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Yakama Indians
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Researched by Ashley B.
2003-04 |
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Research Summary
Basic Definition
Yakama Indians are a Native American tribe that live on the Yakama Indian
Reservation in the middle of Washington. They were some of the first people
to live here. There are many Indian tribes in Washington, but I’m mostly
going to talk about the Yakama Indians.
Language
Many scholars believe that the various Indians of North America spoke over
2,000 languages before the European settlers came. The Yakama spoke
mostly their own language, Sohaptin.
Warfare
Wars occurred from time to time but not all Indians took part. Many tribes
opposed fighting. Many were too small and didn’t take part. Many of the
leaders tried to defend themselves and became famous.
Beliefs
The Yakama Indians believed that the spirit power could be gained by certain
people or through certain ceremonies. They also believed in a powerful
god accompanied by many other spirits. Almost all tribes of Indians
made dream catchers and believed that the bad dreams could go through the
holes and the good dreams would stay and come true.
Religion
The Yakama Indians had no one religion. The most important one was
the force in nature.
Weapons
The most common weapon was the bow and arrow. They also used blowguns
and slings. They use these weapons mostly for hunting. They
use spears and nets for fishing.
Money
A long time ago, the Yakama Indians didn’t have money so they traded things.
They traded shells, beads, and animal hides. The bigger and better
it looked the more value it had.
Writing
Writing was hard for the Indians because they didn’t have paper. Some carved
into stone and wood with strong sticks. Some tied knots and strings.
But most just drew pictures on animal hides with sticks. Symbols were drawn
on deer hides and on walls of caves. Each symbol stood for an important
event.
Arts & Crafts
Carving
Most carvings were used for decorations. They carved jade, onyx,
quartz, and other materials. Also they carved house pots, grave markers,
and totem poles. They made ceremonial wood masks with movable parts.
Some carvings were so good, they were placed alongside the structures as
monuments.
Basketry
Almost all Indian tribes made baskets to store and carry food in.
They also made mats, wall coverings, fish traps, and clothing such as hats
and sandals.
Weaving
Yakama Indians wove blankets and rugs out of goat hair. They wove
so well that the European settlers thought the blankets and rugs were made
of real wool.
Daily Life
Transportation
The Yakama Indians traveled by horses and oxen. The Indians never developed
the wheel, though they discovered its principle. Many used bark canoes,
which were easy to carry. Some large dugout canoes could carry 60
people. Indians also made light boats of reeds so they were easy
to carry. Some stretched buffalo skin over a frame for a bullboat.
Indians had a few ways of carrying loads. Some used dogs and horses
to pull the loads.
Food
The Yakama Indians ate plants, meat, beans, corn, squash, potatoes, bread,
roots, small shrubs, fish, berries, nuts, seeds, salt and maple sap.
They found tea from certain kinds of plants. Some drank a mild beer
known as chichi. They made this beer from corn, cassava, peanuts
or potatoes. They ate vegetables prepared with various methods of
boiling or baking. They often made pit ovens by lining holes in the
ground with hot stones. Indians preserved meat by smoking it or drying
it in the hot sun. Some Indians mixed dried meat with grease and
berries to make food called pemmican. Most Indians ate with their
fingers but some ate with spoons made from animal bones, shells, or wood.
Clothing
Many Indians made their clothing out of skins and fur. Tanned deer
hide, called buckskin was one of the most common clothing material.
Indians also used buffalo hides, rabbit fur, and bird feathers. Some
made clothes of bark, reeds, and woven cloth. Some Indians didn’t
wear true clothes at all. In many tribes the men wore only a breechcloth.
It was a narrow band of cloth that passed between the legs and looped over
the front and rear of a belt. Women wore simple aprons or skirts.
Indians in colder climates wore leggings, shirts, and robes. Some
wore sandals or moccasins to protect their feet.
Marriage
Many Indians married at an early age. The girls married between ages
thirteen and fifteen. The boys married between ages fifteen and twenty.
In some Indian tribes, the parents chose the marriage partners.
SHELTER
Pit House
Yakama Indians used to have houses called pit houses. Pit houses
were houses dug in the ground. The Indians would put wood up for
walls and covered them with dirt and grass. Then they made a hole
in the top for the smoke from their fires to come out. There were typically
entrances at each end. The typical pit house was about three to four
feet tall. Some pit houses were just used for storage of food and
supplies, not as a place to live.
Mat House
Yakama Indians also lived in houses called mat houses. Mat houses
were a popular summer shelter. It was a portable, mat-covered, conical
lodge easily carried on packhorses or by pack dogs and set up at a gathering
site. On short hunting trips, a mat lean-to or brush shelter was
used. The Indians wove mats and attached them to sticks. Then
they would put the sticks in the ground and made a house out of it.
The Indians lived in these houses because they were made from the materials
they could find using tools that were available.
Children
Most Indian families were small because most children died at birth
or as babies. The youngsters usually had plenty of playmates.
