Wenatchi
The Wenatchi (also: Wenatchee ) or P'squosa or Pisquose , with which they referred to early fur traders , are an Indian tribe in Washington . Today they prefer the latter name, but it has not yet caught on again. Culturally, they belong to the inland Salish .
The Wenatchi traditionally lived at the confluence of the Columbia and Wenatchee Rivers in eastern Washington. Today they live mostly in the Colville Indian Reservation , some in the Yakama Reservation .
The name comes from the Sahaptin and means something like "water coming out". This may have meant the Wenatchee water coming from Tumwater Canyon near what is now Leavenworth .
history
Early history
The Wenatchi were made up of five groups who lived in the Wenatchee drainage area and around its confluence with the Columbia. Some of them may also have lived in the Kittitas Valley on the upper Yakima River beyond the Wenatchee Mountains . Some anthropologists believe that this group was absorbed by Sahaptin-speaking groups and gave up their Salish language.
The Wenatchi traded widely as far as The Dalles and westward to Puget Sound . In contrast to other inland Salish groups, their way of life was more oriented towards the rivers on which they lived.
They lived in over 20 villages, with 1,600 to 2,000 members of the tribe being reckoned around 1780.
First contacts with whites, smallpox epidemic
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark referred to her in their cards as "Wahnaachee".
1841 Wenatchi met the sea expedition of Charles Wilkes . Lieutenant Robert Johnson reported that the Wenatchi grew potatoes , which he attributed to the influence of fur traders in the area . In 1853 riders of the tribe appeared in races held for prospectors for the Northern Pacific Railway .
At that time the population had already collapsed from smallpox epidemics and other diseases, and by 1853 only 300 to 400 Wenatchi were still alive.
In 1855 the Walla Walla Council signed the Yakima Treaty, which Tecolecun signed, but some tribes resisted deportation to reservations. During the Yakima War that followed , US troops killed innocent villagers on the White River. In August 1858, they hanged four wenatchi alleged to have attacked whites without a trial. Gold prospectors en route to the Fraser River , where gold had been found, had quarreled with several tribes and killed Quiltenen in the process.
Proselytizing, reservation
In 1873 the Jesuit Urban Grassi began his work as a missionary. The Saint Francis Xavier mission station was established in 1874 near Cashmere , which was then called Mission . After the great earthquake of 1872, Grassi wanted to win over the Wenatchi preacher Patoi.
At the same time, the Wenatchi refused to go to the Yakima reservation, because only the common fishing at the Wenatshapam Fishery connected them with the Upper Yakima (today Yakama ).
The elimination of the reserve
In 1855, the Treaty of Walla Walla guaranteed a 36 square miles reserve at the confluence of the Icicle and Wenatchi Rivers. The so-called Wenatchapam Fishery was one of the most important fishing spots in the Northwest of the USA, because huge schools of salmon passed through here.
In 1856 Colonel George Wright marked the boundaries of the reservation, but the government did not survey. In 1858, Captain JJ Archer agreed to enlarge the area to 64 square miles, an area of eight by eight miles, in gratitude for helping whites. In 1870 the first white settlers lived in the Wenatchi area. In 1877 the Wenatchi Chiefs refused to support Josephs Nez Perce in the war against the United States.
In 1878 General OO Howard recommended that the government formally recognize the reservation, but it was now a rectangle further upstream. In 1879/80 a reservation was set up in the vicinity, the then still called Moses Columbia Reservation, which was reopened to white settlers from 1883 to 1886. In 1885, many Wenatchi sued for the release of parcels in their home area, which was possible since the Indian Homestead Act of the same year. By 1890, however, there were already many white settlers in their area. Now the Pacific Railway was planning to build its railway line through Wenatchi area.
In 1890 Chief Harmelt asked what had become of the reservation now that white people were settling on their land. Again in July 1892 the Yakama agent Jay Lynch asked the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to survey the reservation and the Deputy Surveyor Oliver B. Iverson began his work, especially since President Benjamin Harrison had signed a corresponding instruction in November . In doing so, however, the reserve moved further north. Iverson was instructed by agent LT Erwin in 1893 to arbitrarily move the reservation further north into the mountains.
The background was that the new president Grover Cleveland supported the Great Northern , which built its railway line through the middle of Wenatchapam Fishery . Agent Lynch was replaced by LT Erwin. In May 1893, white settlers protested against the survey of the reserve, which was still in the room. In August, the marks already set were destroyed, the new agent claimed that his predecessor had ordered the north shift. In October, the Interior Minister instructed those involved to start new negotiations. Chief Harmelt traveled to Fort Simcoe with some companions . Erwin promised at least 14,000 acre parcels. The Yakima were ready to give up their part of the reservation. In May 1894, the General Land Office protested the apparently incorrect land survey and location of the reservation, but Congress was not informed.
On January 8, 1894, at the urging of Yakima agent LT Erwin, the government sold the Wenatchee's fishing rights for $ 20,000 . This was used to build the Erwin Ditch on Yakima , which was used to irrigate the dry Yakima reserve. The Wenatchi lost their reservation and received no settlement plots. In August, Congress ratified the treaty. The Wenatchi rejected the settlement of $ 9.30 per member of the tribe. In 1897, Indian Inspector WJ McConnell asked if "we were a nation of thieves."
Harmelt traveled to Washington in 1899 and 1900 to lodge a protest. In 1911, some Wenatchi on the list to move to the Colville Reservation settled on their former land, 12 privatized strips of land were arbitrarily cut into 200 tiny parcels. These were not enough to live on. Chief Harmelt, who had never given up the fight for a reservation, died in 1937. As recently as 1931, 250 Wenatchi had gathered at Cashmere and voted to transfer the matter to a lawyer. A lawyer was actually hired in 1933, but the government unceremoniously forbade the tribe to take any further action in 1935. Harmels' house burned down on July 4, 1937, killing him and his wife.
present
In 1959, 153 residents of the Colville reservation were considered to be members of the Wenatchi, 115 other tribesmen lived outside.
The Wenatchi now own 480 acres of land in the Wenatchee Valley, a fraction of the promised 36 square miles. But they are still convinced that they will fight for their rights in court. Today the fight for a reservation is led by the daughter Harmels and his wife as well as their grandchildren.
See also
literature
- Maureen E. Brown: Wenatchee's Dark Past , Wenatchee, Washington: The Wenatchee World 2008.
- Robert H. Ruby / John A. Brown, A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest , University of Oklahoma Press 1992, pp. 266-268.
- Richard D. Scheuerman, John Clement, Clifford E. Trafzer: The Wenatchee Valley and its First Peoples: Thrilling Grandeur, Unfulfilled Promise , Wenatchee, Washington: Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center 2005.
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ This and the following according to E. Richard Hart: The History of the Wenatchi Fishing Reservation , 2001 ( Memento of March 23, 2009 in the Internet Archive )