Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

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Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Native American Reservation
(Umatilla, Cayuse, Walla Walla)
Total population
Enrolled members: 2,916 [1]
Regions with significant populations
Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States (Flag of Oregon.svg  Oregon)
Languages
English, Sahaptin
Religion
Traditional Religion (Washat), Christianity (incl. syncretistic forms)
Related ethnic groups
Yakama, Tenino (Warm Springs), Nez Percé
Umatilla Indian Reservation (in green) Umatilla Indian Reservation map.png
Umatilla Indian Reservation (in green)

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are the federally recognized confederations of three Sahaptin-speaking Native American tribes who traditionally inhabited the Columbia River Plateau region: the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla.

Contents

When the leaders of the Walla Walla, Cayuse, and Umatilla peoples signed the Treaty of Walla Walla with the United States in 1855, they ceded 6.4 million acres (26,000 km2) of their homeland that is now northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington. This was done in exchange for a reservation of 250,000 acres (1,000 km2) [2] and the promise of annuities in the form of goods and supplies.

The tribes share the Reservation, which consists of 271 square miles (700 km2) in Umatilla County, in northeast Oregon state. The tribes have created a joint political structure as part of their confederation. The tribal offices are just east of Pendleton, Oregon. Almost half of the reservation land is owned by non-Native Americans; the reservation includes significant portions of the Umatilla River watershed. In 2013 the three-tribe confederation populated about 2,916 people, roughly half of the tribal population live on or near the reservation. [1]

The reservation is also home to about 300 Native Americans enrolled with other Tribes, such as the Yakama, Tenino (Warm Springs), and Nez Percé. 1,500 people who are not Native American also reside within the reservation boundaries. [1]

History

After ceding their territories, the Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Cayuse relocated to what was called the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla American Indian Reservation (CTUIR). In exchange for ceding most of their territories they received supplies and annuities from the federal government, who then tried to encourage them to take up subsistence farming. [3] Many times the supplies were late in coming or were inadequate for the population.

In 1887, under the Allotment Act, communal land was distributed to households. This and other legislation made it possible for the members to sell their lands but they were preyed on by speculators and swindlers. Gradually the tribe took back communal control of its land and has regained more than 14,000 acres (57 km2) of what was lost. [3]

In addition, in the 20th century tribe pursued a major land claim case against the federal government, saying that the three tribes had traditionally controlled one million more acres of land than they had been compensated for following the 1855 treaty. The Indian Claims Commission awarded the confederated tribes several million dollars in a negotiated settlement. They used some of that money in economic development efforts. They also paid per capita claims to tribal members for another part of it. [3]

Government

The tribe re-established its government in 1949, writing a constitution that provided for the election of members to the General Council. It is governed by a nine-member council, known as the board of trustees who are elected by the General Council. They serve two-year terms and are elected on staggered terms. This Board replaced the rule by hereditary chiefs. [1]

Justice

Pilot Project of VAWA 2013

Since the Supreme Court's majority opinion in Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe , the tribal courts were prevented to trial a person who is not Native American, unless specifically authorized by the Congress. This body allowed the right for the tribal courts to consider a lawsuit where a man who is not Native American commits domestic violence towards a Native American woman on the territory of a Native American Tribe, through the passage of Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA 2013) signed into law on March 7, 2013, by President Barack Obama. This was motivated by the high percentage of Native American women being assaulted by men who are not Native American, feeling immune by the lack of jurisdiction of Tribal Courts upon them. This law generally took effect on March 7, 2015, but also authorized a voluntary "Pilot Project" to allow certain tribes to begin exercising special jurisdiction earlier. [4] On February 6, 2014, three tribes were selected for this Pilot Project: [5] the Pascua Yaqui Tribe (Arizona), the Tulalip Tribes of Washington, and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (Oregon).

