Umatilla

All three tribes have lived on the Columbia River Plateau for over 10,000 years (Tamástslikt). Today many 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 6.4 million acres in Southeastern Washington, Northeastern Oregon and western Idaho. The major rivers of this area are the Columbia, Palouse, Snake, Yakima, Walla Walla, Umatilla, Grand Ronde and John Day, now known as their homeland. The Umatilla tribe spent most of their days on the Columbia River, the lower regions of its tributaries including the Umatilla River and Willow Creek (Miller).

The Plateau culture groups call themselves bands, instead of tribes. Each tribe was a large grouping of family bands, including one headman per band, and each band made its own decisions. The names Cayuse T

Umatilla Indian life was relatively steady with change slowly taking place. Any conflict that would occur demonstrated bravery and acquiring goods and horses. The first major conflict began when the French and British trappers, traders and explorers came to the Northwest beginning to take over the Indian world making major changes. 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 (Sharon).

ribe, Umatilla Tribe or Walla Walla Tribe came when the first explorer found several bands camping together in one spot. If the location was Umatilla, then all of the bands were called Umatillas' (UIR).

In many ways, modern life on the reservation is much like modern life anywhere in the United States. People live in houses, drive cars, work at jobs and children go to public schools. The people speak English, have TVs and eat many of the same foods that other Americans eat. But there are things that make the Umatilla Indian people different from other people (UIR).

Today, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation have only 2,314 enrolled tribal members (Tamástslikt). There continues to be a growing number of traditional singers on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. They play at dances and celebrations that are held throughout the year. Indians still make their traditional clothing, bags, baskets, and other items. Although much knowledge of the art has been lost in the past, it is still an important part of their way of life (UIR).

The Umatilla still have large families, but many things have changed. The old ways of gathering food, hunting and fishing for a living were still very common until about 40 years ago when dams built on the Columbia and hunting restrictions forced the people to adopt modern ways of life (Kaag). Now individual family members work separately at jobs and professions, which caused the traditional Indian family to break up into smaller family units with just a father, mother and children. A lot of the Umatilla have moved away from the reservation entirely for work somewhere else. They still continue to get together for traditional celebrations and special occasions, like camping together at rodeos and celebrations all over the west and midwest, even if it means traveling long distances and taking time off of work and school (UIR).

Some topics in this essay:
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