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The material contained in
this document has been excerpted from the "Indian Curriculum Materials Teachers'
Manual Grades 2-4: The Culture and History of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla
Tribes"
THIS MATERIAL IS USED WITH PERMISSION OF TAMASTLIKT CULTURAL INSTITUTE - CONFEDERATED
TRIBES OF THE UMATILLA INDIAN RESERVATION.
INTRODUCTION
This brief writing is in
no way meant to be a complete historical or cultural study of the Cayuse, Umatilla
and Walla Walla Indian people. Its purpose is merely to provide the reader with
a background and insight into the events and happenings, which have influenced
the culture and unique character of the Indian people of the Confederated Tribes
of the Umatilla, Indian Reservation. Over a period of approximately 150 years,
these Indian tribes underwent drastic changes that affected every aspect of
tribal life. Many of these changes were destructive to the culture and economic
stability of the three tribes. Efforts are being made today by Tribal people
to develop a new economic base and reinforce surviving Tribal traditions. The
education of non-Indians with regard to Tribal history, culture and current
goals and activities are part of these efforts.
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ABORIGINAL
TERRITORIES
The Confederated Tribes
of the Umatilla Indian Reservation consists of three tribes: the Cayuse, Umatilla,
and the Walla Walla. This confederation was established by a treaty between
the three tribes and the U.S. Government in 1855. Today tribal members of the
confederation live on the Umatilla Indian Reservation near Pendleton, Oregon.
However, prior to the treaty
of 1855, these three tribes inhabited a larger territory located in Southeastern
Washington, and Northeastern Oregon. The Umatilla and Walla Walla tribes frequented
the Columbia River, the lower regions of its tributaries, notably, the Umatilla
River and Willow Creek for the Umatillas and the Walla Walla and Snake Rivers
for the Walla Wallas. The Cayuse lived mostly on the upper courses of rivers
draining into the Columbia as far as the Grande Ronde River, and upper sections
of the Tucannon and Touchet Rivers. All three hunted east of the Columbia in
the Blue Mountains. Bands camped at favorite spots during the year, but all
shared the same area.
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LANGUAGE
The three tribes were part
of a much larger culture group called the Plateau Culture. The Plateau Culture
included the Nez Perce bands of Idaho and Washington, the Yakima bands of Central
Washington and the Wasco and Warm Springs bands of North Central Oregon on the
lower Columbia River. There were many other smaller bands and groups such as
the Palouse, Wanapum, and so on. This large body of people belonged to the Sahaptin
Language group and each tribe spoke a distinct and separate dialect of Sahaptin
The Umatilla and Walla Walla each spoke their own separate dialect, while the
Cayuse in later years spoke a dialect of the Nez Perce with whom they associated
a great deal. The original Cayuse language, which is extinct today but for a
few words spoken by just very few individuals on the Umatilla Reservation, is
closely related to the Mollala Indian language of the Oregon Cascade Mountains.
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SUBSISTENCE,
HOUSING AND MIGRATION
The life and culture of
the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla Indian people revolved around the gathering
of food, which in itself was a constant seasonal cycle of migration over a rather
large segment of land. The principal staples of life were salmon and roots.
Salmon were fished from the Columbia River and its tributaries in great quantities
during the annual runs, which lasted from late spring until fall. Other types
of fish such as eels, steelhead, sturgeon, suckers, whitefish, and so on, were
also used in large quantities. A large variety of hooks, nets, spears, and traps
were used for fishing.
Platforms suspended from
bluffs and large rocks along the Columbia and other major fishing rivers were
manned by fishermen with dip nets, which had long handles, and hoop nets. Men
caught the fish while the women prepared and dried them on large open-air racks.
Older men kept the fishing equipment in good repair.
During the fishing season,
tribes from all over the Northwest, even as far away as the Great Plains traveled
to the major fishing sites in the Columbia River region to trade goods and buffalo
meat for dried fish. Celilo Falls on the lower Columbia River, near the junction
of the Deschutes River, was probably the greatest fishing and trading site in
the west, and remained so until very recent times. In the early 1950's it was
flooded over by the backwaters of one of the Columbia River dams.
Before and after the salmon
runs in the spring and fall, family groups and bands traveled from the lower
Columbia Valley to the upper reaches of the numerous tributary runs such as
the Umatilla River, Walla Walla River, Tucannon River, Touchet River, and the
Snake River to the high mountain slopes and woodlands to gather roots and berries,
and to hunt for deer and elk. The bands had established routes of migration.
As they traveled, they would stop along the way at temporary camps to hunt game
and dig roots.