The Bureau of Justice along with Tribal Judicial members and the American Probation and Parole Association are working together to come up with effective ways to enhance sentencing on tribal lands. Under the Tribal Law & Order Act of 2010, these groups have made changes to find better ways of achieving justice on the tribal lands. This gives them the authority to provide enhanced sentences and offers a checklist for the tribes to follow in sentencing. It also gives them the options for detention or community correction options for sentencing [6]

Economy

The tribe have been working for nearly three decades since the late twentieth century to restore fish habitats and runs of the Umatilla and Grande Ronde rivers. [7] It is buying back land in watersheds of the Umatilla on its reservation, to preserve habitat. [8]

In the early 1980s, under the tribe's leadership, salmon were reintroduced in the Umatilla River. The tribe, along with the state of Oregon, operate egg-taking, spawning, and other propagation facilities that are helping restore salmon runs. In 1984, the first fall Chinook salmon in some 70 years returned to the Umatilla River. [3] As a member of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, the CTUIR also shares management of the Columbia, Snake, Walla Walla, Tucannon, John Day, and Imnaha river basins. "In recent times, tribal fisheries have occurred only on the Umatilla and Columbia rivers." [8]

The Confederated Tribes opened the Wildhorse Resort & Casino, which now has a hotel and seven restaurants, located four miles east of Pendleton. It also has a golf course. [9] The Wildhorse Casino opened in 1995. The revenues generated from gaming have multiplied the tribe's budget by sevenfold, making money available for health, education, housing and economic development. Unemployment on the reservation has been cut by half. [9] Several hundred people work at the resort, and 300 work for the tribe's Cayuse Technologies, which opened in 2006 to provide services in software development, a call center, and word processing. [1]

The CTUIR publishes the monthly newspaper, Confederated Umatilla Journal. It also operates a radio station: KCUW. [1]

The CTUIR is one of several tribal governments in the northwestern United States to offer free bus service on its reservation. [10]

Culture and religion

The traditional religion practiced by many tribal members is called Seven Drums (Washat). [1] The Umatilla Reservation has a religion prominent in both past and present culture that is in relation to spirits and energies where things such as health and weather are controlled by spiritually powerful men and woman called "Shamans." One can develop a stronger spirit, therefore, be more embedded within this religion by fasting and spending time with oneself in remote areas.

The confederated tribes established Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, operating in Pendleton, Oregon, as a museum to represent its people. [11] It tells traditional stories of the Natítyat (Indian people), has exhibits of traditional clothing and tools, as well as art and crafts by contemporary people, and exhibits representing the contemporary world.

As an aspect of contemporary culture, basketball is the most popular sport played on the reservation. Kids start playing from a young age, and many families install basketball hoops at their homes. In 2013 the sisters Shoni and Jude Schimmel from CTUIR, students and basketball players at University of Louisville, played in the NCAA's Final Four tournament. [12]

One rich part of past culture was, when one passed in a close-knit tribe, the corpse would be dressed in the nicest clothing that could be afforded and have their faces ornately painted. Some days later they would then be buried with their belongings. People in mourning upon a person's death would dress in unkempt clothing and would cut their hair.

In July 1996, ancient remains of a man were found near Kennewick, Washington. He has been called Kennewick Man or the "Ancient One" (by Native Americans). CTUIR joined with the Nez Perce Tribe, Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Wanapum Band in seeking to have the remains reburied as required by traditional tribal law and according to the 1990 federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The remains were estimated to be 9,000 years old and scientists wanted to study them. A series of court cases followed; in 2004 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled to allow more studies before releasing the remains to the tribes. CTUIR decided not to pursue any more legal action but is seeking to strengthen NAGPRA. [13]

The Confederated Tribes work closely with the Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests to identify and protect cultural resources on national forest lands in the region; the tribes retain treaty hunting and fishing rights in the area as well. [14]

Revitalization of language

The tribe has developed schools and language curricula to teach and preserve its native languages. [1] These are endangered, as the tribe has only about five native speakers of Walla Walla language and about 50 native speakers of Umatilla language, both of the Sahaptin family. [15] It is concentrating on the more widely shared languages, as Cayuse became extinct by the end of the 19th century. Weyíiletpuu is a dialect of the Nez Perce language as used by the Cayuse people of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. [16]

