Living along the Yakima River, which ran into the mighty Columbia River in what is now Washington state, the Yakama belonged to the Penutian language family. Also known as the Waptailmin, which means “narrow river people,” their main settlement was at a point where the river grew narrow. The presence of the river meant that fishing—in particular for salmon—was an important occupation for the tribe. They also foraged for wild fruits, nuts, and roots.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, which had set out to explore trade possibilities, connected with the tribe in 1805, with the result that the Yakama found themselves dealing with both British and American fur traders. Relationships were good, on the whole, and the Yakama did not get involved in the conflicts between the nearby Cayuse people and the settlers. However, the rate at which white faces came, and stayed, was rapidly increasing. This in itself was not the problem. The issue was that the white people needed the land that belonged to the Native Americans. Isaac Stevens, who governed the Washington territory, promised that he would trade Indian land for space on reservations, cattle, food, schools, horses, and all other manner of goods and chattels, including regular financial payments. Many of the Native Americans believed these promises. Others did not, but nevertheless the Yakama surrendered some of their lands.
The ink was barely dry on the paper before Stevens reneged on his promises. Twelve days after the treaty was signed, Indian lands were declared open to non-Indians. One chief, Kamiakin, called for an alliance of tribes to be pulled together before they made a move on the white settlements; however, Qualchin, his nephew, was less patient and he attacked five white men, leaving them dead. The investigating agent was also killed. Subsequent expeditions sent out to try to quash the rebellious Indians failed in their attempts. After the Walla Walla chief, Peopeomoxmox, was lured into a supposed meeting to talk peace terms and then peremptorily killed, there followed a pattern of attacks and counterattacks on both sides. More tribes in the area, including the Nisqually people and the Takelma, started to raid the unwanted, trespassing white encampments. Ultimately, however, the Yakama suffered defeat and were forced to settle on the Yakama Reservation.
One of the four main divisions of the Lakota/Dakota Sioux, which also included the Eastern Dakota, Santee, and Teton.
In their own dialect, their name means “end village,” which presumably describes the position in which they lived. They had the reputation of being among the friendliest of the many bands of the Sioux.
The Yavapai belonged to the Yuman language family, and lived, traditionally, in western Arizona. They had close connections with bands of the Apache, with whom they often intermarried. The name Yavapai means “people of the sun”; they called themselves Ba’ja. The Yavapai were nomadic, and small family units moved together across country as the wild plants that they foraged ripened; these included saguaro and mescal. This wild diet was supplemented with hunting for small game.
Some of the Yavapai, despite their nomadic nature, cultivated small plots with crops such as tobacco and corn. The Yavapai lived in wickiups, dome-shaped dwellings made from a pole frame and filled in with grasses, reeds, or brush.
The first contact that the Yavapai had with any Europeans was relatively early, in the early 1580s, when they were visited by a contingent of Spanish explorers. In the 1760s a Jesuit, Father Francisco Garcés, came to live among them; it was after Garcés’ time with the Yavapai that the presence of non-Natives became a regular occurrence for the tribe.
Unlike many other peoples, the Yavapai did not immediately warm to the would-be missionaries who tried to persuade them to convert to Christianity. Their close contacts with the Apache meant that the two tribes united in attacking the unwelcome white settlers. When in 1848 the U.S. Government took control of Yavapai territory, the number of white faces increased rapidly, further antagonizing the Yavapai, who responded with increased attacks. In 1872 many Yavapai were massacred when General George Crook led a campaign against the Apache and Yavapai. Discovering a likely band in the Mazatal Mountains, Crook’s soldiers found many of the Indians hiding out in Skull Cave. They bombarded the cave with bullets; some of the Yavapai managed to escape, but others, trapped in the cave that was ringing with bullets bouncing from the walls, stood no chance of survival. Some 75 Yavapai perished in this incident.
The Yavapai were resettled with their Apache compatriots at the San Carlos Reservation and at Camp Verde. In 1935, the Yavapai were given their own reservation at Fort Whipple.
Part of the Athabascan language family, the Yellowknife people lived north and east of the Great Slave Lake in what is now the Northwest Territories of Canada. Their own name for themselves was Tatsanottine; the name Yellowknife was given to them by fur traders in the area simply because they carried knives with blades made of copper. Copper could be found in the territory of the Yellowknife people, in particular along the Copper River. The tribe were also sometimes called the Copper Indians.
The Yellowknife were seminomadic, moving in small units as they hunted, fished, and foraged what wild plants they could in such challenging territory. The tribe succumbed to the European diseases not long after the first contact was made with them in the 1770s; the coming of iron, too, meant that the copper tools they made were no longer in such demand, and many of the Yellowknife simply starved to death. Some of them joined with other peoples, including the Chipewyan and the Dogrib.
A member of the Penutian language family, the name Yokuts means “the people,” a name that is common among many tribes. The Yokuts lived along the San Joachim River valley into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. This vast area meant that the Yokuts are generally referred to as the Foothills, and also as the Northern Valley or Southern Valley Yokuts. The tribe were scattered, the small units called “tribelets.” One tribelet consisted of one main settlement which acted as the focal point, surrounded by several satellite settlements which could come and go. Every tribelet, however small, had its own leader and its own shaman or medicine man. These roles were hereditary, as were the positions of the chief’s messenger and a person who acted as a sort of town cryer, calling out any news.
Hunter-gatherers, the Yokuts were among those who hunted the eagle, a sacred bird. Before going after such a bird, a prayer was recited. The Yokuts were uncommon in another aspect of their lives: they cremated their dead, and also burned the house and all the possessions of the deceased.
1836–1900
The name of this chief of the Oglala Sioux loses some nuances in its translation, and bears explanation. Also known as Thasunke Khokiphapi, his name also translates as, “They fear his horse,” meaning that even the sight of his horse in battle was frightening for his enemies.
Young Man, a nephew of Red Cloud, was one of his lieutenants when, in 1866, the Dakota tribe tried to prevent the construction of a trail right through the Sioux hunting grounds of Powder River. The proposed route of the Montana Trail resulted in two years of bitter conflict which became known as Red Cloud’s War, and which ultimately ended in a peace settlement. Young Man then relocated to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, where he became the first leader of the Indian Council in 1883.
An advocate of amicable relations with the white settlers, Young Man visited the Government in Washington, D.C. on several occasions with the aim of insuring fair treatment for the Sioux people, especially in the aftermath of the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890.
Young Man died peacefully at the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1900.
The Yuchi, whose name means “the far away people,” spoke what was believed to be a dialect of the Siouxan language family. We know that this people once lived in eastern Tennessee, but they gradually inched toward regions in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Like other tribes, they placed their settlements along rivers, planted their crops in the fertile alluvial soils, went fishing, and foraged.
The Yuchi were “discovered” by the Spanish quite early on, by De Soto’s exploratory expedition in the 1540s. The tribe were among those who chased the Spanish out of the Americas in the 1630s. When the British colonists arrived, they made contact with the Yuchi in the 1670s. The tribe were well-disposed toward these settlers and allied with them, even assisting in raids on the Indian Missions with the purpose of capturing other Natives to sell into slavery.