Women were in charge of
digging roots and went out in large parties to the bare and open hillsides of
the Blue Mountains to dig for the couse [Kowsh] root, which was the first root
to appear in early spring (in late April and early May). Couse was one of the
staple vegetables although many different varieties of roots and vegetables
were used. Couse is a member of the carrot family of plants. It has many clusters
of tiny yellow flowers, and grows close to the ground in the and and rocky soil
of the upper elevation foothills and mountain slopes of the Blue Mountains.
Women used antler or hardwood stick diggers to dig the Couse root. Great quantities
of the root were gathered and prepared by first cleaning and removing the dark
skin and then mashing it into a meal. It was then formed into small cakes and
left to dry in the sun. After it was dried it was packed away, and saved for
use during winter months ahead. Other vegetables, such as camas, which is found
in marshy or wet mountain meadows, were also collected in the spring. Camas
was prepared by baking it in small pits in the ground.
In the fall, Huckleberries
were the major crop, although other kinds of berries were gathered. Huckleberries
were eaten both fresh and dried. The dried berries were cooked later in a sort
of pudding. Chokecherries were gathered in the late summer and made into pemmican
with dried fish and dried meat. Black moss off of pine trees was baked into
a cheese kind of substance. Numerous varieties of plants, seeds, and nuts were
used for food or medicines.
While women dug roots and
picked berries, the men hunted. Hunting provided not only food, but also hides
for clothing and bone and antlers for tools. Elk and deer were the largest and
most sought after animals, although bear, antelope, and mountain sheep were
also hunted. For hunting, all types of weapons such as bows, spears, knives,
nets, traps, and deadfall were employed.
Since the people were on
the move much of the time, housing had to be mobile too. The Plateau cultures
had a very distinctive type of dwelling called the "longhouse". This structure
was constructed by first erecting two teepee like frames and placing a ridgepole
connecting the two. Other poles were leaned against the ridgepole creating a
structure similar in appearance to the modern day "A" frame. The entire structure,
except for a doorway and smoke hole at the top, was then covered with mats made
from tule, rushes or cattails. More poles were laid upon the mats to keep them
in place. These lodges could be from twenty feet to one hundred and fifty feet
in length and an entire family (extended family) could stay in one. When moving,
the mats could easily be rolled up. Teepees were used also, but these didn't
come, into use until after the coming of the horse in the early 1700's. The
teepees of the Plateau people were covered with tule mats, as they did not have
a great supply of skins such as buffalo like the Plains Tribes.
The coming of the horse
in the early 1700's greatly changed the lives of the Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla
Walla, and other Plateau People. it meant greater mobility and greatly expanded
their accessibility to areas where subsistence foods were available. With this
great advancement in mobility, Plateau people crossed the Rocky Mountains to
the Great Plains to hunt for buffalo. Although this was done more commonly among
the more easterly Plateau people, like Nez Perces, it nevertheless was responsible
for the introduction of many new concepts and practices among all of the Plateau
people. Forms of dress, art designs, the teepee, the travois, the parfleche,
the custom of war honors dance, and the idea of electing head men or chiefs
because of their qualifications or skill as warriors instead of inheritance,
are just a few of the "borrowed" and adopted practices of the Eastern Plains'
culture.
The Cayuse, Umatilla, and
Walla Walla people became very skillful at breeding horses (in the early 1700's).
When Lewis and Clark. first came down the Columbia River, there were great herds
of horses grazing the rich hills of southeastern Washington and northeastern
Oregon.
Although the horse meant
greater mobility, these people maintained traditional migratory patterns. The
Columbia River provided an inexhaustible food supply and the plains and mountains
of the Columbia Basin supplied an endless cycle of vegetable crops.
Most bands gathered at winter
sites on or near the Columbia River. These sites had been used by the same people
for thousands of years. The routes of migration followed ancient patterns with
the band stopping at the same spot it camped at the year before. In the early
spring, family bands would leave the main encampment on the river and travel
to the upper lands to dig roots. They returned in time for the main salmon run
in the spring and fall. When they had enough, they would return to the mountains
to gather berries and hunt for game until the snows would push them back to
the lowlands near or on the Columbia where they would gather together in the
large wintering sites and spend the colder months. Mission, Oregon; Walla Walla,
Washington; Pasco, Washington; and Umatilla, Oregon are just a few of the modem
day names of where some of those old winter camping sites used to be.
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ORGANIZATION
AND LEADERSHIP
For the Indian peoples of
the Plateau culture, the term "tribe" is a very misleading description of the
social and political organization -in the days before the coming of the whiteman.
What is called a tribe today was actually just A large grouping of family bands
which frequented a common area, spoke a common dialect and wintered in a common
location. There was no single chief or political authority which held control
over the entire band. Each family band had its own headman or spokesman who
represented the band in council with other headmen. This spokesman had no more
power or control over the actions of the individuals in his group other than
that of persuasion and group pressure. If a headman or an individual had a disagreement
with the group consensus, he merely moved elsewhere. The name like Umatilla
or Walla Walla usually designated the location of one of these large encampments.