Today six language teachers are running programs at the Nixyaawii Community School, which has offered Umatilla, Walla Walla and Nez Perce language classes for the last decade. The tribe is developing Cay-Uma-Wa, a Head Start Program to include teaching native languages. In addition, the tribe has developed online video resources and the Tamaluut immersion school, designed for 3- to 5-year-olds. At the Pendleton Round-up in September 2013, a young CTUIR woman sang "The Star Spangled Banner" in Umatilla, a first at that event. [15]

Notable CTUIR citizens

Direct descendants

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nez Perce</span> Indigenous peoples of North America

The Nez Perce are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region has been occupied for at least 11,500 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walla Walla people</span> Ethnic group

Walla Walla, Walawalałáma, sometimes Walúulapam, are a Sahaptin Indigenous people of the Northwest Plateau. The duplication in their name expresses the diminutive form. The name Walla Walla is translated several ways but most often as "many waters".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cayuse people</span> Native tribe of present-day Oregon and Washington, US

The Cayuse are a Native American tribe in what is now the state of Oregon in the United States. The Cayuse tribe shares a reservation and government in northeastern Oregon with the Umatilla and the Walla Walla tribes as part of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The reservation is located near Pendleton, Oregon, at the base of the Blue Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palouse people</span> Ethnic group

The Palouse are a Sahaptin tribe recognized in the Treaty of 1855 with the United States along with the Yakama. It was negotiated at the 1855 Walla Walla Council. A variant spelling is Palus. Today they are enrolled in the federally recognized Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and some are also represented by the Colville Confederated Tribes, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Nez Perce Tribe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Umatilla people</span> Indigenous people of America

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamástslikt Cultural Institute</span> Cultural museum in Oregon, United States

The Tamástslikt Cultural Institute is a museum and research institute located on the Umatilla Indian Reservation near Pendleton in eastern Oregon. It is the only Native American museum along the Oregon Trail. The institute is dedicated to the culture of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla tribes of Native Americans. The main permanent exhibition of the museum provides a history of the culture of three tribes, and of the reservation itself. The museum also has a second hall for temporary exhibitions of specific types of Native American art, craftwork, history, and folklore related to the tribes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Umatilla Indian Reservation</span> Indian reservation in United States, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

The Umatilla Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It was created by The Treaty of 9 June 1855 between the United States and members of the Walla, Cayuse, and Umatilla tribes. It lies in northeastern Oregon, east of Pendleton. The reservation is mostly in Umatilla County, with a very small part extending south into Union County. It is managed by the three Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitman massacre</span> 1847 murder of American missionaries by Cayuse Native Americans near Walla Walla, Washington

The Whitman massacre refers to the killing of American missionaries Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, along with eleven others, on November 29, 1847. They were killed by a small group of Cayuse men who accused Whitman of poisoning 200 Cayuse in his medical care during an outbreak of measles that included the Whitman household. The killings occurred at the Whitman Mission at the junction of the Walla Walla River and Mill Creek in what is now southeastern Washington near Walla Walla. The massacre became a decisive episode in the U.S. settlement of the Pacific Northwest, causing the United States Congress to take action declaring the territorial status of the Oregon Country. The Oregon Territory was established on August 14, 1848, to protect the white settlers.

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Sahaptin or Shahaptin, endonym Ichishkin, is one of the two-language Sahaptian branch of the Plateau Penutian family spoken in a section of the northwestern plateau along the Columbia River and its tributaries in southern Washington, northern Oregon, and southwestern Idaho, in the United States; the other language is Nez Perce or Niimi'ipuutímt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Umatilla River</span> River in Oregon, United States

The Umatilla River is an 89-mile (143 km) tributary of the Columbia River in northern Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. Draining a basin of 2,450 square miles (6,300 km2), it enters the Columbia near the city of Umatilla in the northeastern part of the state. In downstream order, beginning at the headwaters, major tributaries of the Umatilla River are the North Fork Umatilla River and the South Fork Umatilla River, then Meacham, McKay, Birch, and Butter creeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walla Walla Council</span> 1855 meeting between the United States and Native Americans

