The Yakama Indian Reservation is a United States Indian reservation located on the east side of the Cascade Mountains in southern Washington. It is the homeland of the Yakama tribe of American Indians.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the reservation covers 2,185.94 square miles (5,661.56 km²) and the population in 2000 was 31,799. It lies primarily in the Yakima and the northern edge of Klickitat counties, however, a tiny section crosses the southeast corner of Lewis County as well. The largest city on the reservation is Toppenish.
The reservation was created in 1855 by a treaty signed by Washington Territory Gov. Isaac Stevens and representatives of the Yakama tribe. A dispute over the treaty led to the Yakima War (1855–1858).
Famous quotes containing the words indian and/or reservation:
“If you tie a horse to a stake, do you expect he will grow fat? If you pen an Indian up on a small spot of earth, and compel him to stay there, he will not be contented, nor will he grow and prosper. I have asked some of the great white chiefs where they get their authority to say to the Indian that he shall stay in one place, while he sees white men going where they please. They can not tell me.”
—Chief Joseph (c. 1840–1904)
“Music is so much a part of their daily lives that if an Indian visits another reservation one of the first questions asked on his return is: “What new songs did you learn?””
—Federal Writers’ Project Of The Wor, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)