UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON LIBRARIES, SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, SOC15384 History & CultureThe areas that became Hanford, Los Alamos, and Oak Ridge are the traditional lands of many Tribal nations whose cultures, lifestyles, religious beliefs, and traditions have shaped these lands and continue to be shaped by their ties to these places. Hanford, WashingtonOral tradition and archeological evidence demonstrates the presence of American Indians in the area for more than 10,000 years. The near-shore areas of the river contain village sites, fishing and fish processing sites, hunting areas, plant gathering sites, and religious sites, while upland areas were used for hunting, plant gathering, religious practices, and overland transportation. The first White trappers and traders began arriving in the region around 1800. Lewis and Clark arrived in 1805 to establish the United States’ territorial claim to the region. They were followed by missionaries, military units, and settlers passing through on river passageways, forever altering the lives of the indigenous people who had lived in the region since time immemorial. The treaties of the Walla Walla Council of 1855 relocated most area tribes to permanent reservations elsewhere, but tribes reserved access to their usual and accustomed places for resources such as salmon, game, and medicinal plants. The Wanapum Band did not sign a treaty. They lived on the site year-round. Members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, and the Nez Perce Tribe, lived on the land during the winter. With the arrival of the Manhattan Project in 1943, Tribes were excluded from this land as barbed wire fences and security gates delineated the boundary of the Hanford site. Los Alamos, New MexicoThe occupation and use of New Mexico’s Pajarito Plateau began as early as 10,000 BC, when foraging groups used the area for hunting and gathering. During the Coalition and Classic periods (AD 1150 to 1600), large pueblo villages were built on the plateau. The Pajarito Plateau was no longer used as a year-round residential area beginning in the mid-1500s as an extended drought moved into the region. At this time, new pueblos were constructed along the Rio Grande. The pueblo of Tsirege, occupied during the Classic period (AD 1325 to 1600), is on lands appropriated by the US government during World War II and is ancestral to Tewa speakers of the Pueblo de San Ildefonso. In 1680, the Pueblo peoples revolted against the Spanish. At this time, several Ancestral Pueblo sites on the isolated Pajarito Plateau were reoccupied because they offered natural protection and defense for groups of refugees. Evidence of Navajos and Jicarilla Apaches in the northern Rio Grande begins with the Spanish Colonial Period (AD mid-1500s to early 1800s). Pueblo, Athabaskan, Anglo, and Hispanic Americans with Mexican and Spanish ancestry continued the seasonal use of the plateau for hunting, gathering, and grazing during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In late 1942, the U.S. government appropriated US Forest Service land and private property on the Pajarito Plateau for its secret atom bomb project. The US government subsequently built fences and established checkpoints to prevent any unauthorized entries by the public and that barred American Indians and former landowners from returning. Oak Ridge, TennesseeThe area composed of the Oak Ridge Reservation includes evidence of human settlement dating back at least 14,000 years. Various American Indian tribes settled the area. European settlement began in what is now east Tennessee when the Long Hunters arrived in the second half of the 1700s. Treaties in the 1790s between the United States and the Cherokee Nation resulted in a wave of White settlers, displacing the indigenous people who occupied the area for centuries. After the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, the US government forcibly removed tens of thousands of American Indians of the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Shawnee, and Seminole tribes, along with thousands of enslaved African Americans, from their homelands to Indian Territory in what is now the state of Oklahoma. Thousands died during the forced removal known as the Trail of Tears. Some members of the Cherokee Nation hid in the mountains and avoided forced removal. Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians purchased 57,000 acres in North Carolina in the 1800s and continue to own and reside on the land known as the Qualla Boundary, which consists of individuals who refused to leave and others who are descendants of Trail of Tears survivors. Associated TribesThe following tribes and bands have connections to the lands and resources that became the three primary centers of operation for the Manhattan Project. Want to learn more? Visit their websites below. Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Los Alamos, New Mexico: Jicarilla Apache Nation Pueblo of Santa Clara
Oak Ridge, Tennessee: Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma Seminole Nation of Oklahoma |
Last updated: October 17, 2023