Yakama

The Yakama, or Yakama Nation, are a Native American people of the interior Northwest. They are a federally recognized confederation known as the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, comprising 14 historically affiliated bands. The Yakama traditionally lived along the Yakima River and surrounding uplands in central Washington, an area rich in salmon, camas root, berries, and other resources. They are part of the Sahaptin-speaking peoples of the Plateau region.

The Yakama history includes distinctive village life, seasonal movement between fishing camps and agricultural areas, and a social and ceremonial system centered on kinship, clans, and leadership by chiefs. The people faced significant disruptions after European contact, and in 1855 the United States signed a treaty establishing the Yakama Reservation and ceding most traditional lands while preserving fishing and hunting rights in their homeland. The treaty era involved conflict, culminating in the Yakama War of 1855–56. In the centuries since, the Yakama Nation has maintained its government, culture, and resource stewardship on the reservation and surrounding lands.

Today, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation govern as a sovereign tribal government with a constitution and elected council, headquartered in Toppenish, Washington. The nation oversees programs in health, education, housing, law and order, and natural resources, and maintains efforts in cultural preservation, language revitalization, and economic development. The Yakama retain treaty rights to fish and harvest resources in their traditional territory, a status reinforced by federal court decisions recognizing their fishing rights.