Yakama Archives - Lewis & Clark Research Database

Treaty with the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, 1894

admin — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 13:47:37 +0000

Treaty Provisions

Hunting, Fishing, Gathering

Article 1 — “The said Indians hereby cede and relinquish to the United States all their right, title, interest, claim, and demand of whatsoever name or nature of in, and to all their right of fishery, as set forth in article 10 of said treaty aforesaid, and also all their right, title, interest, claim, or demand of, in, and to said land above described, or any corrected description thereof and known as the Wenatshapam fishery.” — (Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation)

Present-Day Tribes

Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation

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Treaty with the Chehalis et al., 1864

admin — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 13:47:28 +0000

Land cession by the Chehalis, Chinook, Klatsop, Klikitat. Region: Washington 1. Covering 9 counties across WA.

Present-Day Tribes

Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation
Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, Washington
Quinault Indian Nation, Washington
Shoalwater Bay Tribe of the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation, Washington

Citations

DOI OFA – Chinook, 57; DOI OFA – Chinook, 57; DOI OFA – Chinook, 57 -58; Tiller 731; Tiller 762

1 Hodge 241; Waldman 63

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Treaty with the Yakima, 1855

admin — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 13:47:23 +0000

Land cession by the Yakima. Region: Washington 1. Covering 15 counties across WA.

Present-Day Tribes

Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington

Citations

2 Hodge 983-84

Tiller 782-83

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Yakama Coyote Tale Performers: Worm Face Story

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:35:56 +0000

listen up we’re excited today you’re about to see a play it’s going to be uh it’s going to be fun are you having fun yet okay you’ll even have more fun after this okay this is going to be great this is going to be a good show we’re going to have your questions and answers held to the to the um after the performance okay so if you have a question think about it in your head save it till after the performance and then I myself will come by with the microphone so you can be heard by everyone okay thank you for coming today the T to many voices this hour we’re going to have a storytelling by the coyote tale performers here at the yaka Cultural Center they’re members of the yaka cultural Center’s library and to introduce this program I’m going to hand the microphone over to Joyce good afternoon my name is Joyce Victoria button I’m the director here for this particular play that we’re going to be doing this play is out of a book called anuku IA the way it was our story is worm face we hope that you enjoy it I’m going to need to have a little bit of uh participation from the audience we have these masks here for the children and I would like each child to come up and take one of these masks when we run out don’t be disappointed but come up and take one of these masks masks and I’d like you to be right here on the bottom children okay okay okay then that’s it then that’s it when they’re out they’re out and then the children that have the mask go ahead and stay the rest of you back in your seats thank you all right thank you everyone is up if you have a mask please stand up here by the stage if you didn’t don’t be ashamed have a seat okay thank you very much children are recording this is marida Kip over here our supervisor for the acation library who’s going to be doing our voice recording Jolina here our assistant head librarian the Chiefs beautiful daughter thinks that she is better than everyone else her conceit almost gets her killed but everything turns out all right after she learns that a good heart is more important than good looks there lived a chief in this part of the country who had a beautiful daughter she had long black hair and was a pleasure to look upon one day the old woman and also the girl’s father told her that she was old old enough to think about taking a husband so all of the eligible men began coming to the Chief and asking for her hand but this young lady was very conceeding she would not accept any of those young men she would make fun of them pointing out their defects oh that one looks funny he has a large nose the chief was very worried he felt sad that she would not accept any of those who come from to ask for her from their own part of the country one day out of the woods came a stranger The Stranger was very handsome he was dressed in beautiful clothes his hair was long and beautifully braided and he had very proper manners they took him to the chief’s Tepee they did that because a long time ago it was the chief’s responsibility to take care of strangers in their Village when the chief’s daughter saw the stranger she was immediately attracted to him and she began thinking that this is why she had been waiting The Stranger was also attracted to the girl it was not long before the stranger was asking the chief for his daughter’s hand in marriage I would like to take your daughter for my wife the chief felt very sad this was his only daughter and she wanted him to leave and go to another part of the world to live with a stranger although she was spoiled and conceited he still loved his daughter very much finally he was forced to give his consent all right if that’s what she wants I give my consent for your marriage the chief gave a big Feast he invited all the creatures to announce that he was given his daughter to the stranger from another part of the world they celebrated and there was much rejoicing the stranger told the chief I must return to my own land I come from way back East I am going to take my wife with me to my land where I live then the chief became very sad but he realized that it was the duty of the wife to go with the husband so the conceited daughter told her father I am leaving you father I’m going with my husband they traveled 3 days on the fourth day just as it was breaking daylight she awoke with a strange feeling she turned to look at her husband whom she thought was so good-looking to her dismay she saw worms callling out of his eyes mouth nose and all over his head and face he looked t terrible the girl was shocked Beyond description she could not take her eyes off this man whom she once thought was so handsome when he woke up and found her staring at him he said why are you frightened this is the real me this is the way I really look I turned myself into a handsome person when I hear there is a conceited girl some place I hold her and take her for my wife so why are you crying you wanted a goodlooking man and that’s the way I looked when you took me for your husband then he told her about his mother who lived in a big lake in the East she is a People Eater she eats only conceited girls just like you then he laughed H you are so skinny my mother will not want to eat you because you are so skinny I must feed you and fatten you up before I take you to her you stay here and wait for me while I hunt for food don’t go any place because you will get lost then he left her at the camp she fell face down on the bed and began to cry she was so sorry that she got herself into the situation she kept thinking oh how I wish I was back home with my father among my own people I made a big mistake then she began to cry again somewhere she heard a distant sound as if somebody was trying to call her hey hey you the sound was Fain and weak she sat up and looked all around but she could not see anything or anybody she got scared and thought perhaps worm face was coming back she sat very still and was staring off into space when she happened to look down to the ground she saw an army of ants running around near her feet but she ignored heard them then she heard this sound again hey hey hey you hey hey wor Face’s wife somebody calling to her then she realized it was the ants calling her she got down on her knees closer to the ground and asked the ants what they wanted of her they told her you don’t think your husband is very goodlooking do you he looks terrible we want you to give us your promise that you will no longer be conceited don’t think that because you’re the chief’s daughter that you’re better than other people if you promise this we will help you the girl cried I promise I will never be like that again I’ll never think I’m better than other people so the ants told her to fetch her bundle they instructed her to make a pair of moccasins with a special heel on that Hill she was to sew a small piece of buck skin protruding from the back of the hill just as the Indians make their moccasins today the conceited girl followed instructions just as as the ants told her she kept her project a secret from her husband when he would return she would hide the moccasins in her bundle but he kept feeding her to fatten her up for his mother she ate everything he gave her so that she could work on her moccasins when they were nearing the place where his mother lived in the lake the girl told her husband I want to rest I’m getting tired he gave his consent you only have three more days then my mother will eat you and go ahead and rest while they were resting she puts on moccasins he saw them on her feet and he laughed at her what funny looking moccasins then he told her let us hurry on my mother must be very hungry when they arrived at the edge of the lake where his mother lived the girl looked at the huge dark Lake it looked very scary wif called out to his mother oh mother I brought you another conceited girl for dinner the water in the lake boiled and churned and this huge monster came out of the water she was a terrible looking creature with large red eyes flaring nostrils and very sharp teeth BR face took the girl and made her stand at the edge of the lake the girl was very frightened but she made herself Brave and kept thinking of her promise to the ants she thought I am keeping my confidence that the Creator will help here my plead that I will never be conceited again and he will help me with the help of the ants then she looked down on the ground and saw the ants climbing around her Hills riding on the little strip of buckin behind her Hills they were riding on the piece of buckin the monster opened her mouth calling to her son throw that conceited girl into my mouth worm face grabbed her and tried to throw her into his mother’s mouth but he could not budge her the ants were holding her down at the feet of the hill and they were weighing her down by riding on that little strip of buck skin this happened five times he tried to pick her up he could not move her after the fifth time the monster told her son she’s stronger than I am oh let her go she’s getting help from someplace we should not harm her let her go free the girl was grateful she returned to her home but she was a changed girl she had different thoughts she was no longer a conceited girl she changed her heart into a good heart when she arrived at her own land she told her people about what happened she told them that she nearly died she said that she was taught a lesson it is a great sin to think bad things about people don’t think you’re better than other people the conceited girl married somebody from her own V Village and learned to live like other people her father was very happy the Creator was happy too so they had great feasting in their Village inviting all the creatures to come and hear what happened to this girl and how she changed from a conceited girl to a new person the man she married was not goodlooking but he had a heart of gold he was considerate and kind to his wife and to all the people he knew how to provide for her he made her very happy and they lived happily until she had her own family she passed on the lesson she had learned to her own children they also passed this lesson to their own children the end thank you very much children if you can put their your hats back up on the stage we’re going to have some question and answer time here give that microphone there okay micone okay did did you kids enjoy that you did all right we’re going to ask you some um if you have any questions like to ask Joyce or the actors the performers here please raise your hand and arrange will come around what was the girl’s name that’s a good question I’ll let the girl answer that there’s really no specific name I guess in the story but my name’s Kathy and work with the library maybe we’ll let everybody introduce themselves and what part they played my name is fedra and I was the young lady’s mother hello uh name is Jacob wolf tale um I was her dad chief of the village and I was also her aunt I mean the ant okay I was Kathy I’m I was the conceited daughter who thought she was better than everybody and couldn’t find a decent husband that fitted her who was handsome enough uh my name’s Chester I played the guy that got turned down in the first place uh because he he didn’t look the way the daughter wanted him to and uh still ended up marrying in the end that is important hi I’m Chris chrisper and um I was the handsome man and warm face also um and that’s what I I know okay here’s that and again Joyce button I was room Face’s mother any other questions any questions about their costumes or the story how did you like wearing the masks the little hats what are the clothes made of well this one is made of silver lame this shirt this shirt here I’m wearing is a ribbon shirt it’s a um I don’t know what type of shirt it is but it’s a ribbon shirt yeah well my ribbon shirt it’s got buttons and gold on it so it’s just pretty much the same thing he’s got but better looking mine is a called a wing dress and usually back then when you were growing up you always had to be dressed suitable you know covered you always had to be covered your braids always had to be braided in two parts you always had to have the Furs this is like otter fur you always had to have it on a belt you always had to have moxin and you know just you had to be suitable you you know it’s just the way they were back then you you know you always had to look nice and your hair had to be braided and it’s just hello Jake wolf tail uh uh what I’m wearing is a ribbon shirt and some handsome Shopco and moccasins and a vest and the type of traditional uh things that are wearing it’s uh only used for like uh I believe the way I was taught for funerals and watch shut Services um I don’t recall what the Indians actually wore around in everyday life but it wasn’t what we’re wearing today this only used for special services like like uh like our um like our religion the wash religion seven drum religion and uh for funerals it’s only be it’s only supposed to be used for that but yeah but we’re wearing them so I don’t want to say nothing okay so here’s peder I I also have a wing dress and that’s all I have oh and underdress would you mind tell us about the m masks and how you made the masks I um You The Masks are made out of a crochet paper oh crochet paper mâché you know where you get like a balloon and you uh um put newspaper around it and it just formed and cut out the yakam Nation Tribal school made him for us which really nice work we got a he’s in another story and we got the witch um this was a actual imprint of someone’s face i j um but yeah but uh yeah that’s all I can say about the masks the little okay we have another question here what of all your names in the stories pardon me we didn’t hear that what are you what are your names in the story there are no specific names that we just go by it’s the worm face story so the major person in this story is worm face and the conceited daughter of the chief so we don’t actually have names that was what uh we were explaining it’s a it’s a a story that happened a long time ago we don’t actually know the names of the people that were alive during that time it’s a traditional story a very it is a very traditional story as I stated before this is a this is a true yakam legend out of the book anaku IA the way it was what are the maps for on the sides well these Maps actually are not part of the story these part are exhibit to show the lwis and Clark Trail and the yakam nation is right up here where LS and Clark passed 200 years ago we have a another question over here was the mask of the witch um were there worms sticking out when they were alive I think he’s talking about warm Face’s mask after there was no really real any um worms coming out the eyes I was just big eyes thank you it’s an exaggeration of how ugly a person actually could look that they had worms out of their eyes that would be like maggots like they were past the time of being alive that she didn’t want to be married to him any longer because he was not as attractive as she thought he should be when she woke up in the morning remember she was very conceited and she had had high expectations so love is very fickle she may have thought she loved him one day but the next day she didn’t like him anymore how old is the story it’s very very old from another family oh you would I would encourage you to read the book you can get that book in the cultural center here the library maybe this book is is no longer in print but we do have the story and you could come and see the story at the library we do have it on file yeah you should come back with your families and your moms and dads to learn and read more stories uh that’s all the time we have now today we’re going to split um the groups up to go outside let’s give the coyote tell performers a round of applause and choice thank you for coming out today thank you for having us take a bow right thank you if this side of

