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Researched by Conner O.
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Research Summary
The Plateau Indians are a group of people who are native to our area. It was their land before white people settled the region. They had to gather food. They didn’t have stores. They had to walk, they didn’t have cars. The Plateau Indians still live in this area, but many live on reservations.Definition
The Plateau Indians have a unique culture. They sing many songs, dance many dances, and have rituals alike and unlike other Indians. One of those rituals is one called “sweat bathing”. On a very hot day they set out rocks in a pile inside the sweat lodge, then they pour water on the hot rocks to create steam, just like a sauna. They stay inside the sweatlodge for hours, and then they jump into a cool nearby creek. That ritual is said to wash away all of the evil. The Plateau Indians have many other rituals as well.Summary
The Plateau Indians also get together and play many games and have races. They would race on foot more than they would race on horseback. They played a game (called the ‘stick game’) that involved two teams. Each team gets two bones, (from a deer or elk, probably a leg or rib bone.) one bone painted with black stripes, and the other bone not painted at all. The first team would hold each bone in a hand. Then the second team would guess which hand the striped bone was in. It was a gambling game. They would bet with baskets, food, bows and arrows, lots of things. “Today we bet with money, lots of money, thousands of dollars!” Marilyn Shakan-Malatare said.
There are 29 tribes in the Plateau region. There are 3 language families. They are the Kootenai, the Penutian, and the Salish. (The language families include many different languages.)
The tribes live in eastern Washington, northern Idaho, western Montana, and northern Oregon.
The Plateau tribes that lived on the Columbia River, stood on tall (probably 15-20 feet) wooden towers that were in or near the water. On them they scoop salmon from the rushing water with nets that were about 10-20 feet long. If they were to fall off the tower, it could lead to their death. To fish from right along side the river, they use a fishing tool called a leister. It is a spear that the fish gets stuck in and cannot slide out. This tool might have been used for hunting too, but it’s built mostly as a fish catching tool. Unlike the nets, the leister is about 3-5 feet long.
The Plateau Indians do not live in the hot dry desert like the Great Basin Indians. Nor do they live in the rainy weather of the Northwest Coastal Indians. The Plateau Indians live both in a dry climate, and a mountain climate at the same time. For the Yakama Indians, they live in a desert, and other tribes live in the mountains, where it snows a lot in the winter.
The Plateau Indians are a ‘sovereign nation.’ They deal directly with the federal government. They have their own police, their own court, even their own child services. Different tribes signed different agreements, so they are one of the few sovereign nations.
There is no 100% Yakama or Warm Springs. You may be born into the Yakama
tribe, but you would still have the blood of many tribes. Indians from
one tribe, still marry into other tribes. “There is no 100% Yakama.” Said
Marilyn Shakan-Malatare.
They don’t have tule mat longhouses anymore because it’s too hard to
gather the tules. You have to cut them one at a time, and then wait
‘till they dry and then weave them together. They are only available
in this area down in the swampy lands, down by the ponds. Unfortunately
a lot of the farmers don’t understand Indian traditions and how important
those tules are to them… and they clear them out. So now their longhouses
have had to go to the more modern construction. When they have their
“first foods”, their first salmon or first roots, they gather and thank
the creator for the food. ‘Washut’ is their religion. After
they have their ceremony, then everyone is free to gather the food.
They only take what they need though. Other families and animals
and mother earth need their share. What isn’t used goes back to replenish
for the next year, and so the circle of life can continue.
Pit houses were used like cellars. They were used to store food and other items, not for living in. Things were hung from the top, dried roots were stored in there. It stayed cool in the summer and warm in the winter. They were not portable so they were left for other tribes to use if they came in the area. The tule mat teepees were portable. The frame might have stayed, but the mats could travel. People laugh about it and say they had the ‘first mobile homes.’
Most of the plateau tribes had similar living arrangements. They all had the same resources and had the same materials available. They all fished, had huckleberries, picked tules, etc. They were all pretty much the same. Some of the things that were distinct were the different languages. There were 14 different dialects just here. As people came together they all spoke one language. Sohaptin is the language they all speak here. A lot of the younger people don’t know it.
Kamiakin was the most famous person in Yakama history. He was the young
leader who signed the treaty. The Yakama Cultural Center is trying
to raise money to make a bronze statue in his honor. There was also
a Chief White Swan who the community of White Swan was named after.
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