Many families were extended by including cousins, in addition to a child’s
own brothers or sisters. Indian children were praised when they behaved
well. When they misbehaved they got shamed. The boys and girls
learned to perform men’s and women’s jobs by helping their parents and
other brothers and sisters. Games made Indian children skillful and
strong. After boys reached their early teens, they went through a
test of strength or bravery called an initiation ceremony. Many went
without food for a long period or lived by themselves in the wilderness.
Some groups also had initiation ceremonies for girls. A teen-ager
who successfully completed an initiation ceremony was considered an adult
and ready to get married.
Sweat Lodge
Sweat lodges were always built along running streams. They were small,
dome-shaped structures made of a framework of arched willow branches that
were covered with mats and earth. Inside, the ground is carpeted
with fir or cedar boughs. Outside, a fire was built, which is where
stones were placed. Once these were heated, they were raked into
a shallow pit just inside the entrance of the sweat lodge. After
the entrance was sealed shut, water was sprinkled onto the hot stones to
form dense clouds of steam. People sat in the steam and sang various
chants while they sweated from the heat. They then rushed out of
the sweat lodge and dove into the cold stream nearby. This procedure
was repeated several times. The bathers believed that this cleansed
them of dirt and more important, of illnesses, spiritual impurities, and
other dangers to their well-being.
Treaty
Congress finally ratified the Yakama treaty of 1855 on March 8, 1859.
Four years after white settlers had begun to flood into the interior Plateau,
non-Indians officially opened the region to settlement. The Yakama’s
battles had ended, but the peace had cost the Yakama Nation its most experienced
and respected leaders. The Indians began to settle on their reservation
and create a new life there.
TODAY
Yakama Indian Reservation
Much of the reservation contains ancient root and berry grounds, hunting
areas, and rangelands where the wild horses and herds once roamed.
On the west side of the reservation rules only allow the enrolled Yakama
Indians. A permit must be granted in order to gain entrance.
One of the largest gatherings is the Toppenish Creek Indian Encampment
Pow-wow, an annual ten-day encampment held each July. Indian people
from all over the United States attend this activity. Numerous pow-wows,
drum competitions, craft exhibitations, Indian food booths, and Indian
games are held by Indian tribes.
Who I Interviewed And What I Learned
I interviewed Mary Lavina Casady on Friday, January 16, 2004.
She is a social worker for the Department of Family and Social Services
for the Indian children. Mary has been involved with the Yakama Indians
all of her life. She is an enrolled Yakama Indian. When Mary
went to school she saw that many people needed help so she thought maybe
she could go and get her education and she could work with the people on
the Yakama Indian Reservation. What she liked about working there
was the culture, the different things the Indian people do, being around
the people, going to pow-wows, going to the long house, and doing different
things with the Indians.
In 1855, the Indians signed a treaty and because of that treaty, we
now have the Yakama Indian Reservation. The people on the reservation
aren’t all Yakama Indians. There are fourteen tribes on the Yakama
Indian Reservation. The Yakama didn’t have enough people to get the
reservation, so they went out and got thirteen other tribes. The
Great Chiefs were the most important people in the past.
Over the years things that have changed are the Indians don’t live in
tepees anymore. They don’t travel by horses, they have money and jobs,
and they are being educated.
Some major problems facing the Yakama Indians are drugs and alcohol.
For the future Mary predicted that there would be less drugs, less alcohol,
and more education.
Some major advantages of being a Yakama Indian are you have your own
casino. You get to work for the Yakama Indian Reservation if you’re an
enrolled member, and you can be whatever you want to be.
Most Indians spoke their native language. Every tribe had their
own language.
The Indians lived in tepees because they didn’t know how to build other
houses.
Some Yakama Indians live on the reservation, but others live all over
the United States.
If they live on the Yakama Indian Reservation, the children go to tribal
school. If they live somewhere else, then they go to public school.
It also depends on the parents.
The Indians used to travel by horses. The Indians used to trade things
like horses and blankets.
A pow-wow is a get together where the Indians wear their special Indian
clothes and they come to sing and dance. They have pow-wows for birthdays
and Christmas.
Some traditions are they knead bread, bead, make baskets, hunt, fish,
and do skinning of hides.
The Indians are craftsy people, they like other people, they enjoy nature,
and give the children Indian names.
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Bibliography
Casady, Mary Lavina. Personal interview. January 16, 2004.
Kolata, Alan L., Fixico, Donald L., and Neely, Sharlotte. “American
Indian. “The World Book Encyclopedia. 2002.
McCarthy, Dennis “Yakama Indians” Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe.2001.
CD-ROM Microsoft Corporation.
Pyle, Robert “Yakama Literature” Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe.
2001. CD-ROM Microsoft Corporation.
Warrier, Gary “American Indian” Ancient America Nomands of the West
Welker, Glenn“Yakama Indians. “Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe. 2001. CD-ROM
Microsoft Corporation.
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