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Waiiletpus' lost name.
Kathleen Gordon |
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The Snake River.
Bobbie Conner |
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Contemporary
Tribal Members |
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Elders Eddie James and Fermore Craig Sr. honoring veterans at the war memorial,
as part of the Fourth of July festivities. |
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Boots Pond (in hider) and
Lona and Crystal Pond (in wingdresses) catch a ride in the Fourth
of July parade. |
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Tribal member Ronald
Pond returned to school as an "older than average" student
and is completing his doctorate in Interdisciplinary Studies at
Washington
State University. |
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Leah Conner
The war of 1877
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Umatilla River > Culture > Who's Who
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| Many Sahaptin-speaking groups, speaking various
mutually-intelligible dialects, lived in the area centered
on the great confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition members recognized differences
in some, but not all, of these groups, which included
the Cayuse and Lower Nez Perce, the Umatilla, Walla
Walla, Palouse, Yakima, and Wanapam. In order to understand
their story, it will help to understand more about these
particular groups and where they lived in relation to
one another.
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The Cayuse
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When first encountered by Euro-Americans, the Cayuse,
close allies of the Nez Perce, were speaking a dialect of Lower
Nez Perce. Their own language was quite distinct. Unfortunately,
no living person speaks Cayuse and not enough of the language was
recorded to reconstruct more than terms for various things.
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| The northernmost extent of the Cayuse
aboriginal homeland was the junction of the Tucannon
and Snake rivers extending southward in a relatively
narrow band all the way south to the confluence
of the Malheur River with the Snake, centered on
the Grande Ronde River, and between the modern towns
of Le Grande and Pendleton, Oregon. |
Three
Cayuse men on horses,
on the banks of the Columbia River
Maj. Lee Moorhouse. PH 36, Special Collections & University
Archives, University of Oregon, #M5143 |
Cayuse
chief Paul Show-a-way with daughter) in Thorn Hollow
winter camp, in front of their mat lodge.
Maj. Lee Moorhouse. PH 36, Special Collections & University
Archives, University of Oregon, #M4259 |
The Tucannon defines the northeast
boundary, which was shared with the Nez Perce.
The northwest boundary of their territory abuts
the southeast edge of Walla Walla territory,
in part the route followed by the Lewis and
Clark Expedition on their return trip in early
May, 1806. South of the Walla Walla River,
the western boundary abuts the aboriginal territory
of the Umatilla people.
Leah Conner
The strength of the Cayuse
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Landmarks within this homeland include the peaks and valleys
of the Blue Mountains; the Grande Ronde Valley; Lonepine Mountain,
Magpie Peak and Coyote Point near Baker City, Oregon; Table
Rock and Pedro and Juniper Mountains near Weatherby, Orgeon.
Village and camp names of the Cayuse tend to describe the
physical attributes of the place itself, such as "pilot
rock," "that which sits on top," "confluence
of streams," "pine lean-to village," "high
trail," "high country," or they tell of a resource
found there, such as "place of pines," "white
earth," "flint rock place," "cactus place,"
"hot spring" "beaver creek" "cottonwood,"
"place of camas," "where stoxs grows."
Today, the Cayuse are one of the three tribes that reside on
the Umatilla Reservation.
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The Umatilla
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The Umatilla, like their neighbors to the north and east, were
Sahaptin speakers. Members of the Umatilla people reside today
on the Umatilla Reservation with people of the Cayuse and
Walla Walla tribes.
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Alice
Pate-wa, Umatilla, with her baby on cradleboard.
Maj. Lee Moorhouse. PH 36, Special Collections &
University Archives, University of Oregon, # M4886
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Umatilla aboriginal territory is located along
a narrow north-south band primarily in north-central
Oregon, with a small section extending north
of the Columbia River into Washington State.
The northern extent of the homeland shares
a boundary with the Walla Wallas through the
Horse Heaven Hills, between the Yakima and
Columbia Rivers. Along the Columbia, their
aboriginal homeland extends from a place above
Hat Rock down to Willow Creek. From the Columbia,
the lands extend generally southward to the
headwaters of the John Day River, sharing the
eastern border with the Cayuse and the western
border with the Wayampam.
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Landmarks within this homeland include Hat Rock and the Cayuse
Sisters, stone monuments along the Columbia noted in the L&C
journals; …
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Village and camp names of the Umatilla tend to
describe the physical attributes of the place
itself, such as "where the light penetrates,"
"elbow in the river," "lots
of rocks," "rapids in the river,"
or they tell of a resource found there, such
as" tule place."
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Umatilla
girls by flume, 1904
Maj. Lee Moorhouse. PH 36, Special Collections & University
Archives, University of Oregon, #M4858
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The Walla Walla
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Walla Walla aboriginal territory is centered on the confluence
of the Snake and the Columbia. The lower Snake and lower Yakima
and points in between were where their greatest population
was concentrated, with major villages located down to the
mouth of the Walla Walla River. This aboriginal territory
extends as far northwest as the White Bluffs on the Columbia,
just south of the big bend, where today sits the Hanford Nuclear
Site to the south and various wildlife refuge areas to the
north. The northeast boundary was the mouth of the Palouse
River at its confluence with the Snake adjacent to the territory
of the Palouse people. The boundary along the east edge divided
the Walla Walla territory from the Cayuse, extending south-
southeast to the Touchette, then following essentially the
route taken by the Lewis and Clark Expedition on their return
trip in early May, 1806. The southern edge of the Walla Walla
homeland was roughly halfway between the mouths of the Walla
Walla and the Umatilla Rivers, and extending westward across
the Horse Heaven Hills to near the town of Benton City on
the Yakima River.
Landmarks within this homeland include: Shiprock (Monumental
Rock), Walula Gap, the White Bluffs, the sand drifts, Red
Mountain, Goose Hill, and Badger Mountain, and the Horse Heaven
Hills. Important places along the rivers include Pine Tree,
Fish Hook, and Five Mile Rapids on the Columbia, and Horn
Rapids on the Yakima.
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Walla
Walla Chief Uma-som-kin on horseback on the Columbia
River
Maj. Lee Moorhouse. PH 36, Special Collections & University
Archives, University of Oregon, #M4311.
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Village and camp names of the Walla Walla tend
to describe the physical attributes of the
place itself, such as "washout,"
"fast flowing water," "canyon's
end," "noisy water," and "wind
against the river," or they tell of a
resource found there, such as "place where
black camas grows" and "salt lick."
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Other Tribal Affiliations
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The Palouse were allied with bands of the Nez Perce, Walla Walla,
Yakima, Umatilla, and Cayuse, and, in varying combinations,
they combined forces for fishing, root gathering, war dances,
warfare, and bison hunting across the mountains.
The aboriginal territory of the Palouse extends from near Lewiston
to the confluence of Snake and Columbia, centered at Palus.
Major villages were located along the north shore between
Fishhook Bend and the mouth of Snake, where they shared territory
with the Wanapam. Upriver they shared territory with the Nez
Perce.
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Background:
Cayuse twins in cradleboards, October 2, 1898
In this photo, Cayuse twins Tax-a-Lax and Alompum (Emma
and Edna Jones)
look out from their undecorated wood and fabric cradleboards.
One source identifies the twins as grandnieces of Chief
Joseph.
Lee Moorhouse silver gelatin print
Seattle Historical Society Collection SHS 17,303
American
Memory site
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