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Willie Pitt on Wasco history, treaties, and sovereignty

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:35:56 +0000

voices for those of you who’ have never been here before just tell you a little bit about us we are a traveling exhibit we’ve been traveling for 3 years now this is our fourth year on the road we’ll be doing the return trip back to St Louis like Lucen Park did 200 years ago when Lucen Park was in this area 200 years ago they came across the Warm Springs Indians and today we’re going to be have Lou pit from the Confederate War Springs he is the director of of government Affair and training and his what he’s going to be talking about is the tribal preservations of Jefferson’s ER to today so please welcome Louie pin um P good afternoon my Indian name is Yan my uh my dad uh uh U on the Columbia and uh he was enrolled at Yakama he lived where where I live now in warm spring I’ll show you on a map where that is my mom was an enrolled warm Springer and she’s from UPR River though the um my dad was Wasco my mom was warms Springs and both of those tribes uh were there when Lewis and Clark and Expedition came through so some of our relatives were there and uh what I want to do is to give you I think uh thousands of years of our uh time on the river and where we are now and uh just look a little bit into Thomas Jefferson at the time had a lot to say about what the uh uh views were of Indian people and you know Thomas Jefferson didn’t even leave the uh uh the East Coast he basically was a armchair type of president but created a lot of the the myths and the stories that drove people to want to see more of the of the country as it was just a young country at the time of America and a Young Nation but us Indian people talk about our Nations that we are nations within a nation so please keep that in mind okay hold on here okay so um what we have here is a a picture a drawing by an artist of the uh in 1850s a Paul Cain who uh captured the way of life that had survived and that our people lived on for thousands of years a time that we call time immemorial since the beginning of time um this is down in the Columbia River Gorge down in the Wasco area we have three tribes that are part of our Confederacy today called The Warp Springs the Wasco and the POU tribes and because the US government looked at the land and who is on there and they just put people together some tribes were put into two or three different uh Indian reservations and other confederacies and I’ll show you a little later about the inter relatedness of that life was bued for thousands of years the the men fished and hunted as a part of our way of life religious and belief system the men had certain duties similar to what we do today very physical type of Duties dealing with the fishing the building of structures of uh Warfare uh hunting uh and the Strategic type of planning in The Villages and how to interact and work with some of the tribes that surrounded us here’s a romantic depiction of a Wasco Village on the Columbia River oh from here it probably would be about 50 Mi well let’s see would be uh about 60 Mi up River from here and again this is a very romantic depiction because remember the the Columbia River niana the Big River was a very Wild River when the rivers ran wild yes so anybody that built that close to the water would had to be a little bit crazy because that River would have fresh shits and if you were there at the wrong time really where our folks would really be able was up here because up there was like what you call a 500e water plane now um again this is uh um life was good Mount uh Jeff Mount Hood um y East as we call it and again the Great Waters of the uh uh that Lewis and Clark were looking for um some of you uh probably don’t know how Oregon got its name is that U uh there was a a mythical big river that flowed uh about people were on the I think the upper end of the Columbia and that is a big river and uh it its mythical name was Oregon or something like that or or r ygu n Oregon and uh so that somehow with a couple of map makers is that uh gave this area territory the name of Oregon so it’s a Indian name so very proud of that as well as a lot of things around us are Indian names this is a wonderful area with names like classup County kamin wakam uh chuk wonderful names all all tribal names our way of life on the land our tribe has celebrations of uh ceremonies throughout the year that we thank the Creator the Creator provides us with water with uh fish deer Roots berries and back to water when we celebrate like right now we’re going to be celebrating uh acquisition and the Creator gifting his roots is our women will go out gather the roots and the men are in the old days would protect their safety and uh uh they come back and and bring those on in and we meet we used to meet on Wednesday and the women would work Thursday Friday Saturday and Sunday we would have a feast the feast dealt with again the same order of things as we’ve done for thousands of years starting with water ending with water where we thank the Creator and we eat the foods in order and we have lessons so we have uh like Sunday school would be for kids we have that every Sunday for us even today talking to us about our Native American values our Indian values our values that are connected to those lands that we were that we don’t say that we lived on that we come out of that we’re in the land the way of life very circular the uh Earth provided a lot Waters provided a lot of sustenance uh we used not only to sustain ourselves we used fish and deer and such to trade and a trading center uh all through the Columbia River because remember rivers rivers are all highways as so historians talk about rivers unite mountains divide and so the river is a a Avenue a channel for Commerce it always has been so uh our Folks at a wonderful wonderful place called cilo wam is the other name for that up River about 120 miles from here is that uh that place is U now inundated because of dam construction our opinion on that we have varying opinions uh but one of them is is that the Bondville Dam and all of the dams on the on the Columbia were done to for progress but like the Bonville like the Bonville dam was built for u u uh to maintain our n our American way of life of which part of that is the Native American way of life too like one of our Wasco Chiefs said is that if uh the Hitler would have won the war those treaties that we cut that you’ll hear about later that we made wouldn’t have any meaning then so anyway we uh we are too is an interesting fact is that uh our our people the native American people have uh probably I think it is proven to be the highest amount of participation in military service back in World War I we actually had people that participated in World War I and at that time weren’t even citizens of the United States jonos people too jonos people were moved away from their homelands they made war on the United States and they were just protecting their way of life similar to what any people would do and one of the stories I just heard about about a week ago was that when they were in prison they were in prison in Oklahoma U they were kind of in a different status and didn’t quite know what to do with jono and his Warriors is that they uh let them out to join the battle in World War I and then when they came back they had to go back to prison that’s one of those things when it comes to Native Americans I just you know I just cringe because again this is our homeland too we were here first and that’s been part of the Lewis and Clark Story is trying to get the story out and tell it our way that’s not good that’s not bad it’s just the way it is so the way of life again we lived off the land for thousands of years the land produced very well you take care of the land it takes care of you part of our songs talk about the water being the the life blood of the land and uh anyway it’s a combination that’s worked again successfully for thousands of years remember America is still a pretty young country the uh Thomas Jefferson and in that era of the Revolution uh again the Revolution was done to get out from the under underneath the unfair treatment of King George III and Prince Philip in the parliament all kind of history that if you’re like me you avoided it too is that well it comes in handy nowadays as as a Native American trying to explain our situation to uh go back to those times and talk about it this is pretty much a real good example of what everybody thought about Native Americans in those days this was on the East Coast where Indians were basically a majority and at any given time could have wiped out those colonists those folks but uh they were U uh pretty much different nations that really didn’t coordinate well with each other and uh basically uh um believed in people living up to a deal in the United States was only going to take so much but as they gain power and confidence and uh almost to the point of arrogance at some time is that uh this is one of the statements talked about the Savage as the wolf to retire being both being beast of prey though they differ in shape and uh Like the Wolf of those days is that the wolf can survive only if the wolf adapts to the the people the uh colonists and later the uh the uh 13 American states just and same thing was said about the Indians we have to learn how to survive uh George Washington and Thomas Jefferson uh both uh I think uh felt honor to work in battle with Indians uh on their side and then they also found them to be notable enemies too to battle against their great warriors because again we were those folks I’m sure were like we would do if somebody attacked North Carolina or somewhere would we be there to fight I think we would be our folks were fighting for their homelands too so as the wolf is what Native people were thought of in those days and uh part of the whole move in those days what’s called the League of Nations where the Christian pretty much white Nations male dominated uh were talking about some sort of rationale to be able to uh live with their Christian ways and to live as a people of Honor how do we deal with this well the way we lived off the land as what they said were Nomads we were nomads and that we were Wanderers and Hunters is that that was a quote unquote a heathen uncivilized Savage way of life and therefore at at that time we weren’t even human and so it uh it was I think a real dark time in early American history is a pretty dark time pre- early American history was a time of slavery and what’s called conquest and uh to leave us out there in control of these wonderful Forest without making things square and farming them and civilizing the land is that uh that’s civilizing it and that’s making it more productive is that to leave the Indians in possession of their country was to leave the country A wilderness it was a waste of lands John L the great philosopher of the time who believed strongly in Discovery the rolling uh you know not only only in America from the going from east to west but also throughout the world this League of Nations were these nations of U trying to civilize be civilized and again part of the thing was to try to christianize the world and change people no matter what so there was a lot of things that happened that again because of our religious uh I think uh uh doctrines that we kept in in place and develop more in our US Constitution and basically respect throughout the world the world is you know now we talk about that global economy it’s dealing with Communications and we use a lot of you know people uh keep an eye on each other nations keep an eye on each other discovers have ultimate dominion over Indian lands wow we were here for thousands of years we lived off the land it was our land we we had nobody telling us what to do people come in and say they have dominion it means they have control and power over us because we don’t build our houses Square we don’t civilize the the ground and make it into productive farmlands and uh we’re not Christians and so they have dominion over us this is one of the individuals that uh didn’t know that America had dominion over him his name is picin he’s a Wasco Indian that again was the if you think about and know where the dalls is B from the DS up is the Warm Springs people and then from the DS down to even here we called the uh the chukan in our case it’s the Wasco people we spoke a language called K and tomakin he’s uh I get a kick out of his hair too cuz looks like he always has a bad hair day too is that Indians with curly hair is it’s a curse but he’s doing okay tomic’s notability is that he when he was young I had to put him about three different articles I read in document research read is that he was there part of the uh person he was part of the team that took away uh Clark’s dog Sean and uh and Lewis and Clark threatened to killed those guys and they had to drop the dog and bring them back and uh for us is that our view of it was more of a rescue mission because you know LS and Clark when they were coming down river one of their favorite diets was of course dog they just ate dog and they ate horse uh the our Our Roots were too rich for them our salmon was too oily for them uh the elk didn’t quite hit some of them just right uh the bear that we had and the and the different type of other foods of that we added to our food just some sometimes didn’t hit them right and so they had a totally different diet than we thought so tomakin this was painted in 1847 and he was just a young fellow back in uh 186 again he’s one of my relatives on my dad’s side this is a uh one of the ladies here this was about 1938 this picture was taking notice the slope of the forehead she’s one of the last ladies that was um um actually went through the uh the action that people