Rubbing Shoulders with the Yakama Indians- Part one

                         I got to know the American Yakama Indians up close and personal!   You won't believe their strange lives in the modern world. Join me for part one here but don't miss PART TWO: shape shifters, out of body experiences, and some crazy stuff.

  

Oldest son Brad, left, me center, Austin on rt, back in those days

          It was 1996, and my youngest son, Austin, and I lived in the moderate-sized town of Yakima, in the high central desert area of Washington State, in the north western part of the US.  

          The growing city was surrounded by mountains, many of which were old dormant volcanoes.  There was Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood. 
          They all formed the sides of a great oblong geographical bowl which held the fertile Yakima valley.   Mt. Hood sat in northern Oregon, across the Columbia River Gorge, but we could see it from Yakima and claimed it as one of our mountains. 

                    Apple, cherry and plum orchards filled the valley from one end to the other. 
                    Hop fields grew abundantly alongside vineyards. 

  Everywhere you drove in this beautiful land, it was green with crops during Spring and Summer.  

The Yakima Valley and the reservation were a fruit bowl of great produce.

                    This fertile, verdant valley enjoyed 300 days of warm sunshine a year with moderate temperatures and a gentle wind.  The wide Yakima River flowed through the valley out of the mountains of the Cascade Range, past Ellensburg, WA.  The Yakima waters flowed clear down to the massive Columbia River Gorge that sliced between the states of Washington and Oregon.

           Yakima was originally named that because it was just north of the Yakama Indian Reservation.  (Note, there’s a difference in spelling.) Just on the southern outskirts of that city, by a narrow gap in the hills was the tiny town of Union Gap.  This was where Union Army soldiers had their fort in the old days, at the mouth of the “gap” of those two mountains, to oversee the Indians. 

 

           There is a story about a much-loved hotel in Union Gap that wanted to move to the newly built city of Yakima, that was booming.  This true story makes me smile. 
                    In order not to lose business while the hotel was moved, the owners came up with the craziest idea I ever heard.  The hotel had to be jacked up, put on logs, and rolled 10 miles into Yakima to its new site.

           Just to jack the place up and get huge logs under it was an amazing feat.  This was in the late 1800s.  Crowds gathered just to watch the incredible process.  When it was all ready to move, people who lived there, expected the hotel would vacate itself of clients and shut the doors.   

                     Well, the proprietors  NEVER shut down business for a single day!   While customers ate and slept soundly, the entire hotel was slowly rolled day and night by horse teams who dragged it north into Yakima itself.   They only had to move the hitching post for guests’ horses and the hotel steps every day!   I wish I had been there to see it.
                      Can you imagine sleeping while your hotel rolled along?

           The long Yakima valley was home to the SECOND LARGEST Indian reservation in the US.   Let me give you a little background history of the area: 

           “..There were (for centuries) ... Indian tribes who pursued their livelihood by fishing, gathering roots and berries, harvesting shellfish and hunting in the area which was to become Washington State. (Let me interject here that Lewis and Clark in 1805, on their expedition to Oregon, encountered these bands.)  The Yakama Tribes occupied nearly 17,000 square miles of this area.  

Two Yakama Indian women in traditional garb.

                   Their land extended from the summits of the Cascades (central WA State) on the west to the Palouse area of the Columbia Basin on the east.” (That would be near Spokane  WA today.)

                     “The northern border extended into British Columbia (Canada) and the southern border into Northern Oregon (State).  Within this area there were many small tribes and bands of Indians possessing a similar way of life.”  Are you getting a picture of the VAST expanse of land these tribes once roamed freely?
  
                                Well, NOT after the White man found them!

                    “In the summer of 1855, a Treaty Council was convened at Walla Walla (in S. E. Washington State)  ..The Yakama Tribes were pressured (by the Federal Army) to cede 16,900 square miles for a reservation of 1,875 square miles, and (this crummy treaty) reserved rights and guarantees (for use of the remaining acres by the Indians). 

                       At the signing of the Treaty of 1855 ... 14 tribes and Bands were confederated into the Yakama Indian Nation.”