The Walla Walla Council (1855) was a meeting in the Pacific Northwest between the United States and sovereign tribal nations of the Cayuse, Nez Perce, Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Yakama. The council occurred on May 29 – June 11; the treaties signed at this council on June 9 were ratified by the U.S. Senate four years later in 1859.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildhorse Resort & Casino</span>

Wildhorse Resort & Casino is a casino owned and operated since 1994 by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located 5 mi (8 km) east of Pendleton, on the Umatilla Indian Reservation, near Interstate 84.

Umatilla is a variety of Southern Sahaptin, part of the Sahaptian subfamily of the Plateau Penutian group. It was spoken during late aboriginal times along the Columbia River and is therefore also called Columbia River Sahaptin. It is currently spoken as a first language by a few dozen elders and some adults in the Umatilla Reservation in Oregon. Some sources say that Umatilla is derived from imatilám-hlama: hlama means 'those living at' or 'people of' and there is an ongoing debate about the meaning of imatilám, but it is said to be an island in the Columbia River. B. Rigsby and N. Rude mention the village of ímatalam that was situated at the mouth of the Umatilla River and where the language was spoken.

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Roberta "Bobbie" Conner, also known as Sísaawipam, is a tribal historian, activist, and indigenous leader who traces her ancestry to the Umatilla, Cayuse, and Nez Perce tribes. Conner is known for her work as the Director of the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute in Pendleton, Oregon, which seeks to protect, preserve, and promote the culture of the Umatilla, Cayuse, and Walla Walla peoples. In her role at the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute Conner has worked to educate the public on and preserve Indigenous culture through the "We Are," "We Were," and "We Will Be" series of exhibits, and has mentored young scholars interested in tribal cultural preservation. Conner has also sought to educate the public and fight for Native American rights in her personal life as an activist, with a special emphasis on the impact of the division into Tribal Nations and segregation into boarding schools on indigenous cultures, tribal land rights, sustainability, and the repatriation of human remains and funerary objects to Native American lands.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "About Us". Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
  2. ↑ "History & Culture | Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation". ctuir.org. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Our History", Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Official website
  4. ↑ Department of Justice, Tribal Justice and Safety
  5. ↑ Department of Justice, "Justice Department Announces Three Tribes to Implement Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction Under VAWA 2013"
  6. ↑ "Tribal Justice and Safety | Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. August 13, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  7. ↑ "The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation | CRITFC". www.critfc.org. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Member Tribes", Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission], Official website, accessed September 18, 2013
  9. 1 2 "Wildhorse Resort & Casino", 500 Nations. (retrieved November 30, 2009)
  10. ↑ https://indigenousgov.hks.harvard.edu/publications/ctuir-public-transit-confederated-tribes-umatilla-indian-reservation [ bare URL ]
  11. ↑ Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, Official website
  12. 1 2 Jamie Francis, "Shoni and Jude Schimmel's accomplishments celebrated in Eastern Oregon" (photos) Archived October 25, 2013, at the Wayback Machine , The Oregonian, April 9 2013, accessed September 18, 2013
  13. ↑ "Ancient One/Kennewick Man" Archived August 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine , Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, accessed September 18, 2013
  14. ↑ Tribal Cultural Resource Management, Darby C. Stapp and Michael S. Burney. Altamira Press, 2002
  15. 1 2 Natalie Wheeler, "Tribe fights to keep language alive", The East Oregonian, reprinted in Bend Bulletin, September 17, 2013, accessed September 18, 2013
  16. ↑ "The Language of Nixyáawii". Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  17. ↑ Amick, Jeremy (March 10, 2024). "Northern Exposure star represents Native Americans through acting career". Jefferson City News Tribune. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Pride Fighting champ has WW heritage" (PDF). Confederated Umatilla Journal. Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. March 2007. p. 41. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 18, 2008. Retrieved March 22, 2009.
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