Currently represented largely in the federally recognized Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Yakama people inhabited the region of the Columbia Plateau in what is now Washington State for centuries before Europeans colonized the region.
The Yakama (Yakima) people, who called themselves Waptailmim (people of the narrow river), historically inhabited the present-day south-central part of Washington. They were one of several American Indian tribes who lived in similar ways along the Columbia, Wenatchee, and Yakima rivers and along the Cascade Mountain Range.
Traditionally, the Yakama people lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle, fishing, hunting, and gathering wild plants for food. As their homelands include fast-flowing rivers, streams, lakes, forests, prairies, and mountainous areas, they harvested salmon and trout from the rivers and hunted elk, deer, mountain goats, bears, and hares. While in season, they could gather edible berries, bulbs, roots, and seeds.
They built and utilized three different types of shelters, depending on the season. Built below ground, with an entrance and ladder at the top, pit houses were winter shelters built from earth, logs, and grasses. In the summer, they would sometimes build above-ground tule-mat lodges covered with mats of strong, durable tule reeds. While traveling, they might use teepees covered with animal skins.
While they inhabited the Plateau region, the Yakama built dugout canoes made from hollowed-out logs from large trees. They were hollowed through the use of controlled fire that softened the timber, allowing it to be carved and shaped to have a flat bottom with straight sides.
Common allies of the Yakama were the other American Indian tribes inhabiting the Plateau region, including the Cayuse, Coeur d'Alene, Nez Perce, Payuse, Spokane, and Walla Walla, while their main enemies were the Great Basin tribes to the south, such as the Bannock, Northern Paiute, and Shoshone.
At one time, the Yakama lived in as many as seventy villages, most of them along the Columbia, Wenatchee, and Yakima rivers.
Yakama was a collective name for five or six regional bands who spoke the same language, a dialect of Sahaptin, although some sources name some of these as unique tribes. These included the Yakama (proper) or Lower Yakama, the Upper Yakama or Kittitas, the Klikatat (Klickitat), the Cowlitz Klickitat or Lewis River Klickitat Band, the Wanapum (Wánapam), and the Mishalpam, who were later called the Upper (Mountain) Nisqually.
Even before the Yakama were contacted by Europeans, epidemics found their way to them through Yakama people who traded with the Plains tribes, and several Yakama people died of smallpox during the late 16th century, cutting its population in half.
Shortly after they acquired horses, the Yakama people became known for trading horses, and it wasn't long before they began raising livestock for food.
As more European settlers came, the Yakama united their villages in two regions for protection. White encroachment on Indian lands led to tensions throughout the Plateau region. In 1847, the Yakama participated with other tribes in the Cayuse War of 1847 to 1855. In 1855, the governor of Washington Territory negotiated a treaty with the Yakama in which more than ten million acres were ceded to the United States government in exchange for over a million acres of reservation lands on which no white settlers could travel or settle without the tribe's approval.
Less than two weeks later, Governor Stevens opened these lands up for white settlement. This led to the Yakima War (1855-1858), which included the Yakama and their allies, the Cayuse, Nez Perce, Umatilla, and Walla Walla. In 1857, the Fraser Canyon gold rush brought more white people into the area, escalating the war to other American Indian tribes. The war ended with the Battle of Four Lakes on September 1, 1858. The participating tribes were forced to sue for peace, agreeing to settle onto reservations. While some Yakama people participated in the short-lived Coeur d'Alene War, the majority of the Yakama people did not participate.
Today, descendants of the Yakama people are mostly enrolled in the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, which controls a 1.2 million acre parcel along the Yakama River. The tribe comprises the Klickitat, Paius, Walla Walla, Wenatchi, Wishram, and Yakama peoples. Communities within the Yakama Indian Reservation include Glenwood, Harrah, Parker, Satus, Toppenish, Wapato, White Swan, and parts of Tampico and Union Gap.
Some descendants of the Klickitat are enrolled in the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, which includes several other tribes, as well.
This portion of our online guide to American Indian and First Nations people focuses on the Yakama people, Yakama governments, and Yakama businesses and organizations.