 

                     “ Band leaders who signed the Treaty of 1855 were:
                       Kamaiakin, Sklom, OWHI, (pay attention to Owhi’s name, it will be important later in Part Two.)  Te-cole-kun, La-hoom, Koo-lat-toose, Sch-noo-a, Me-ni-nock, Shee-ah-cotte, Sla-kish, “Elit Palmer”, Tuck-quille, Wish-och-knipits and Ka-loo-as.” 

              Yeah, I know, it’s all Greek to you!  (Actually, it’s Sahaptin.)

                       The Feds kept nearly 8/10ths of all the Indian land for themselves, only reserving certain hunting and fishing rights for the Yakama Nation.  

Young Yakama Woman in tradtional costume.

                     Back in 1998 a tribe member, exercising his legal treaty hunting rights on land outside the Reservation, (fully within his rights), was ARRESTED and jailed for a year!  It took the tribe a long time with an outside hired lawyer to overturn that conviction based on the Treaty of 1855.

                       Do you know our Federal Government has broken EVERY Indian treaty they ever signed?!!  Arrrgh!

                     “The first formal Yakama Indian Agency was established in 1859.   After hostilities with the United States military subsided, (The Yakamas did not go along peacefully) the chosen location was the abandoned military base, Fort Simcoe, southwest of present day White Swan.” (Ft. Simcoe still stands today, and you can see the solid wood buildings with small slits cut in the walls for the soldiers firing guns at the Indians (who didn’t have any guns.)

                    The Indian schools the white soldiers built there were torn down completely by the Yakamas after Ft. Simcoe was abandoned.  (They hated the white men’s schools.  The idea was to "de-Indian" the children, effectively erasing their heritage, while beating the crap out of any who strayed back to their language or customs.)   The agency was thereafter moved approximately 30 miles east to present day Toppenish.”   (The old agency building later became Heritage College, now recently made a University.) 

 

            I attended college at Heritage University in Toppenish.  It was there I had my first Yakama Indian experiences.  They are great story tellers.

There's a legendary story about Mt. Adams on the reservation.

            The Yakama Nation tribes told stories about those three giant mountains I mentioned earlier – Adams, Rainier, and Hood. 

             The story varied depending on which tribes told it.   Everything in the history of the Yakamas had a neat story.  One of them goes like this:

                       The Yakama people called the sun “Pahto” and he ruled the valley.  It was HIS sun rays that nourished the crops and  warmed the thriving orchards.   Pahto had three wives.  (There was his FIRST mistake.)
                     Each of Pahto’s wives was one of the three mountains surrounding the rolling lands of the reservation.  
                     One wife was what is Mt. Adams today.   Another one was modern Mt. Hood, and the third wife in the story was famous Mt. Rainier, the tallest of the three mountains, and in my mind, the most beautiful. 

            Pahto’s third wife, who was Mt. Rainier, was jealous of the other two wives, the story goes, because they were taller and more gorgeous than she.   It is said that in a fit of jealousy she chopped the head off one of the two other wives in anger!  

Mt. Rainier is gorgeous. (photo courtesy of Travel Advisor.)

                      Just whacked her good.   That is Mt Hood today.  The other wife, Mt. Adams, to avoid having her head chopped off, they say, crouched down and “walked all her days with her head bowed.”  

                              Smart lady that Mt. Adams wife.

            The real Mt. Adams lies on the western border of the reservation itself.  Yep, it looked to me like the mountain was bending down, lower than the other two.  So, that’s how Mt. Rainier came to tower over the valley. 

                        A ticked off woman!  Yeah, I can see that happening!

              It was at the base of this mountain that MY father was born in 1898.  For me, coming to live so near to Mt. Rainier, going to college in the “shadow” of it, was like making a full circle from the East coast, where I was born and reared, to return to my “ancestral roots,”  to "home."   Mt. Rainier was only an hour's drive from where we lived in Yakima.  My son and I visited "our" mountain often.

                The Federal Government really cheated the Yakamas.
               None of the tribe could read the treaty.  So, the Feds broke up the entire reservation into large land plots.   While giving the majority of the land plots within the reservation borders to tribe members, the government land agents kept choice pieces which they SOLD to white settlers! 

                     So, on a map the reservation looks like a checkerboard, with “non-reservation” blocks of land within it.

Pow Wows for the Yakamas means rodeo and great dancing!

