Yakima
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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 languagesNative American languages,languages of the native peoples of the Western Hemisphere and their descendants. A number of the Native American languages that were spoken at the time of the European arrival in the New World in the late 15th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. ). 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 AmericanNatives, North American,
peoples who occupied North America before the arrival of the Europeans in the 15th cent. They have long been known as Indians because of the belief prevalent at the time of Columbus that the Americas were the outer reaches of the Indies (i.e.
..... Click the link for more information. ); they subsisted on salmon, roots, berries, and nuts. Today most live on the Yakima Reservation, where the main sources of income are forestry, construction, and casino gambling. In 1990 there were over 7,500 Yakima in the United States.
Bibliography
See C. Relander, Strangers on the Land (1962).
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 mint, grapes, apples, and hops. It has several fruit canneries and plants that manufacture lumber products, plastics, chemicals, aircraft parts, small arms, and agricultural equipment. The Central Washington State Fair is held in Yakima, and a state fish hatchery is there. The city is also a gateway to Mount Rainier National ParkMount Rainier National Park, 235,625 acres (95,395 hectares), SW Wash., in the Cascade Range; est. 1899. The area is dominated by Mt. Rainier, a volcanic peak 14,410 ft (4,392 m) high.
..... Click the link for more information. .
Yakima
(yăk`əmô, –mə), river, 203 mi (327 km) long, rising in the Cascade Range, central Wash., and flowing SE past Yakima to the ColumbiaColumbia,river, c.1,210 mi (1,950 km) long, rising in Columbia Lake, SE British Columbia, Canada. It flows first NW in the Rocky Mt. Trench, then hooks sharply about the Selkirk Mts.
..... Click the link for more information. 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).
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