Recommended Resources
Incorporated in 1907, the Yakima County, Washington city is situated within the Yakama Indian Reservation. Contacts for the city administrative offices, city clerk, city council, and departments are provided, along with information about city services, recreational programs, permitting services, and the municipal court. Applications, licenses, and other information related to doing business in the city, along with employment opportunities and access to various public documents, are set forth.
http://cityoftoppenish.us/
Originally named Yakima City and incorporated in 1863, the Northern Pacific Railroad bypassed the community in 1884. More than a hundred buildings were moved to the nearby depot site, and the new city was named North Yakima. In 1918, North Yakima became Yakima, and the original town became Union Gap. The city is partially within the Yakama Nation. Government contacts, services, and programs are set forth, and employment opportunities and contacts are posted.
https://uniongapwa.gov/
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation
Located in southwestern Washington State, the 1,130,000-acre reservation is home to the Yakima or Yakama Indian Nation, granted in a treaty signed by Governor Isaac Stevens of the Washington Territory and representatives of the Cayuse, Umatilla, Wallawalla, Nez Perce, and Yakama tribes. Headquartered in Toppenish, Washington, the tribal government, tribal enterprises, programs, services, and events are set forth, along with employment opportunities, and contact information.
https://www.yakama.com/
Glenwood, Washington Info & Weather
Glenwood is an unincorporated community west-northwest of Goldendale, Washington. The community is on land whose jurisdiction is disputed between the Yakama Nation and Klickitat County, which has been disputed since 1855, although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Yakama in 2022. This privately operated website contains various information, demographics, and photographs about and from around the community, as well as a history of the area, Native Americans, and early settlers.
https://www.glenwoodwashington.info/
Considered by some to be a band of the Yakama people and by others as an individual tribe, the Wanapum people formerly lived along the Columbia River, from above Priest Rapids down to the mouth of the Snake River in Washington. About sixty descendants of the Wanapum people still reside near the present-day site of Priest Rapids Dam. The Wanapum Heritage Center celebrates these people. Its exhibits, events, educational programs, directions, and contacts are provided.
https://wanapum.org/
The Vera Claussen Memorial Scholarship Fund has been established to ensure that Wanapum Indian students have access to supplementary scholarship funds to assist them in defraying college tuition. The criteria for applying for the scholarship are set forth, along with information about donating to the scholarship fund, a biography of the founder and the history of the Wanapum people, various videos and contacts with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and other information.
https://wanapumscholarship.org/
Founded in 1885 by Indian Postmaster Alexander McCredy as a railroad stop along the Great Northern Railroad, the community was originally named Simcoe but was changed to Wapato in 1903. Although its population is primarily Hispanic, it is located within the external boundaries of the Yakama Indian Reservation. The city's administrative offices, departments, and city council are featured, including contacts, meeting schedules and agendas, and access to various documents and public records.
https://wapato-city.org/
Yakama Museum & Cultural Center
The Yakama Nation Museum, Cultural Center, Library, Heritage Theater, Gift Shop, and Winter Lodge are open to the public seven days a week and are within walking distance of Yakama Legends Casino. An introduction and history of the facilities, its location, hours and fees, business information, economic and cultural contacts, and its policies on rental spaces within the facility, are set forth, along with a history of the Yakama people. Photos and notices are included.
http://www.yakamamuseum.com/
YNTS is an 8-12th grade tribal school located on the Yakama Reservation in Toppenish, Washington. Its location, school calendar, an overview of its academic and athletics programs, and programs studying the rights and regulation of tribal governments and the Yakama language. The school's attendance policies and standards, an improvement plan, and a probation performance agreement are featured, along with career opportunities and contacts.
https://www.yakama.org/
Yakama Nation Wildlife Management Program
The mission of the YNWMP is to manage, protect, restore, and enhance the ecological integrity of the land and natural resources preserved under the Treaty of 1855. The site announces upcoming fundraisers and events, reports projects and issues, and posts the office location, telephone numbers, and email addresses. Policies and information on public hunting and fishing, its big game program, eagle aviary, and vegetation management programs are discussed.
https://ynwildlife.org/