                  Dang that government of ours!

                     Since the land deeded to the Indians could only pass to their direct descendants, the plots got broken up smaller and smaller over time, passed on to many children.   If no descendants were left to live on the land, the government took it back from the tribe!    The tribe could not gift it or sell it to another non-family member of the tribe.
                                         Can you believe that? 
                       In later years, as the tribe got smart and prospered, the Tribal Elders started buying up the unclaimed plots, acting for the whole tribe.  They also bought White-owned land when it was for sale. You see, the WHITES could sell their land.   Now there are fewer checkerboard NON-Indian owned plots in THEIR reservation.  The Yakama got wiser, very quickly.

                       In 1994, the "Yakima" Nation voted to change the spelling of their Tribal name to YAKAMA with an “A” instead of the “i.”   (Just so you don’t think I have a typo here, I explain the difference in spelling.)

  

Kamiakin, a revered Yakama leader.

              Toppenish was, and still is the largest town on the Yakama Nation reservation.   It is lined with really cute shops, long-standing mercantile stores, and museums.  There is a train museum and a Hop museum.  In case you didn't know, hops are used in brewing beer.  When I was in college in Toppenish at Heritage, hop fields were thick there, all around.  When we visited there in 2008, they were all gone.  Vineyards replaced all of them.

                   Guess it's a good thing they had a Hop Museum, huh?

              Due to the large majority of Hispanics who also moved to non-Indian land on the reservation over years, the town abounds with really great Mexican Restaurants.   No Yakima Indian restaurants, though.   If you want to eat authentic Yakama food, you have to try the Buffalo Stew and Fry Bread (yummy) at the Nation's Cultural Center.   

             There they boast a fine restaurant with gorgeous, yummy buffets on Sundays, a modern Movie Theatre next door to that, a huge Library, and gift store in the center of those.  The best part of the Cultural Center is their Museum. 


             When I was going to college at Heritage, one of our classes wrote materials to send out to elementary school teachers who were planning a student trip to the Museum.  The Cultural Center Museum takes you back in time, with the sounds of native bird calls, rushing, gurgling water and even the spoken language of the natives Yakamas.   


           They have full sized lodges, woven baskets, clothes and tools the Yakamas used for centuries in the Museum.   It is really incredible!


           The most impressive part of the Yakama Nation Cultural Center you won't get to see at all.  That is, UNLESS you are invited to a Salmon Festival or Bread root Festival in the Spring or Fall.   In order to enter, you absolutely MUST wear a new pair of moccasins!   I am NOT kidding!  Inside, everyone sits on the shiny hardwood floor. 


             It is free and open to the public, but you have to wear those NEW moccasins.  It's like their church in there.  Farther down this blog is a video that will show the Nation's Festival building and museum.


             The Festivals are religious in content.  The Tribal Elders enter in full regalia and sit in a half circle at the head of the rectangular meeting hall which has high vaulted ceilings.  Yakama women, dressed in ceremonial garb, come in and  circle around these Elders three times, carrying just bowls of WATER. 


            Water is sacred, one of the three sacred elements to the Yakama.   They then serve it to the Tribal Elders first.


            Next, the women carry in Bread root, or Camas bulbs, ground up and cooked into patties from their flour.   That is the second sacred food.  It is served after three times circling the Elders.    Last comes the most sacred food of all: Smoked salmon!   Again, the circling, again the Elders get it first.    Along the sides of the hall are long tables heaped with food, more than just those three sacred foods.  


                              But don't touch!  Not yet!


             There is a special prayer, in the Sahaptin tongue.  Then everybody else is allowed to go to the waiting tables on either side of the hall and get a little of the food there, on paper plates.   Yakamas are very informal otherwise.  They have NO time sense, and may arrive late, or early, and they leave when they darn feel like it!   


            The gathering of the Bread root or Camas bulb for the ceremonies is a special event annually for the women of the Yakama Nation.  They dress in a brand new garment, a specially-sewn dress just for the occasion.  They will walk all day, on FOOT, about 20 miles in summer heat, to the mountains where these bulbs grow.  They fast, and do not drink a drop of water while traveling.  


            At night, when they make camp, they break the fast and drink after saying a prayer.   The journey is repeated the next day under the same terms.  This is serious religion to them.