Intermarriage and association among all Plateau peoples was commonplace. This
probably accounted for the fact that no one tribe held claim and boundary to
large geographic regions, except for that of traditional occupation and accustomed
and frequent use, such as a winter camp site or spring fishing site. The Cayuse
lived in one general area, the Umatilla in another and so on, but all crossed
paths, associated freely and traversed and shared each others' subsistence territories
at will. All friendly bands were permitted the privilege of use of the others'
lands.
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Prior to the coming of Europeans
to the North American Continent, Indian life in the Northwest was quite stable
with change taking place very slowly. What conflicts occurred between Indian
peoples represented opportunities for demonstrating bravery and acquiring goods
and horses. Surviving the coming winter was more of a threat to human life than
battles with rival tribes.
The coming of French and
British trappers, traders, and explorers to the Northwest was the first hint
of the wave of white people that would shake up the Indian world with change
and conflict over the next century. Yet, their influence for the moment had
comparatively limited impact. The early trappers introduced the products of
modern technology on a broad scale: rifles, iron pots, blankets, cloth, beads,
and cattle. Any conflicts that developed at this time between the Indians and
the Whites were usually settled by the payment of goods to the Indians.
Most influential was the
introduction of the rifle into conflicts among Indians. The result was that
battles between enemy tribes assumed more serious and dangerous proportions.
Fort Nez Perce (later named
Fort Walla Walla) established in 1818 became a center for economic exchange
and socializing for Indians and Whites both. Intermarriage between white traders
and Indian women became common. It was here that the Indians were first exposed
to Christianity. Christianity introduced new concepts of right and wrong and
punishment for wrong-doing.
It was at this point then
that the integrity of the Tribal cultures began to disintegrate in a noticeable
way. As some Indians adopted Christian beliefs and practices and others did
not, religious factions began to develop that are prevalent on the Umatilla
Reservation today.
Christianity altered the
Indian world further when missions were built in the heart of Indian country.
A Catholic mission was established at Mission, Oregon outside of Pendleton.
Two protestant missions were built, one at Waiilatpu near Walla Walla, Washington
and one at Lapwai, Idaho.
The goal of the missionaries
was to bring the teachings of Christianity to the Indians. Inherent in their
teachings was the effort to change the Indian's way of life. The Protestant
and Catholic missionaries simultaneously solicited the allegiance of the Indian
population, each denouncing the other's religious doctrine. Both condemned the
ancient ways of the Indian peoples.
When a measles epidemic
hit the area and hundreds of Indians died, Dr. Marcus Whitman, founder of the
mission at Waiilatpu, doctored many of them unsuccessfully. Suspicion and fear
of Whitman grew as the number of deaths increased. Some Indian people held him
responsible for the deaths and feared that he wished to destroy them all.
A constantly increasing
flow of settlers into the area only aggravated the uneasiness developing among
the Indians. The presence of the settlers was a constant reminder of the contrast
between the two lifestyles. The Tribal people were being urged to become sedentary
farmers, a concept completely contradictory to the traditional migratory way
of life.
The situation erupted when,
in 1847, a small band of Cayuse attacked the Mission, killing Whitman and his
wife. The buildings were burned and the mission personnel taken captive. The
hostages were taken back to the Cayuse encampment near Mission, Oregon (Nicht-Yow-Way).
The Catholic Mission near the Cayuse encampment was not harmed. The fur company
at Fort Nez Perce bargained for the return of the survivors and the governor
of the Oregon Territory sent the Oregon volunteers to cool the situation. Although
the raid was performed by an individual band acting on its own, threat of an
all out war was issued against all Indian people. Indian parties assisted in
apprehending execution to appease white anger.
In 1855 the treaty establishing
the Umatilla Indian Reservation was signed by U.S. Government and headmen were
seen as representatives of the various Indian bands of the Cayuse, Umatilla
and Walla Walla. However, at the time this action was virtually meaningless
to the Tribal peoples who were planning to band together with other tribes and
stage a final effort to dislodge the Whites from, the Northwest once and for
all. Scattered battles broke out. The plan for an all Indian uprising was never
realized. (Splawn, A.J., Ka-mi-akin: The Last Hero of the Yakimas; 1958).
Weakened by years of fighting
their annual food-gathering cycle disrupted, their great herds of livestock
severely depleted, the majority of the Indians were forced move onto the reservation
by 1860. Promises of food, clothing and other goods exchange for moving to the
reservation were held out like carrots before a donkey. Behind this action on.
the part of the US. Government was a growing demand on the part of White settlers
for access to land surrounding the reservation which they discovered was ideal
for farming.
