Yakama Treaty

Yakama Treaty
Name	Treaty with the Yakama
Date signed	June 9, 1855
Location signed	Walla Walla, Oregon Country
Parties	United States; representatives of the Yakama Nation bands including Chief Kamiakin, Chief Tawatoy, Chief Kowatm
Language	English
Citations	Isaac I. Stevens negotiation

Yakama Treaty

The Yakama Treaty, concluded at Walla Walla in 1855 between representatives of the United States and leaders of the Yakama bands, established cessions of land, reserved rights, and the framework for a reservation system. Negotiated amid competing claims by Washington Territory, settlers, and military authorities, the agreement influenced later disputes adjudicated in the United States Supreme Court, including cases that reached the attention of jurists during the administrations of Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan. The treaty's provisions intersected with federal policy instruments such as the Indian Appropriations Act, the Homestead Act, and later statutes affecting tribal rights.

Background and Negotiation

Negotiations occurred against the backdrop of expanding Oregon Trail migration, the administrative actions of Isaac I. Stevens as governor and treaty commissioner, and rising tensions after events like the Yakima War and skirmishes involving Walla Walla settlers. Commissioners summoned leaders including Chief Kamiakin, Chief Tawatoy, and other delegates from bands across the Columbia River basin, while representatives from Oregon Country and Washington Territory observed. The negotiation process involved military presence from units such as the U.S. Army's regional detachments and political pressure from territorial delegates to Congress, including figures who lobbied for rapid land cessions to promote settler claims and railroad interests like those later associated with the Northern Pacific Railway. Missionaries affiliated with organizations such as the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Catholic Church also attended, influencing some chiefs' positions.

Terms and Provisions

The treaty set aside a designated reservation area for the Yakama bands along the Yakima River while stipulating cession of vast tracts of traditional territory that encompassed portions of present-day Washington (state), Oregon, and Idaho. It guaranteed fishing, hunting, and gathering rights "in common" on open areas, creating contested interpretations later adjudicated in litigation involving claims under precedents like United States v. Winans. Financial provisions included annuities, supplies, and provisions delivered under treaties administered by the Office of Indian Affairs and later the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Signatories included treaty commissioner Isaac I. Stevens and chiefs from bands named in records; the document referenced boundaries, monetary payments, and obligations for education efforts organized by missionary societies. The treaty language reflected contemporary legal forms used in agreements such as the Treaty of Medicine Creek and the Treaty of Point Elliott.

Implementation and Land Changes

Following ratification by the Senate of the United States, implementation required surveying by agents and engineers, sometimes including personnel from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and civilian surveyors tied to public land procedures. Reserves and allotments, alterations in the 19th and 20th centuries, and encroachments by miners, ranchers, and railroad companies reduced occupied land. Federal initiatives like the Allotment Act era policies and later reclamation projects by the Bureau of Reclamation transformed irrigation in the Yakima Valley, affecting reservation boundaries and access. Incidents such as the Walla Walla Treaty Council outcomes and subsequent military enforcement during the Yakima War period contributed to relocations and boundary enforcement changes.

Legal Challenges and Litigation

Disputes over fishing and land rights from the treaty led to prolonged litigation including suits that culminated in decisions by the United States Supreme Court and federal courts applying doctrines from cases like United States v. Oregon and United States v. Winans. Tribal claims benefited from advocates such as regional attorneys and organizations that included Native American Rights Fund-affiliated counsel and allies in state governments. Congressional hearings, Senate committee reports, and administrative rulings within the Department of the Interior shaped enforcement. Later litigation referenced treaty terms in disputes over off-reservation rights, water allocations adjudicated under state water law regimes, and interpretations of reserved rights in landmark cases that informed the legal landscape for tribes across the Pacific Northwest.

Impact on the Yakama People

The treaty's immediate impact included relocation to a reservation, alterations in subsistence patterns for communities reliant on salmon runs in the Columbia River system and tributaries like the Yakima River. Social leaders such as Chief Kamiakin resisted cession outcomes, and conflicts with settler populations and military forces led to population displacements documented in contemporaneous reports by military officers and missionaries. Economic changes involved shifts from traditional salmon-centered economies to wage labor in irrigation agriculture promoted by the Bureau of Reclamation and by private agricultural enterprises. Cultural resilience persisted through maintenance of ceremonies, language preservation efforts, and governance structures under the Yakama Nation tribal council, which engaged in negotiations and litigation to defend treaty rights.

Legacy and Commemoration

The treaty remains central to scholarly study by historians and legal scholars at institutions such as University of Washington, Washington State University, and archival collections in repositories like the National Archives and regional historical societies. Commemoration efforts include tribal memorials, interpretive programs at sites in the Yakima Valley and Walla Walla, and recognition in state-level historical markers. Ongoing relevance appears in contemporary policy debates involving the Department of Justice, congressional oversight, environmental restoration projects on the Columbia River Basin, and collaborations with organizations dedicated to fisheries restoration like the Bonneville Power Administration's programs and regional conservation groups. The treaty continues to influence contemporary tribal sovereignty discourse and legal precedents shaping indigenous rights in the Pacific Northwest.

Category:Treaties of the United States Category:Yakama Nation Category:1855 treaties