did on the lower River here the notable people the high Noble folks that had the higher classes had the shaped foreheads and so she’s a Wasco of status and uh again she’s a a person that I’m not sure if I’m really related to this individual or not but there’s um this is a P mm he’s from up River he was as far as I’m I’m concerned he was kind of like a stragic strategic person when it came to negotiating firmly with war so he was always seemed to be on the edge of uh certain The Firm actions of his people that were U River again what I’m trying to do here is connect you that we are a people this is a Kamaya kin he’s from north of the area we talked about he’s a yak Warrior Chief and also the main thing he was trying to do is try to get peace for the lands along his homelands up north of the river Lewis and Clark stated when they were got here into Wasco country that they saw Square buildings the first Square buildings that they saw on their long journey since they left St Louie and that was again Wasco territory this is a plank house of the Wasco folks I just learned about two weeks ago that those roofs that the roofs with the planks like that in the summertime when they dry it up they they shrink so it add air between them so the air could go through it well in the winter time they would swell shut so then the water wouldn’t come through the average uh water that uh comes down in rain at Cascade Locks is 70 in I think it’s almost 30 in here 27 in in Portland so notice too the uh uh the canoes canoes were again a main mode of transportation they were also um uh trading materials and like LS and Clark did I think a few times when you’re out of wood one of the things you really need it when you you go anywhere is you need good dry wood and if you’re in the rainy season as they l found out when they came down here it’s really hard to find dry wood cuz uh they they talked in the in the book by uh boto they complained for almost 30 days about the rain at the Fort clat area and all I can say is welcome to the Oregon coast there was a Cano that Lewis and Clark saw that was so fancy and they couldn’t see anything that was similar to it they figured it was something that was traded to North uh North and up at Puget Sound this is the inside of the uh aasco Village aasco Lodge pardon me this is a pretty wealthy Chief with the size the size of it is pretty large see the plank roof there he’s got salmon areas to uh to dry and hang salmon got the trophy look like a earhead there I think these guys are gambling a little bit uh holding a discussion over here um just like the French we keep our dogs inside to keep the place clean and critters out and certainly uh places to sleep and U again our folks were a little bit different that when we have these celebrations that we get together people give away a lot that’s how you show how wealthy you are how much you give away not what you hold on to but what you give away just totally a different group one of the uh uh later uh explorers when they met with the Indian tribes and this one other situation outside of Lewis and Clark gives you an idea of the cultural Clash is that um this U non-indian fellow was trying to remember what what’s the best thing I can give to these Indian people maybe like this similar to this is oh my prize keys that I’ve been saving for um you know 400 miles on my my journey from somewhere from the East and uh he went in there to and he walked in and the smell of the salmon and the smell of the uh of the deer meat and the smoke he thought it was really repugnant but then when he looked up the smell of that cheese the Elder Indian folks had their nose covered but because they couldn’t stand the smell of that cheese it was so different so something you know that our cultures can class sometimes and we don’t even know it you’re jumping to take a look at the area without the house there this is what it would have been like for thousands of years uh just below cilo Falls cilo was this wonderful place that had a a Falls channelizing where an area where fish would have to go through this and our folks used to be able to by like my dad used to do was be able to fish there when the fish were running you could make a lot of catches and depend on the season whether it be a commercial whether it be substenance for my own use or um a ceremonial for religious purposes is that you could really catch a lot of fish to help take care of your bills for the rest of the year and uh there was a a very narrow channel to me the Falls was one thing but this for the mighty Columbia River Narrows down to like a 45 to 50 yard width and all that water just amazing and uh right here you have now like the uh the roads freeways right here and I think the water level would be right about there nowadays then go over to right about over there there was leis and Clark like this crazy guys that they were the Indians all lined up right here when they were coming down and they were they just didn’t give it second thought they went down these really dangerous Falls for this water just shot down there um just fast and the Indian folks got up on the edge there and I’m sure they made bets one way or the other if they was going to make it or not and the guy that bet they’d make it through want a lot of money cuz they made it crazy guys but the Indians wouldn’t do that because it was way too dangerous science this is a place called Cascade Locks right here today there was a that that gentleman m tomakin is uh he used to fish in this area there was three sets of Falls one right here one set right there and the falls right there those are called the Cascades and Cascade Locks today is right in this area and uh Tom used to fish in here but he lived here and uh so I’ll tell you a little bit more about him later what this is is Sciences found through research sech through oral histories and through actually digging into the ground where people live and we couldn’t say anything about it because we were moved by this time to the reservations by the US Army and U uh again the the Bonville I think it has part of the Bonville Dam you can see part of it right there so this is Portland’s over this way maloma County starts right about in here this is a a map that they made of cilo Falls The Falls coming down coming down here flowing this way and just a wonderful place I’m I was old enough to be just a six and seven year old boy at the time part of the fishing on the river this is they uh uh at the DS would be the Wasco folks there was so much fish to be had that uh they they actually almost on industrial type of level there were thousands of pounds Lis and Clark U said there was a there must be 10,000 lb worth of salmon uh sitting on the racked up stacked up to for sale and trade and uh that’s again salmon you could if you once you had a a a something to trade and barter you really had some wealth because there were people that we kept control of these areas where not everybody could fish just our friends just our relatives and the guest but but they could only fish with our approval the Trade Center that was cila Falls going north south west east tremendous trading that happened uh again one gentleman that’s from down this way uh uh what’s his name m uh L um two wolves what’s his name Jeff painter um he was talking about how the system worked here they had like a relay race type of folks where we would trade materials but we trade with somebody here and they would in turn you know get something that they could easily trade maybe up this way and then so on so on so on we have materials that we get all the way from up here at Alaska uh down here in the northern California the Euro all of this was a another tribal group called the Pud folks that basically help uh stayed in the U uh High Desert type of areas and our folks uh roam from Canada and uh I think just about all over is that depended you had to know how to get through somebody else’s territory just like today when you go through Idaho Idaho recognizes that if your car is licensed and you’ve got insurance and you got a driver’s license they recognize that similar things had to happen in our earlier days of our Nations too we had to know how to get through these other nations this is the dalls area right here the Wasco territories are all the way up to the D and the Hood River would be well here’s Hood River again look at all of these Villages that were along that area Hood River has uh villages in that area um the many villages of the wco area the Discovery Centers right there fishing and hunting winter Villages uh summer Villages uh basically our lands Lewis and Clark came down here and they camped at a place called Rock Fort and uh they were told by the U River by some of the U uh people that helped them come down river the N first that uh these Indians down here’s language changes and that’s when they started talking to the Wasco people these people up here were speaking ich the uh the the the land of that that area sahap here’s looking at the different tribes I’m not sure how well you can see that in the Wasco family there’s the Dows the dog River or the Wood River wos the Cascades the Cascades also are known as the kealas or the wlas the clamus clamus river Clackamus County named after that UMAS another group this is all the language group of the kickster the Wasco Folk the chinuk speakers alas skuts c c the class and also the Chans on the North side here spoke a similar language to the KCK folks now a lot of them speak the chinuk jargon kind of a trade language made up of a lot of U uh the languages of the of the area plus uh whoever came into the area like the Chinese and the uh the uh British people and the French and the just like any other language uh according to the book that Carolyn Gilman wrote is that they also as a part of the language great book from U the U Missouri Historical Society God as a present by Carolyn Gilman talk about them learning some languages words that weren’t really proper to say except I guess in trading and uh please note every acre in the Oregon had a tribal group on there this is just what they took snapshots of and figured out from the late 1800s and uh the language groups of a tremendous amount of diversity culturally and of course this is the west side and I live on the east side ta is one of our West Side tribes the uh pyute tribe here the clth and the modok again lived this way for thousands of years Lewis and Clark only came down on the river to uh basically just got like they say the tip of the irisburg view of what we had in this area as far as Nations excuse me we have at DW Springs the war Springs confederated tribes has Wasco Warm Springs and Pou excuse me there’s 13 different bands of PUD in the state of Oregon now to hiok is the name of the dutes river the original name which means that’s the place the snakes the PES come out of they used to get down to the Columbia but they would use the river the shoots now to get to the Big River again look at the uh the language group of the Ki or the down river chukin down river down river Chans are about from here up River upper chukin are here basically the same language called KCK weco Cascade uh we have clus people in our tribe we have some molas the molala people pushed over here for a while in 1810 and 1815 somewhere in there we pushed them back over but of course in any interaction that you have anytime you uh for whatever reason you you know you you interchange we uh we kept some of the the good-look women and the hard hardworking young boys and some of the men that they had to help us out as tribes tribes weren’t always done just by blood if you had a guy that was a good horse trader it was a smart leader or a smart chief that would draft that person to be a part of his tribe or her tribe there are also matriarchal women leaders too the human kill us caou the first different nations excuse me so this morning I heard a gentleman that Jeff painter talking about the the halum clups there’s some clups right there and uh sometimes we got along sometimes we did this is the Wasco folks the Warm Springs folks in here and the P folks lived around in here and again that’s the way it was for a lot of years the yumaa folks this is their area here the yamas up here let’s take another look at that this is a a little bit broader picture here’s my tribe we gave to the United States 10 million Acres title when promis for our way of Life the right to fish the right to hunt the right to dig roots and the right to pick berries and also the grav are are stocks and so did the AAS that gave up 12 million Acres yumas gave up less than nine acres the N first gave to the United States title of I think it was 10 10 million Acres 10 million I hope I said that right um so that’s the deal that people have to live up to people people say oh those treaties that she made with the United States are old documents they shouldn’t be honored well what happened in 1776 isn’t the Constitution an old document too should we honor that heck yes we do we are we have good people that pay the highest price of all for that that their lives and liberty for protecting the Constitution which in turn is really our way of life that we love As Americans so that’s the deal we gave up title to 10 million acres in return for treaty rights that the United States is supposed to honor in all states and all people under United States too so that’s what the we harp about in Indian country that’s the thing that we’re always looking to is trying to make sure that we’re having our way of life taken care of and uh people listen to us and again this is a this doesn’t mean that those Tri no longer exist they’re they’re all through here there’s 50 some tribes in the state of Washington U amazing country with the people that we have a diverse country that we do have with many many cultures including Native America my reservation we call it a