           When the women reach the mountains, they dig the Camas bulbs with special sticks they carry.  They pack the bulbs in bags on their backs and head back home, fasting along the way.  They have such reverence for life and even plants.  It's ironic that I live near the Kamas valley in Utah, where those Native Americans also harvested Camas bulbs.


            Well, so much for promoting the Cultural Center, and telling you about the customs of the Camas harvest.  I wanted to tell you about the town of Toppenish.



             Although a comparatively small town, Toppenish was named one of the 20 Best Places to Live the West by American Cowboy Magazine in 2009 and a Must-See Old West Destination by True West Magazine in 2010.

             I thought it was a pretty cool town myself.  There were about 20 hand painted murals done on buildings in the town when I lived in the area.  Today there are over 73 murals, drawing tourists from all over.  They even have a "Mural in a Day" event, where artists, famous artists, come and roll out the brushes and paint and produce a huge mural in just a few hours!

          My son and I loved to drive around and see those murals.  Each has to do with the history of the Yakama Nation.   Here’s one called “Rodeo.”  It was our favorite.  It's painted on a brick wall, the side of one of the buildings downtown, that's why it looks choppy....The video above has a sharper photo of it.

           “Rodeo" says the town website,  recalls the early Toppenish round-ups when cowboys and ranchers would get together for a little friendly competition.  Artist Newman Myrah of Portland, Oregon, illustrates the rodeo theme with his version of a timeworn poster with brick showing through.”     

             From a distance, it’s hard to tell if it is a guy PAINTING a mural, or a MURAL of a guy painting a mural!  I just love that one!  Sorry it's not sharper, you really have to see it up close.  The bricks of the wall this mural is painted on are barely visible through the painting.

             Here is another mural called “Racing Horses.”  It depicts Charlie Newell, a friend to the Yakamas in many ways.  The website says:

Charlie Newell's famous mural in downtown Toppenish

                   “Charlie Newell's knowledge of the Indian language and his acquaintance with the Yakama enabled him to avert a crisis. The Indian Agency had forbidden the racing of horses on the track and gambling at their meets.   

                At Newell's suggestion, the Yakamas drafted a request to Washington D.C. to rescind the order, which was granted.   This mural above depicts the time and the races. ..  This was painted by Ken Carter.” 

The gorgeous architecture on the mural below is PAINTED on!  The Hop Museum has this on the front of it.     Hop Museum in Toppenish sports this mural of the planting of hops.                       Aren't these murals amazing?  There used to be a horse-drawn wagon in Toppenish that carried tourists around to see the murals for a fee.  It used to be in my days there,  the young driver told us non-stop jokes.  He'd cock his cowboy hat, grin, and turn around to "lay one" on us.   We laughed our butts off.   Here are a couple examples of stupid, corny jokes he told us:                           "If a German man goes into an outhouse, what nationality is he when  comes back out?"   (answer: "He's a Euro-pee-in"!)   or ....                       "How far can human skin stretch?"  (answer: "Well, the Bible says in the Old Testament that Moses tied his ass to a tree, ... and walked 40 miles.") ??!!                       Yeah, what was really funny was the peoples' faces when he said that one!  Especially the Japanese tourists!                        There was also a sheriff in Toppenish who would (after prior arrangements and a small donation) appear suddenly in full regalia wherever you and your family or friends were,  and he would ARREST them!   He had a warrant with their name on it and all! (for framing as a memento.)                         This crusty old sheriff happily put his startled prisoners in antique handcuffs and escorted them "roughly" to the local JAIL!  (There was a photographer also available to snap the astonished faces of the "victims.")   One time I saw some Japanese tourists go through this.   You had to be there to see the expression on THEIR faces.  They thought it was REAL!                      There's more to come about my time with the Yakama.  A couple funny stories, too,  that will make it worth looking forward to.  How about an Indian Enforcer, out of body spying, and a funny joke on an Indian agent?  How about out of body travel, and shapeshifting?   See you in Part Two!                                  http://www.legendscasino.com/community.html                        Thanks to this website for many photos used here.  There are links to the town of Toppenish, the Cultural Center Library, whom I wish to thank for their huge collection of old Indian photos used here.