Yakima

Yakima, city, United States

Yakima (yăk`əmô, –mə), city (1990 pop. 54,827), seat of Yakima co., S central Wash., on the Yakima River just below its confluence with the Naches; inc. 1886. It is the trade and shipping center of an extensive, irrigated agricultural valley noted for its fruit, hops, and mint. It has several fruit canneries and plants that manufacture lumber products, clothing, and aircraft equipment and parts. Located in Yakima are a school of nursing, a state fish hatchery, and the central Washington fairgrounds. The city is also a gateway to Mount Rainier National Park.

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Yakima, indigenous people of North America

Yakima (yăk`əmô, –mə), indigenous people of North America whose language belongs to the Sahaptin-Chinook branch of the Penutian linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In the early 19th cent. they lived along the Columbia and Yakima rivers, in central Washington. They then numbered some 1,200. In 1855 an attempt by the United States to place the Yakima on a reservation in Washington resulted in war. Under a capable leader, Kamiakin, the Yakima fought until 1859, when they were subdued. Several other tribes subsequently joined them on the reservation there and were absorbed by the Yakima. The culture of the Yakima was of the Plateau area (see under Natives, North American); they subsisted on salmon, roots, berries, and nuts. Today most live on the Yakima Reservation, where the main source of income is forestry. In 1990 there were over 7,500 Yakima in the United States.

Bibliography

See C. Relander, Strangers on the Land (1962).

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Yakima, river, United States

Yakima (yăk`əmô, –mə), river, 203 mi (327 km) long, rising in the Cascade Range, central Wash., and flowing SE past Yakima to the Columbia River near Kennewick. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Yakima project (begun in 1906) utilizes the Yakima and its tributaries to irrigate c.460,000 acres (186,160 hectares) and has helped make the river valley an important farming and fruit-growing region. A major unit of the project is the Keechelus Dam (completed 1917).