reservation because it was reserved for the exclusive use of said Indians and I’m one of those said Indians that was in the Treaty of 1855 we have land use we’re taking care of our land and I’m can brag that we’re taking care of our land better than anybody else I’ve seen in the Northwest and we have um set aside for our riparian zones which is the area around streams and creeks and rivers we set aside our wet lands we have Wilderness areas that we’ve set aside these are links for linking of of the habitats for wildlife to go through up and down and uh another set aside here we have we’re water rich in worm Springs this is a the Cascades is pretty much right here Portland would be up here uh from here down to Cascade Locks a little hint is uh 36 miles that’s the the straight flying Crow it’s 36 mil some of you know why I’m mentioning that some of you don’t um but we have 650,000 Acres that were reserved for ourselves I’m really proud of U our lands here because we uh we uh compared to other tribes that the question can be asked how much of those lands are tribally owned and controlled if you go to the nest first it’s like 15% tribally owned and controlled on reservation the yellas all maybe 55% tribally owned and control the Yakama probably 50% own and control you come to my tribe 99% owned and controlled by the Warm Springs tribal government are we real proud of that you bet we are strong element of sovereignty we’re the big dog land use We’re The Entity that has to be worked with how did that happen part of it is we were out of the way of the um of the river we’re out of the way of the Oregon Trail we didn’t have great lands we had this terrible thing on our lands called trees the the people in those days in the in the 1850s is that they wanted land like you have down here that are open PLS that you can get rid of the trees and make them into that productive Farmland real quick in uh the forest that we had there they were so thick that people just did not want to have anything to do with them and so this was kind of located in the back door of uh the Oregon territories but you know what happened after that trees had value we built bought our own meal uh a meal that was put on the reservation by non-indians they took the they call they did what’s called hydrating we didn’t do that they did and we eventually uh bought the mill we built a resort called canita we did a whole bunch of planning with those dollars arm Springs folks are amazing U when the Dallas dam was flooded is that flooded our Salo Falls there was money given out most of the other tribes the other three tribes gave their money to their tribal members our tribe gave a part of it to tribal membership and put the rest of it into studying about where we should be going so we worked with Oregon State College at the time and uh a lot of money in those days we spent I think upwards of $8,000 working with them on talking about the potential for how do we uh use our lands and our Waters and our resources so again I just uh I can brag all day on Warm Springs like Muhammad Ali says a bragging if you can back it up and we we’re going to continue backing it up at War sprs again this is the lands that we gave to the United States 10 million Acres I put this in there this is Jefferson County that that they don’t have any Authority on reservation 13 different counties part of my job as Government Affairs is to figure out how do we go about protecting our way of life that deals with water fish deer roots and salmon and other medicines and materials there’s a gentleman had the buck skins on and had the all sorts of outfits that he got from the land Etc is that all that comes from the land how do you how do you go about making sure that those 13 counties understand how important those are to us here’s the here’s that point the Cascade logs 36 miles but as you know that’s as a straight flying Crow the drive there is about 120 mil and uh we have our boundaries and this was recognized as owned by us have you heard it’s on there too the Louisiana Purchase the Louisiana Purchase the biggest real estate transaction ever it was not a real estate transaction there was no land that actually changed title at the Louisiana Purchase what happened there was the the great nations of United States and I think it was what was it France is that they just had preemptive rights and then the United States had the right to be the first in line to buy from the rightful owners of the land The Many Nations uh that were all through there some of them didn’t want to sell so they went to war with them and they had an element of Conquest in there so get your facts right the legal owners of those lands through the native nations of that era Thomas Jefferson this is wonderful I thought Jefferson um that the belief that people are capable of self-government a belief in decentralized small government units a belief in the need for public deliberation and civic education through participation in politics that sounds like what we’re doing today doesn’t it for the most part anyway I won’t say anything about our International presence um want to get to do US own argument here but there was another of this too there was a lot of other folks that just wanted to be once they got elected they’re the kind of like the King again they’re going to tell the rest of us how to live nope so I like Jefferson’s idea back in those days the founding fathers all argued about what should happen and here’s another thing unfinished Revolution that the Constitution and that these governmental institution as we have today that’s where we are part of my pitch is that not only do you have to get used to people culturally but governmentally too we have different type of governments within your your state here in your nation you have to also learn how to get along with us that unfinished Revolution includes the different type of not only people but types of governments not only within the United States but outside of it here’s theas mil Creek our treaty was signed right up there I don’t uh let’s see I don’t know how to show this I guess the my hoods over here this is depiction by depiction by an artist that put a Time wheel on here and uh at this time kind of give you Lewis and Clark didn’t make the list and and I think later at the end the Custer defeat didn’t make the list but certainly disease and the loss of horses that got stole by this other tribe made it on here so the Indian folks uh kind of had a different view of what was important where are we going for the next 200 years this is something that Onida chairman uh New York onidas there’s two onidas when they they split the onidas and moved some of them to Wisconsin move some of them to Upper New York and uh he says the casino is not a statement of who we are but only as a means to get us where we want to be we had tried poverty for 200 years so we decided to try something else 200 years up to now we know your casinos a part of who we are we’ be using other things in our sovereignty of using that um and so we’re not quite sure where we’re headed but we’re not we’re getting tired of your poverty so we want to have a fair shot at having a good life so I uh I just wanted to touch on a number of things I I recommend you know that even though leis and Clark is all over with is that it’s really exciting as an adventure I’ve got the Devoto book this is the Missouri Historical Society book Carolyn Gilman wrote this wonderful book I swe I’ve got some of my credits um some of my pictures um Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson’s got a lot a lot if you go to Paul’s bookstore it’s amazing how how prolific he was that it means he wrote a whole lot but everybody wrote about him too because he gave a lot of his thoughts out on paper and he argued with these other founding fathers of America and it’s just wonderful Oregan Historical Society wonderful things Young Folks you should grab one of these and read them as I get older these are getting more fantastic become more live to me all the time I just really I’m amazed that U I wonder why I didn’t like history when I was a kid because right now for me that’s really where it’s at so I uh again I uh as a tribal person is that love being an American and I love my Indian ways too is that we’re going to be continuing our way of life with our values being Native American and also as Americans too so again I uh appreciate your time uh to sit here and listen to me and I guess we have some some time for some questions true so if you have any questions for L just ra hand I’ll come around the mic how did the Daws Act of the Indians uh I understand you’re Now American citizen but also you play status is a another Nation sure the Dos act you’re talking about the inheritance act the do Act was a uh an attempt at the United States there’s folks uh in Congress that felt uh what do we do with these Indians is that how do we uh help them survive and so in their good intent they figured let’s make these Indians civilized and Farmers like us so right at the time we had land that we own in common with each other tribalism that’s kind of the classical uh interpretation of tribalism and U do that said that uh every head of household was could get 160 acres and then we were responsible for farming those Acres but they didn’t tell us that they were also going to become uh taxable in the county and so a lot of our folks what’s this all about they didn’t pay the taxes so they lost those lands where the county foreclosed on the reservation our reservation U actually grouped up and talked to the superintendent at the time to get the superintendent to find monies on these lands that were going to be lost through tax U um tax problems and bought those lands so that’s part of that leadership that I say that was good there what was the second part of that all States oh sure well well we do we do I think all of us have different type of statuses of uh I mean I I have I’m a American citizen a tribal Citizen and the state citizen part of the challenge is the way of life and uh part of the kind of the understanding of sovereignty is trying to figure out you know what are we here for and uh it’s our way of life and I tell people that they all we all have to learn how to use regardless of your status you have to learn you learn to use the the governments or the entities around you to help you better protect your way of life but our primary focus is uh as tribal folks because there’s a there’s a a tremendous difference in us from other minorities because the treaty and and the US Constitution have us in the uh Constitution that says only the United States will deal with Indian people and in the act of Commerce only con the Congress will deal with the Indian people and these treaties were done between the United States and the tribal Nations so we have this different status that uh we U see if we took a vote just like here if we took a vote now let’s vote for something that would be good for just me you guys may vote with me you may not but most of the time out there like in Oregon I think we’re just barely pushing like 2% of the population we’d always get out voted so we run to that unique distinct political entity status to be able to help protect us government to government that means we have to go talk to Congress that means we have to work with the Senators that’s my job uh Representatives by lobby at Salem and that’s utilizing that government to government status and of course is that uh we have this land that we have we have these off reservation rights too and most of that isn’t because the unique status we try to just talk with people in common sense if you protect something that uh uh gets better water quality that’s good for everybody can’t cut that water in half and say this half’s mine this half’s yours it’s good for everybody so yeah I think all of us kind of claim some sort of different status but I’m definitely an American I pay my taxes every year and u i don’t pay taxes on reservation because that’s part of the deal but uh if I work for a state government somewhere I’d have to pay taxes so we pay our fair share and since uh you got your land from us too is that we feel like hey we don’t want to pay taxes so we don’t that’s part of the deal so I hope that came close to answering uhhuh how how foro all over the place and nobody else can well the uh that’s one of those rights that we had that weren’t limited until U the United States got concerned about its uh its um impact on the the constituents of Congress people which are everybody but the Indians so uh with it’s not Indi and everywhere it’s uh clearly we could build on our own reserv ations with pretty much without much hassle and then now we’re pushing to Aboriginal areas like the Cascade Locks for the Warm Springs tribes is uh our people have been there for thousands of years and I agree there are some folks that we see that are ruining it for everybody they want to build the casinos 3 400 500 miles away from their reservation and it’s closer to the city and all that but if you look at that reservation too they have a need to be a B to try to get money somehow because they don’t have anything and so it is a balancing act you have Senator McCain from Arizona and you have representative Pao from California that are trying to answer exactly that same question the question is how do we do this fairly with this Bevy of different tribal situations and U because Indian Country again it’s just such limited resources and u u it’s a problem so we’re hoping to get fairness across the board and that’s what that’s all we’re asking for for us any other questions actually we’re out of time you guys have questions I’m sure Lou can stick around you can catch me here I’ll hang around for a while so thank you so much for coming and we’ll be in your area coming up pretty soon so thank you our next program will be on the e