Life on the reservation
was anything but rewarding. Many of the promises extended by the government
were soon forgotten. Disease, hunger and poverty soon were widespread. All sorts
of parasitic self-seekers, whiskey peddlers, land grabbers, etc., preyed upon
the Indians in their weakened condition. The government restricted the number
of Indians permitted to leave the Reservation to hunt and fish. Intratribal
conflicts developed. The reservation land was originally Cayuse territory and
the Umatillas' and Walla Wallas' presence created resentment among the Cayuse.
Sporadically, conflicts
arose between the Indians, miners, immigrants and townspeople. As new techniques
of dry land farming were developed, it became evident that the broad rolling
hills of the reservation once thought worthless were some of the richest wheat
growing country in the nation. Attempts to move the Indians elsewhere to open
their lands to farming failed. Jealousy and resentment towards the Indians grew.
In 1877, the editor of Pendleton's East Oregonian stated "We favor their removal
for it is a burning shame to keep this fine body of land for a few worthless
Indians."
In 1885, the Slater Act
was passed which provided new possibilities for white acquisition of Indian
land. The act established an allotment system whereby the reservation land was
parceled out by tracts. A tract of land was issued to each enrolled member of
the Confederated Tribes. The dividing of land for distribution among the Indians
was, first of all contradictory to Northwest Indian values:
"The Earth was
created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it
was ...
The country was made without lines of demarcation, and it
is no man's
business to divide it ...
The Earth and myself are of one mind.
The measure of the land
and the measure of our bodies are the same ...
do not misunderstand
me, but
understand me fully with reference to my affection for the land.
I never said the
land was mine to do with it as I chose.
The one who has the right
to dispose of it is
the one who created it.
I claim a right to live on my land and accord
you the
privilege to live on yours."
Secondly, the act was an
added strain on a greatly weakened cultural group. It deepened divisions among
the reservation Indians. Individuals who once maintained large herds of horses,
a mark of wealth, could no longer do so because of the development of the land
for farming. Individuals who had lived in a particular location for a long time
were suddenly informed that someone else possessed a legal title to the spot
and had to move. While the Indian agents encouraged farming and stock raising,
the high cost of maintaining farms and equipment forced most Indian farmers
to lease and sell their allotments to white farmers who were already the masters
of the business of farming. This resulted in the present day checkerboarding
of Indian and non-Indian land on the reservation.
The construction of dams
on the Columbia River in the early and mid 1900's further weakened the cultural
and economic stability of the three tribes. While the 1855 treaty had established
the Indians' right to continue to hunt and fish on their accustomed grounds,
many ancient fishing spots were flooded by the rising waters when the dams were
built. Celilo Falls is a widely known example. They were flooded in 1957. Damage
payments were made to the Columbia River tribes but the economy and culture
which had existed from time immemorial wa's forever changed.
Many tribal members left
the reservation because the means for subsistence were so limited. Government
relocation programs appeared attractive in the 1950's and 60's. The programs
sent Indians to urban areas to acquire saleable skills in training positions.
Unfortunately, they were
promised more job opportunities than were actually available. Many families
became stranded in cities and joined the swelling ranks of the urban poor. The
programs served to further deplete the reservation population.
Thus, over a period of a
century and a half the culture of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla Indians
was assailed continuously by a strong willed dominant people who considered
the ways that had sustained the Indians for 20,000 years and more as primitive
and valueless. The policies of the U.S. Government toward the Tribal peoples
greatly disrupted the tribal cultures and the economy of the Reservation. It
is the task of the generations of Indians living on and near the Umatilla Indian
Reservation today to reverse the process and to develop a new cultural and economic
stability.
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NEW
GROWTH AND CULTURAL REJUVENATION
Scars from the now age old
conflicts between Indian and non-Indian still remain. From time to time wounds
are opened up again as new threats develop. Yet, many Indian people of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation know they must overcome these sore spots to achieve a new
level of cultural, economic and political strength. Efforts are being made through
the Tribal government to bring about needed change.
The modern day organization
of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is based on the
General Council, consisting of all enrolled members 18 years or older of 1/4
degree or more Indian blood of the three Confederated Tribes. The General Council
every other year elects by secret ballot the nine member Board of Trustees to
handle all administrative and legal matters concerning the tribe. The Board
of Trustees appoints committees to handle different areas of reservation life.
In addition to the 1500 Tribal members, the Tribe also serves some 300 Indians
of other tribes who make their home on or near the reservation.
The Board and its committees
have initiated many progressive programs in the fields of education, health,
housing, land use planning, job training, construction, forest management and
commercial enterprises. As these programs succeed in laying a foundation for
growth and raising the standards of community life. A rejuvenated cultural identity
and spirit is dawning. Standing upon the shoulders of ancient tradition, the
young can find new potential in their unique heritage.
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