Treaty of 1855 (Yakima)

Treaty of 1855 (Yakima)
Name	Treaty of 1855 (Yakima)
Date signed	June 9, 1855
Location signed	Walla Walla, Washington Territory
Parties	United States and representatives of the Yakama Nation, Palus, Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla, and other Plateau peoples
Language	English
Treaty type	Land cession and reservation treaty

Treaty of 1855 (Yakima) was a land cession and reservation agreement negotiated at Walla Walla, Washington Territory between representatives of the United States and leaders of several Plateau peoples including the Yakama Nation, Palus, Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla. The treaty established reservation boundaries, guaranteed certain rights such as fishing and hunting, and attempted to define relationships between the signatory tribes and federal authorities under the auspices of officials like Isaac I. Stevens and representatives of President Franklin Pierce. Its provisions and subsequent enforcement contributed to conflicts in the Pacific Northwest, including links to the Yakima War and later litigation before the United States Supreme Court.

Background and Negotiation

Negotiations unfolded amid territorial expansion following the Oregon Treaty and the creation of Washington Territory, with federal interests represented by Isaac I. Stevens and military figures such as George Wright. Plateau leaders including Yonaguska? No—use Yakama leaders, notably Klickitat leaders, and famous chiefs like Kamiakin and Qualchin engaged in talks shaped by pressures from American settlers, Hudson's Bay Company, and miners drawn by the California Gold Rush and Oregon Trail migration. The treaty conference at Walla Walla, Washington Territory brought together delegations from multiple nations—Nez Perce, Spokane, and others—seeking to negotiate cessions under terms influenced by precedents such as the Treaty of Medicine Creek and earlier eastern treaties negotiated by commissioners like Elijah Sells. Federal negotiators framed the negotiations within policies emerging from Indian Removal era precedents and later Indian Appropriations Act-era practices.

Terms and Provisions

The treaty established land cessions and reserved certain tracts for the tribes, while explicitly guaranteeing rights of hunting and fishing "at all usual and accustomed places"—a phrase later central to cases before the United States Supreme Court such as United States v. Washington. Provisions promised annuities, agricultural assistance, and tools overseen by agencies like the Bureau of Indian Affairs, echoing commitments seen in the Treaty of Point Elliott. The text delineated boundaries intended to concentrate tribal populations onto reservations while ceding vast areas to Washington Territory settlers and corporations like the Hudson's Bay Company. The treaty also included clauses about civil jurisdiction and the role of federal agents, reflecting tensions addressed in later disputes involving figures such as Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce and legal standards applied in cases like United States v. Dion.

Signatories and Indigenous Parties

Federal signatories included territorial commissioners appointed by President Franklin Pierce and negotiators such as Isaac I. Stevens. Indigenous signatories represented a network of Plateau polities: the Yakama Nation (often recorded under variant spellings), Palus, Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla, and allied bands from the Spokane and Nez Perce. Prominent indigenous leaders at or associated with the negotiations included Kamiakin and other Yakama leaders whose decisions were contested within and between communities, influencing later resistance movements and alignments in the Yakima War and related conflicts with military officers like George Wright and John D. Lee-era controversies in the broader region.

Establishment of Reservations and Land Cessions

The treaty created the Yakama Indian Reservation and delineated additional tracts intended as reservations for the signatory tribes, reducing traditional territories across the Columbia River basin and converging hunting, fishing, and gathering patterns. The ceded lands opened corridors for settlement along routes such as the Oregon Trail and for infrastructure projects linked later to the Northern Pacific Railway and other railroad enterprises. Provisions attempted to map customary use areas into fixed parcels, a transformation contested by tribal practitioners who relied on seasonal mobility tied to salmon runs at locations like Celilo Falls and fishing sites along the Snake River. Federal mechanisms for annuities and agricultural instruction were administered through institutions including the Bureau of Indian Affairs and military forts such as Fort Vancouver.

Immediate Aftermath and Enforcement

Implementation proved uneven; promise of annuities, supplies, and protection frequently faltered amid settler encroachment and delays by territorial officials. Disputes over enforcement contributed to armed confrontations culminating in the Yakima War (1855–1858), during which leaders like Kamiakin resisted military campaigns led by officers such as George Wright. Federal reprisals, court-martial actions, and forced relocations followed, with treaty guarantees of fishing and hunting rights subjected to local suppression. Territorial courts and agents of the Bureau of Indian Affairs played central roles in adjudicating claims, often favoring settlers and territorial authorities like Isaac I. Stevens’s administrative successors.

Legal Challenges and Long-term Impacts

The treaty’s language—especially the "usual and accustomed places" clause—became the foundation for 20th-century litigation securing tribal fishing rights in influential cases before the United States District Court and the United States Supreme Court, such as the Boldt Decision and subsequent enforcement actions against state agencies like Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. Disputes over reservation boundaries, allotment policies implemented under the General Allotment Act (Dawes Act), and later land claims produced litigation in federal forums including the Indian Claims Commission and multiple Supreme Court rulings affecting tribal sovereignty and resource management, including cases referencing earlier precedents like Ex parte Crow Dog. The treaty’s legacy persists in contemporary governance of the Yakama Nation, co-management of fisheries, and ongoing negotiations with agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and environmental groups over habitat restoration at sites like Celilo Falls and salmon runs on the Columbia River.

Category:Treaties of the United States Category:Yakama Nation