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Moses Hyipeer Family: Yakama Nation Powwow Dancing

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:35:56 +0000

all right we’re about ready to get started thank you guys for being so well behaved um we appreciate that and I think you’re going to have a real treat you are in the tent of many voices and this is uh part of the National Park Service come to your community area um in this tent we let people from all tribes All Nations anybody who wants to come and share their culture something to do with loose and Clark come and speak and so today we have a real tree we’re going to have yaka dancing um and it’s going to be from the Moses Hyer family and I’ll let Moses introduce his family members as we go along so please welcome Moses and his family today hello everybody um my name is Carl uh my Indian name is squala so that’s that’s my Indian part of the acation so we have about three or four dances for you the first one will be my nephew uh he’s named DJ Spencer he’s going to perform uh two dances for you he’s going to do the first one uh as a grass dancer the grass dancer uh originally came back from the Omaha Omaha tribe uh back in Nebraska so this dance is uh really what starts off the power house long long long long time ago uh the dancer uh dances the grass down and the outfit he wears is signifying the honor of the of of the grass that sways back and forth in the wind so without U we timed ourselves a little bit but we got behind a little bit so I want to go right into his dancing uh so this is DJ Spencer with the grass dance uh the two CDs that we had was one from sciton and the other one is called from Mountain Soul uh so the first song is from sciton hopefully we get it right it’ll be the grass Dan song and Now ladies and gentlemen from Little Pine Saskatchewan red if you look at the dance the dance and the feet all match up with the drum every time he foot goes down to the ground drum beat D does the same thing he my hand okay if you if you notice when we when we have dances and dance contest that it usually has four maybe five verses so four four verses usually uh is what was is the minimum for our dance contest uh to exercise and go around as an inner tribal we go around with uh five verses or more so my my daughter uh she’ll she’ll introduce herself and the type of style of dancing she’s can do and she’ll talk a little bit about her crowns and the achievements she did while she was uh running as a young girl starting with her first Crown here here’s my daughter stara good day everyone my name is Starla Moses Hyer my Indian names are and W and you can see my mom she’s uh putting my crowns up these are the titles that I’ve earned throughout my years uh my first one was Veterans Day Junior Queen and that was uh seems like a long time ago uh I think I was about 10 years old and when I turned 13 I earned the junior Missy acation for our treaty day po uh national Indian days is the celebration of the return of P if you know the mountains there’s one we call it P it’s called Mount Adams and it was President Nixon who returned the mountain to the yaka people and that’s what that power is held and then there’s also tuin mapu and that is the University of Idaho Pao and then I had um run for Miss acation and the first year they gave me the woven hat you see here and this is an old style hat usually the women in the long housee wear these to signify their their place in the louse as root diggers Berry Pickers gatherers for the people and this is the Contemporary style of that hat you can see it matching bead work I also have a rose hat that was my first one roses are my favorite flower and if you’ll see the stars in the back that’s for my name stara and the colors is because I love to be colorful and the last one is the niak mantion title and that is for our treaty days we have celebrated 150 years of sovereignty and we will be doing that again this June uh June 9th around June 9th is weekend is when we usually have the power and that is the Miss yakam mination title and you’ll see this is the traditional outfit of the northern style um this is about two three pounds of beads beads the individual beads all together three lbs and then you have the Beck skin and then you have the necklace which this one I made took about about 5 days and you have the Furs and then the Shaw and the fan and this is the northern style women’s traditional ladies and gentlemen International singing Champions High Noon hey hey hey he hey heyy hey hey okay give her a hand okay um we’re going to bring uh DJ back out he’s going to do the round bustle this round bustle dance is the something that we in the Northwest can claim as our own original dance it’s a bus bule that a round bustle means that uh one bustle for each arm and one tail bustle that’s our style of dancing long time ago so uh this song that going to be it’s usually a medium to sometimes a medium fast song um my family and including my nephew uh we’ve been dancing probably for the last 20 years or 22 years and myself I’ve been dancing for about 30 years before I became disabled so DJ is going to do which is called a round bustle dance okay thank you oh sometimes when you uh watch the dancers uh they try to imitate a an animal or a bir in nature how birds and animals move around and rough the Earth or they fly around on the earth so sometimes you see how an animal uh BS his head whether it’s a chicken or an eagle or or even a bear these are some type of dances that we try to imitate the outfit um The Outfits sometimes they are Beed Sometimes They Are CL outfits the beat outfits usually take about 2 to 3 years CL outfits today take anywhere from 3 to four months so there’s a lot of work in these type of outfits the feather work that you see that made right there sometimes they take 30 days and sometimes they take about 3 or 4 months to Featherwood you look at the top of his head they call a roach come from a porcupine a roach sometimes to take about 3 months or four months eagle feathers that you see on top of his ROP uh we don’t go out and shoot the Eagles uh the the US government uh there’s a place in Portland called the eagle willory and we put in a request uh if a dead eagle arrives over there and we put in request for Eagle then that that the Eagle’s given to us so that we can use it either in our in our fan or on our roach up here on top all right give him a hand the next dancer coming up is Carl Jr and he will be doing the men’s prairie chicken it’s a came from the crow and it’s traveled its way into Canada and Southern areas and he is also a champion fancy dancer but he will not be doing that today so Carl Jr and the prairie chicken time stand by girl way oh yeah thank you okay that that’s a short program for us usually we put on a 2hour pro presentation for people and large group like this uh usually there’s two other people that dance with us and we Dan uh we put on performances uh pretty much throughout the Northwest all the all the way up to uh Mount rer and all of us pretty much stick together and we all pretty much dance uh throughout power house uh throughout the United States and we call Indian Country so with this little program that we gave you we hope you uh give you a little bit idea of the type of style of dancing that we have and we’d like to thank the people that invited us to be with you thank you right give him a round of applause please my husband usually allows me to speak but today he’s he’s not I know it’s a short program but I want to thank all of you and and to let you know that this is just part of how we are we still dress we dress modern now um this is just trying to keep our culture alive this is only part of it uh there’s the religious part too that we don’t have time to explain but we’re just trying to share a little bit with you and I thank you for allowing me to share my family with you thank you you’re a good audience let’s thank the boses High here family once more

