cover longhouse and tipi, rolled up for ease of transport.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Ruby, Robert H (2010). A guide to the Indian tribes of the Pacific Northwest. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 9780806140247.
- ^ Schuster, Helen (1990). The Yakima. Chelsea House.
- ^ a b Trafzer, Clifford E. (1997). Death Stalks the Yakama: Epidemiological Transitions and Mortality on the Yakama Indian Reservation, 1888-1964. Michigan State University Press. ISBN 9780870139604.
- ^ "Yakima". Etymonline. Aug 29, 2023.
- ^ "Yakama". Merriam-Webster. 9 Sep 2023.
- ^ a b Hunn, Eugene S. (1990). Nch'i-wána, "the big river" : Mid-Columbia Indians and their land. University of Washington Press.
- ^ Ferolito, Phillip (March 9, 2009). "Yakama work to keep native plants, uses alive". The Spokesman-Review.