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Louis Moler on Yakama culture, resources, and tradition

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:35:56 +0000

mobile exhibit a mobile National Park the only National Park that actually travels to you or following the lisis and Clark Trail have you heard about the Louis and Clark Trail you have excellent excellent we have maps all around you’re going to learn a lot out there outside this tent but today we have leis malater who is the historian and religious leader here in the yaka nation and he’s going to share with you a little bit about the culture here so if you give him a round of applause welcome here to the tent and I’ll hand it over to him thank you thank you very much as I stated my name is Louis Moler but the people here my Native American people call me Yanti that’s the name given to me by my grandfather if you would just hold on to that um what I’m hoping to be able to do is show you a little give you a little information as to who we are why we do the things that we do and so forth if you would just take a look what I just gave it and then pass it on down so that everyone will be able to get a get a feel of it tell taste you know look at it smell it feel it what what we do this is um tuling a Tuli what we do is we Harvest this at a certain time of the year which is right around August and um the the the lady folks will will harvest it they cut it near the bottom then they said it they put them in large bundles and then they set them off to the side so that they will dry they let them dry for about a month they normally grow in marshes very they love the water so they grow there once they’re dried they get the lady folks again get they run up to crab Creek they grab some Indian hemp they string it into long strings then they weave them together with that we utilize that that’s a very important commodity item for the aomination even today as it was 500 years ago we U we use it for a table they’re about um 4 and 1/2 ft wide we roll them out on the ground or on a floor and we serve our Foods we serve our plates we serve our silverware everything is on that and we sit down and we nor we normally eat right off of that and that’s our table we also use it as a Shel that that thing there if you look at the very end of the Tulie you’ll see it very spongy that sponge is that spongy Type U material is a um resistor it resists water it resists wind so it’s very comfortably warm so we utilize it for our winter lodges we we spread we put it we build a wood wooden frame and then we put this over the top of that wooden FR we uh we call like subterraneum dwelling they’re about 18 to 20 in into the ground so the wind doesn’t come either under doesn’t come through and it doesn’t come over the top either so it’s very warm during the winter time because of that Tulie so that’s how important it is and that and and the last thing we utilize this for when we pass on we we dress up our are are dead with the finest clothes that we can we can afford and then we dress we wrap them in the Tuli so you can see how important that Tuli is to us in fact we have gone to some Wars over the fact to harvest these so that’s why I had to bring it out and show it to you so that you could feel it and when you see it next time you you drive down a country road are you folks from the valley here when you drive down a country road when you see a lot of water on the side you’ll see this these plants they grow up to about 8 ft tall they grow they rain from 4 to 8 ft tall and that’s what we use them for so we we still use them as we have in the past I’m with the acation most of my um responsibility is protection of cultural resources and when I say cultural resources I mean Native American as well as non-native Americans historical buildings sacred sites religious sites things of this nature and and recently my wife and I we we belong also to a nro committee which is Native American Graves and repatriation act which is a brand new federal law which allows Native Americans to retrieve remains from all government institutions libraries that that receive federal money universities that rece receive federal money any organizations that receive federal Monies they have to do an inventory of all of the items that they had collected throughout the years and many of The Times They involve remains of that our our past so we have to go through this whole Federal policies and it weighs about 3 lbs this this federal law and we abide by each and every paragraph and so it’s it’s a very long tedious task for us to go out and retrieve our remains our ancestors and so forth and we’re doing it even today it’s sad to say but apparently we put our We buried our people in the wrong places in the past so many of the times where we buried them they became construction sites or they became Gams or they became something of that nature where they had to remove them once they were removed back in the 40s the 30s and the 20s and they were given to universities for study and so now that’s why we’re trying to retrieve them at this time I’d like to turn this over to my wife Marilyn or what I like call refer to as wushta please good morning my name is Gan M that’s my English name U my given name that my my grandparents gave me is wushta so each one of us are given an Indian name when we’re young and then as we turn adults we get another name that we carry in our belief which is the wash it religion or seven drum you have to have an Indian name when you pass on you can’t go to the next World which is your heaven so all of us almost everyone in the tribe has an Indian name I I am the uh curator and the manager for the acam nation Museum and we brought a few of our things from our Museum collection that we wanted to share with you today and uh some I just brought a few basic things as I wanted to share it with you and I think one of the most interesting things is right here can you all see what that is a basket can anyone guess what this is made of any any it’s made out of a tree trunk Oak our ancestors there wasn’t uh we didn’t have the materials or anything so we utilize what was given to us by Mother Earth and when they needed something to cook in they used to cook in these put them over the stove cuz they’re so heavy and they take the part of the oak tree you know where the knots are in the oak tree and that’s where they cut it out and then they’d make this um they’d uh take their make their own instruments and they’d actually make their own cooking utensils so this is actually could be used as a pot I thought that’s really interesting that’s part of our collection um okay these here are called shepai in our language shepai that means Indian suitcase these are made out of deer and Elk hiide when our young our men our young men go up and go hunting they skin the deer we use every part of the foods of the deer the fish everything so this is what they’ve made this out of and they form it let it dry then they form it and then um what they do is when they’re going to travel they throw their dried fish their dried Roots whatever in there tie it on to their horse or just carry it like that and you’re ready to go so that was our first original suitcase shut this is a I wanted to show you the young ladies this is what’s called a uh buck skin dress this is also made out of deer hiide this is a real elaborate one that’s out of our collection beautiful beaded one and it’s actually made out of deer hi high too usually um there’s one for the front and one for the back and then the ladies go around and do their own designs their families this is a young ladyes buck skin dress and they wear it for special ceremonies um what we call our Gatherings our powwows and this is a new item that we just purchased for the acation museum and this is called a wedding veil can I have a could you come up here for a second this is what we call a wedding veil you know when you have your weddings you have the beautiful white and everything this is what we use as our wedding veils then she would have a beautiful white buck skin dress on and this is what they wear in our long houses but that’s what’s called a wedding veil okay the next thing item we have is called a Horn Spoon it’s actually made out of a horn so when they killed like an antelope or something they would go ahead and use the horn and make spoons out of it and this was it must have been uh used it’s one a part of our collection also but with the bead work on it so it must have belonged to a leader or a very important family this next item is called a click atat basket and it’s made by one of our yaka members her name is NTI kunai she’s one of the last ladies on our nation who make such elaborate and beautiful baskets and these are they take a lot of time and a lot of effort because the ladies go out and gather the bear grass and they process it and uh they use certain items everyone have their own how do you say it tricks of the trade how they put the colors in there but these are very very valuable so uh this is really a collector’s item actually this next next item is called a corn husk bag and it’s actually made you know when you go out and the when the corn comes out and you have the husk on the outside I believe the Hispanic communities use the husk for cooking this is what we use it for we make bags out of it can you imagine how many corn hus you have to strip one at a time to make these bags and actually they make bags bigger than this they’re huge like this and they’re used would we have our our weddings let’s say the young lady this young lady where that wedding veil got married in one of our long houses we have what’s called A Wedding trade so the young lady her family would come with these corn hus bags filled with dried deer dried salmon dried roots and the young man’s family would show up things to trade with the uh the other families both families has to come and they line things up in the long house and we have what’s called A Wedding trade that shows which family has the most and which family is more influential and uh we still do that but we don’t do as much on the uh trade very much and then I’d like to show you a couple of bags from our uh collection this is a big beautiful one it’s a peacock design the bead work here the beads are made and they’re put on one at a time so you can imagine how long these bags are it takes a lady we have some good bead men bead workers also but mostly the ladies but we do have some men who make beautiful outfits okay I’m going to let my husband finish off now thank you Marilyn I think I just have a few more minutes so I’d like to just close with some of the men articles this here belongs to me personally it was made by a gentleman in Seattle a white man made this he made this for the 1962 World spare in Seattle Washington it is originally from a ram and Otter and and so forth the the the material and he gave that to my family my family was the saki family that went to Seattle to perform for the people that came from all over the world in 1962 the Seattle’s World Fair and uh they became very good friends and so what happened was is when he passed on he left it in his will that it would revert to our family and then when my grandfather passed away was given to my mother and then my mother handed it down to me cuz I’m her her eldest and I’m the best but we utilize these for the um powow we um we dance in our finest regalia and it’s more or less again just to prove to the people that we are who we still are we’re still Native American we still hold on to our customs and our belief and that’s part of my regalia that I use when I dance and I don’t dance or perform very often when whenever I do it’s more more or less for because I’m a veteran I’m a combat veteran so normally when they when they call for a combat veterans I will come out with my regelia and dance but normally I’ll just sit and watch and enjoy but in closing as you read I don’t know if you had the chance to read it but outside there’s a little sign out there that says that on April 14th 1806 they were on their way back to the east they came to a village at that point and they spend a night and they met some Native American people those Native American people still exist today some live on the reservation and some still live on the Columbia River and they still practice their TR their belief they still practice their fisherman but they also had intermarriage into other families that had horses so many of the times when Lewis and Clark were coming through they purchased dogs horses and food from the people along the Columbia River but at this time of the year there wasn’t too many along the Columbia River except for the fishermen because the salmon hasn’t really came come up at this point what we are hoping to do is be right this time of the year everybody coming out of their winter lodges remember we talked about the winter lodges everybody’s leaving those winter lodges now and they’re going up into the lower levels of the lower Meadows and they’re harvesting Roots everything they can Harvest at this point that’s what they’re doing each time they go out and harvest they bring it back the men are out hunting for fresh game because we’ve been eating dryed deer meat all winter long now we want some fresh ones and so we want fresh fish we have sucker anybody know what a sucker is there’s very little of them today but we’re they’re starting to return they they’re here all winter long so we would eat sucker would eat fresh Roots bitter Roots is our first one actually salary is but we don’t have a piece per salary they grow up like they came up last I think it was about 3 weeks ago they came up we’ve already had a dinner for them now we’re having dinners for bitos we say we call it P you call them Bitters and if anybody that ever gone to Montana it’s a state flower in Montana so this time of the year we’re all out busy harvesting because we only have certain well short very short Winters we call Windows of opportunities you’ve heard that phrase before Windows of opportunities are very short for us celery at least one week then after that the stems get very hard and the the the nutrition is locked so you only have one weight for celery and you can’t preserve celery then we have bitters you can preserve bitters you dry them and then you you put them away and then it goes into Camas and then other bulbs and then throughout the whole year we have about six seasons we have six seasons total throughout the year so we’re constantly on the move and we start from the bottom land and we work all the way up to the Alpine regions and that isn’t probably August September we’re up there in the highlands Alpine area we’re up there harvesting we’re hunting we’re fishing we’re doing whatever we can do to gather as many material raw material as we possibly can so that when we start journeying back down our horses and our dogs ourselves we’re all packed and we’re bringing them all down to the winter lodes so that we can start again so thank you very much we really appreciate your your presence here today and I hope you leave us something thank you all right now School groups you guys are going to go out to a station out there I believe the Dugout canoe so if you follow range Rebecca out there she’ll take you out that way Carol Craig is going to talk to you about fish and Carol Craig is the public information manager for the Fisheries resource management of the confederated tribes and bands of yaka Nation I tried saying that five times fast yeah right so let’s give Carol a round of applause as today she’s going to talk about cultural tradition and treaties on fishing in the yaka Nation all right all right welcome and shaki and that’s how we say good morning in the Yakama language have any of you ever gone fishing anyone gone fishing oh good has any has any of your classrooms raised any of the fish to release them in the river and maybe later on you’ll get to do that good good lots of smart young students here today uh I visit schools from kindergarten through college level and I travel Pacific Northwest wide to educate the non-tribal public and the school children about what we do to help the salmon in the Yakama Basin and so this is a few slides that I would like to share with you today but when we are young we are taught at a very very young age by our elders that when we were placed on this part of Mother Earth we did not come from anywhere else that the Creator told us that he would give us some gifts and those gifts came in the form of salmon deer elk Roots berries and all of the herbal medicines that we continue to use today but he also warned the tribal people and he said as long as you take care of those resources they’ll take care of you but if that salmon ever disappears or the berries or any of them then we too as tribal people will disappear so that’s why we try to take care of all of the natural resources that we continue to use today it’s very important to us and we also taught to think and plan Seven Generations ahead of ourselves our El ERS tell us that we were not just here put on Mother Earth and then to go away and they tell us that we are preparing for the future generations and they tell us that we’re only borrowing the salmon we’re only borrowing the yakma language we’re only borrowing the water everything and we’re preparing Mother Earth for those future Generations so it’s like remembering the future and that’s very very important to think about uh in planning for the future and uh also uh salmon uh is the first food to reappear in the new year so as the salmon reappear and all the other Foods we hold a first F first food ceremony and we’re thanking they created for bringing that resource back to us uh last weekend they just had at Salo on the Columbia River the first salmon feast and so we had visitors from the southwest uh all the way up to Canada that came and joined the tribal people there and we don’t have La uh churches on the reservation we call them long houses and so that’s what they did they conducted a first food ceremony and and that first salmon came back so we were very grateful and honored that the Creator brought them back uh this is the yak mination emblem right there and this is the emblem for the Fisheries program and what’s very very important to understand uh is our reservation right here Back In 1855 the federal government purposely sought out the tribes and they wanted to enter into a treaty and they had been here before and they knew that we had our own tribal government structure our land Etc and so they knew that they just couldn’t come over and take it so they entered into the treaty negotiation and before they got there the tribal people thought very carefully about what they were going to talk about all of them did and so when they sat down with the federal government the federal government asked them what would you like to see on this piece of paper and they said first of all we want to retain our tradition and culture that identifies us as yakma people so they said okay they said what else is important they said well we have our own form of religion it’s called wasad it interprets to 7 drums we want to be able to keep that so we said all right they said what else is important they said well you’ve been here on previous visits we still have our own form of tribal government structure we want to run by that which we still do today so they said all right and they said what else is important they said well we know that we’re going to have to give up some of our land and that’s what they call the seated area that was over 12 million acres of land uh that they gave up and then they reserved an original portion of their Homeland and so that’s where that word reservation comes from uh so they said not only do we want to be able to fish hunt and gather all of our Foods on the yakma reservation but the 12 million Acres uh that they gave over to the federal government so that’s today why we have the right to go down to the Columbia River to fish uh to go over to the Cascade Mountains to pick our huckleberries uh there’s certain digging Roots areas off the reservation and that treaty R is still with us today and this is one of the very most important provisions of the Treaty of 1855 is the right of taking uh fish is hereby secured at all you usual in a custom station so not only on the yaka reservation but those 12 million acres and so I know that they were thinking and talking and planning for Me In 1855 uh because I am part of the Seventh Generation since that 1855 treaty so I know how important that is and in my travels I travel Pacific Northwest wide I always make sure that I hit the antique shops and the secondhand shops and I start Gathering these old photos of the tribal people and I’m very fortunate I think we are very fortunate today to have all of these old photographs uh but my only complaint is while they took those photographs way back then they didn’t name the people so it would say Yakama woman yakma man Yakama family and I do a publication called sinit key and sometimes I’ll run the photos in there and I’ve had people help me identify uh the PE the people in these pictures this woman was identified her first name uh isn’t known yet but her last name is manik and that’s a that’s a large family here on the AC reservation and Jerry Manan is one of our past uh chairman of the tribal council this gentleman was identified as Chief in Nasha and also these are Edward S Curtis photos and then these were photos of the tribal people when they travel long time ago they used to say well the tribal people are nomads well we weren’t lost and wandering around you would find us where the resources were available at that time so when the fish came to the river that’s where you would find them when the huckleberries were ripe then you would find them in the mountains uh they just got through doing what they call their root digging there’s certain portions up there if you know where the yma fireing center is there’s certain portions where Our Roots grow and so they’ve cordone that off so those roots will be saved and each year the elders will take the young people up and show them how to dig the roots and berries uh this is a couple of our tribal leaders that went to Washington DC uh they have not been identified and then this one just said Yakama family and I had run that picture in there and then this I found this picture in Ellensburg Washington and his name is Cleveland kamayan and he was the great-grandson of Chief kamin who was our main Chief who signed the treaty In 1855 and then this is Chief Spencer and although Chief kamin was our main Chief back then uh he refused to move onto the reservation he wanted to continue to travel during the seasons and so he stayed off of the reservation so then the federal government appointed Chief Spencer as the first Chief of the yakam nation and then this is one of the natural landbridge that was on the Columbia River and then uh when they were taking the school children to the boarding schools uh they they were going to teach them how to be seamstress uh to be Cooks Etc they didn’t want them to carry on their traditions and that was a very very sad time for some of the tribal people and in fact my mom and dad were part of that last generation that were taken to boarding schools my mom lived in WAP and they took her to St George’s Catholic School in Tacoma and she was raised there my dad was taken from wapo down to Chima School in in Salem and he was raised there uh so it was not a very very happy time for the tribal people this is Salo Falls I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Salo Falls but it was what our elders tell us one of the greatest richest economic centers of the tribal world before non-tribal people arrived and they would tell us that when the spring shnook started running up River tribal people would begin to gather there and they said tribal people came from as far away as the Great Lakes the Great Plains the great plateau and the Basin and they would come to this part of the world and they would bring food that wasn’t available to us and they would trade for that salmon there were games that went on probably intermarriage it was just a great time of and a great Gathering learning how to get along with one another and they would bring buffalo meat that wasn’t available to us and then we would trade the salmon uh these this is an old old photo from the 1920s uh these are earlier 1950s down here and then this young man Holden eels that’s also a traditional food of the tribal people uh is Roger dick senior uh the late Roger dick senior and that I remember when I was little my dad used to take us down there and he would get on this little small cable car and they’ pull themselves over to one of the smaller islands and I would ask my dad dad can I go with you I want to go with you and he’d tell me no it’s too dangerous and I see these pictures today and I think what in the world was I thinking then in N uh in the ‘ 50s they started making the dance and the United States president and everyone proposed to make the Dell’s Dam and we had a delegation of our tribal political people go over to Washington DC and they beg with the Senate and They begged with the congressman and the president of the United States and they said please don’t build that Dam there it will flood over Salo Falls our ancient fishing grounds that were placed there purposely for the tribal people please don’t do that but it fell on De ears and they built the Dell’s Dam finally it was completed and on March 10th 1957 they closed those concrete gates at the dam now the water’s gushing and it’s starting to flood over cilo Falls and it was a very very sad day for all of the tribal people this would be gone we would never be able to go there again they stood on the sides of the hill and they dressed in their tribal regalia and they were pounding drums and they were sinking and they were crying they were mourning the loss of cidal Falls we would never be able to go down there again and once they said it took about 78 hours before it was completely flooded so it was a very very sad day for all of the tribal people and once that happened uh the federal government Tau that we would lay down our fishing equipment and walk away not understanding that guarantee of that 1855 treaty that said we could fish in perpetuity today we were concerned about there were no fish in the yaka River other streams and rivers they had not been there in the yaka River for over 30 years so our basic philosophy is put the fish back in the river and protect the watersheds where they live and so we were working with the state and federal agencies for almost two decades and we would say take that fish out of those concrete hatches start putting them back in the yma river the Clear Water the Umatilla where they originally were and they haven’t been for many years and they would say oh we have to do a study we have to see if that’ll really work some of our tribal Elders would say are they going to study the salmon to death finally the plan was approved by the state federal agencies we started doing that several years ago about 4 years ago the first uh salmon came up the yaka River there had been no salmon in the AKA River for over 30 years so if you’ve been fishing in the yakma river uh that’s because of what the yak nation is doing and that’s and that process is called supplementation and they would say all right that will supplement that run so when they go and they spawn the salmon AES will be there they will grow up they will go out to the ocean and then when they come back they will be natural spot spers so we know that process is working today and it’s for everyone not just the acma tribe and this is also we take care of the fish at all of its life stages from its Inception as an egg here they’re taking some of the fish eggs they’re putting the milk over it that fertilizes the eggs then it begins to grow this is called the aen stage they’re still too little to fend for themselves so there’s this little sack there and it holds all their vitamins and their nutrients and then it kind of T tends to disappear and then they can fend for El uh we have facilities that teach our young tribal people they’re putting what they call Pit tags on the salmon that way we can follow them we can uh pick them up at one point put them through this small wand and it will give us all the information we need about that fish here in proster Washington we have what we call a steel head uh reconditioning program steel head are the only salmon that don’t die after they spawn most of the other fish they spawn and then they’ll die but steel head can spawn more than once and so we want to know where they’re going uh what w tributaries do they go back down to the Columbia so this technician is inserting a radio radio uh device uh down the salmon this is the salmon and we have circular tanks for them they’re at prer and then we release them we feel we feed them Krill which is a natural fish food and then release them to see where they go and while they’re out here on the freeway on i82 they have special electronic devices and then they’ll go along the river and then they’ll feel a beep beep beep and they they can actually follow a steel head so we’re always studying the salmon to make sure that they come back for the tribal people this is also prer and this is near the crer dam but there’s also a canal that’s for the farmers and sometimes some of the fish get stranded like the fish right here and so they’ll net them up and then they’ll take them and put them back in the yakma river and our Tri our tribal technicians and biologists are very very dedicated people they know how important the salmon is to us and so they’ll be working out in the 100° Plus weather the Subzero weather they’re there year around as well as making the uh habitat good for them teaching the young people they’re taking cutting Willows and they’re going to plant them by their rivers and streams to make that um uh stability of the bank much better for the salmon uh there they’re building a fence Coastline we work with farmers and it’s like our elders tell us everything on mother earth needs water without water nothing would be able to exist and that’s including the ranchers uh that uh have cows and so we find grants we work with them they start building fences near the river streams and then where they know there’s no fish eggs or samon then they’ll make build an opening so the cows can go down and get their share of water as well and then there this was a tunnel up on the near Mount Adams what they call the closed area and it was built way back I think in the 1930s or 40s and they there was a Falls there and they built that tunnel there hoping the salmon would be attracted and it would take him over the falls but it never did work for some reason they never did know why uh just last year we got some federal funding and and worked with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife the national Marine fishery service and they started working on that tunnel and now the fish can go up they are attracted so they make great improvements for the salmon so planting the trees and the all the bushes and everything that you need make it a fish friendly home when they come home this is a culvert that was up on the reservation and of course you can see the waters down here well the s couldn’t get up there to continue their Journey so we lowered that Culvert put it directly with the ground and now today we have the fish that are returning further Upstream so we have fish going to the status Creek Yakama Naes River all of the places uh where they used to be and now they are returning again and as well as teaching our children our grandchildren uh passing the dip Nets and the poles these are old photos from Salo uh this is a smaller waterway at Salo uh but today they’re teaching the young people people how to fish how to do it and we have not been able to sell the fish directly over the Columbia river banks uh and that was that was not until before excuse me the Dallas dam was built we were able to do that there were that many fish returning but we hadn’t been able to do that and just until about 3 years ago so non-tribal people can go directly to the tribal Fishers and buy it for much cheaper than the grocery stores and then each scaffold that you see this is on the click attat river is registered to a tribal Fisher and no one gets on there unless they have permission and uh so if they get permission then they can use their dip Nets or their hoop Nets continue their fishing and you have to be a very strong and agile Fisher to be able to put that pole down in the swirling Waters and they’ll do that and they’ll go with the water and then they’ll fill a bump on there and they know that salmon went in so they start pulling it up like that and then there’s a release at the top so then it’ll go like that so that salmon won’t have a chance to jump out of that net and today we’re getting more young tribal women that are becoming tribal Fishers and and each as as one in a family passes on it goes to the next person there may not be any men left and so the women gladly picked that up so today I’ve seen several several more tribal women that are fishing down on the Columbia River on the yaka River uh different places and also keeping the tradition alive uh cooking the fish like we did a long time ago they’re drying it right here preparing it that’s basically what we do today cooking it on the sticks over the fire that’s probably the best way this is her name is Sharon dick and each year she gets a grant from the Washington historical society and she’ll take a young woman under her wing and she’ll be their Mentor this young gal was from Nez Pur and she wanted to learn how to dry the fish and so I was down there and I was doing a story for the sinw key magazine and so she showed them how to do that to see to get the uh fish ready prepared to slice it up to do it in the thin slices and then it’s right down by the Columbia River she uses cedar wood and that’s a natural uh detraction for bugs so I never did see any flies or bugs nearby the dried fish and there they’re they’re changing it up to a higher space afterwards and it’s a very long process because the young lady told me I oh gosh she always made it look so easy and I thought I’d love to learn that she said I didn’t realize what kind of hard work went into it and then once she got done uh she gave me a gallon bag like that just stuff full of that dried salmon and to us Tri PE tribal people that’s like gold and so I was very very thankful very delici she very soft and pliable so she was a very great teacher to the young lady and this is the old salila long housee that’s down along the Columbia River and last year finally two years ago uh they found funding to redo the long housee uh they the Village People there built the long house in the 1970s they were promised that they would replace it when they flooded uh the Dallas Dam but they never did get funding finally they found funding and they started working on it but back in the 70s when they were do that even the kids that are adults now they were 5 years old they said I remember helping and I would take shingles over and they would do uh uh Civic funding and get funding from all the neighboring cities around there and so it was built by hand so here they’re tearing it down and they just happened to be doing that last year about this time so there was no long house to conduct the first salmon ceremony so they built a canvas long housee along the Columbia River and they conducted their ceremony there and the young men their tribal men are preparing the fish uh to cook them on the sticks and so it was a great celebration then finally this is part of the new long house uh Commander stro came from Washington DC he wanted to see how it was going along and they were building it and it was just a beautiful site once they were done the kitchen is about three times larger than the old long housee kitchen they have a walk-in freezer they have a walk-in refrigerator uh commercial dishwashers and the tribal women were saying it’s so much easier now and then finally last July they had a blessing ceremony for the long house we had many many tribal people there they came from all over we served our traditional foods this is General stro posing with the new uh uh uh chief of the long house uh but we had many many visitors we had people we had our elders there from all over from many many tribes it was such a great day because we finally got the funding it was finally done uh it was just such a happy happy day for all of the tribal people and so that’s where they conducted their first salmon ceremony last weekend was at the new long housee and we had many smiling faces and as we serve the food the water is set there first and then uh we take a drink and then they’ll serve the salmon the deer the elk The Roots the berries and that’s what we consider the salmon deer and Elk are our brothers the roots and the berries are our sisters so we know how important it is to take to continue to take care of them and that’s what we uh plan on doing and that’s what we uh tell our youngsters so Thea tradition and culture of the acation yes it is alive today the young people are still learning uh how to wear their wing dresses how to braid their hair these young girls were at Salo last year so the the lady was talking to them here take these T Li mats uh take them in and they would set them on the ground and then they started serving the food we’re still teaching them our tribal songs they’re still dancing they’re singing We’re still cooking the salmon this is the Wanapum Village up by Priest Rapids uh a couple years ago they were teaching their youngsters they were just about as old as you how to collect those Reeds along the river spread them out and dry and then hook them up and put them together and that’s what the long house looked like afterwards so yes the tradition and culture of the yaka tribal people is alive and well today and when I think back to that 1855 treaty I think had that not been there I might not be here today so I know what an important document that is are there any questions no questions okay take out a piece of paper no I’m just kidding I brought some handouts to share with you today and you can come up and get them and just get in line one by one uh hang on just one moment I’ve got four pictures of salmon there’s descriptions on back so you’ll know how to color them uh there’s identify and label the parts of the salmon internal and external and then here’s a life cycle salmon and then here’s a fun one follow the directions on here and it’ll end up like a teepee you have the teee poles over here but just follow the instructions right here and then you can make your own designs on there and then I also have some um some stickers and it says celebrate the salmon salmon cultures and our tribal Elders always say when you go somewhere always have a gift so I’ve got some salmon necklaces I’d also like to share with you and I’d like to thank you for your time and I appreciate it let’s thank Carol for coming in today children we’ll we’ll pass them out to your teachers and your teachers then can uh distribute

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Snake and Columbia Rivers Confluence Reached

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 17:34:31 +0000

The expedition reached the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers near present-day Pasco, Washington. They were now on the great “River of the West” that would carry them to the Pacific Ocean.

“We arrived at the junction of this river and the Columbia which joins from the N.W.”

Clark estimated the Columbia to be about 960 yards wide at this point. Hundreds of Native people from the Yakama, Wanapum, and other plateau nations gathered to observe the expedition. The explorers noted enormous quantities of dried salmon at the riverside camps — evidence of the river’s legendary fish runs.

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