Yakama Treaty, 1855
The 1855 Yakama treaty confederated fourteen tribes and bands, ceded their lands for a reservation and $200,000, and reserved fishing rights.
- Signed
- June 9, 1855
- Senate
- Ratified March 8, 1859
- Land given up
- about 12 million acres
- Land set aside for the nations
- about 910,000 acres
- Promises
- 1 of 1 broken or only partly kept
What happened
What happened
On June 9, 1855, at Camp Stevens in the Walla Walla Valley, Governor Isaac Stevens signed a treaty with the Yakama, Palouse, Klickitat and other confederated tribes and bands, "to be considered as one nation, under the name of 'Yakama,'" with Kamaiakun as head chief. They ceded the lands they occupied and kept a reservation. The United States agreed to pay $200,000 and secured "the right of taking fish at all usual and accustomed places, in common with the citizens of the Territory."
The National Park Service says Stevens and Palmer broke chief Kamiakin's effort to unite the leaders "by cajoling and threatening the delegates." It also reports that the Yakama treaty joined fourteen tribal bands into one nation. HistoryLink says Stevens used a combination of promised gifts and threats of force.
The Park Service says Stevens opened ceded land to settlers before ratification, and the killing of Indian Agent A. J. Bolon in September 1855 began the Yakama War, which lasted until 1858. Congress ratified the treaty in 1859. In United States v. Winans (1905) the Supreme Court held that the fishing right was "a reservation by the Indians of rights already possessed and not granted away by them." Washington v. Fishing Vessel Association (1979) later listed the Yakama treaty among the six Stevens treaties at issue.
What was promised, and what happened
- Partly kept
The right to take fish at all usual and accustomed places, in common with citizens, was secured to the Yakama. (Art. 3)
a reservation by the Indians of rights already possessed and not granted away by them
tile.loc.gov
Good to know. The treaty states no acreage for the cession.
Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error
What the sources say, and how this was checked
Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.
Stevens and Palmer undermined this unity by cajoling and threatening the delegates.
Walla Walla Council (1855), National Park Servicea reservation by the Indians of rights already possessed and not granted away by them
United States v. Winans, 198 U.S. 371 (1905)the right of taking fish at all usual and accustomed places, in common with the citizens of the Territory
Treaty with the Yakima, 1855 (Oklahoma State University Tribal Treaties Database)Treaty of Neah Bay (12 Stat. 939); Treaty with the Yakamas (12 Stat. 951); and Treaty of Olympia (12 Stat. 971)
Washington v. Washington State Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel Ass'n, 443 U.S. 658 (1979)
Research notes. The treaty states no cession acreage. The Winans quote is the Court's 1905 description of the treaty right. This account does not draw on the Yakama Nation's own published history. The treaty was ratified March 8, 1859, and proclaimed April 18, 1859.
What the treaty did to the land
About 12 million acres given up. about 910,000 acres recognized, kept or set aside for the nations. Each shape is a numbered area in the federal government’s 1899 record of land cessions.
ceded to the United Statesabout 12 million acres
Land of the Yakima in Washington, ceded 1855 (area 364)
Ceded by the Yakima and allied tribes in the 1855 Yakama treaty, land in Washington.
set aside as a reservationabout 910,000 acres
Reservation of the Yakima in Washington (area 365)
Kept by the Yakima as their reservation in the 1855 Yakama treaty; not a cession.
What happened next
Everything the record holds about this land and this treaty, in order: what earlier agreements said, what this one did, and what the United States, the courts and the nations did afterwards.
- 1855
This treaty
About 12 million acres ceded to the United States by the Yakima. About 910,000 acres set aside as a reservation for the Yakima
The 1855 Yakama treaty confederated fourteen tribes and bands, ceded their lands for a reservation and $200,000, and reserved fishing rights.
- 1859
This treaty
Ratified by the Senate
- 1900
Promise broken
Stevens treaty fishing rights: Boldt (1974) and Washington v. Fishing Vessel Ass'n (1979)
Treaties guaranteed tribal fishing at usual places 'in common with' citizens; Washington limited it for decades until the 1974 Boldt ruling.
- 1900
Promise broken
Yakama treaty rights: Winans (1905) and Cougar Den (2019)
The 1855 Yakama treaty reserved fishing and travel rights; courts later enforced them against private owners and a state fuel tax.
- 1905
In court
United States v. Winans
In 1905 the Court held the Yakima treaty's fishing right was reserved by the Indians, not granted, and burdened land later patented to others.
- 1942
In court
Tulee v. Washington
In 1942 the Court held Washington could impose conservation rules on Yakima treaty fishing but could not charge them state license fees.
- 1969
In court
Sohappy v. Smith (Belloni decision)
A 1969 federal ruling limited Oregon's regulation of Columbia River treaty fishing and said the tribes were owed a fair share.
- 1974
In court
United States v. Washington (Boldt decision)
In 1974 Judge Boldt held that "in common with" lets western Washington treaty tribes take up to half the harvestable fish.
- 1979
In court
Washington v. Washington State Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel Ass'n
In 1979 the Court held the 1850s treaties secure tribes a share of each fish run, divided in roughly equal shares.
- 1989
In court
Brendale v. Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Indian Nation
The county could zone non-member fee land in the open area, while the Yakima Nation kept zoning power in the closed area.
- 2019
In court
Washington State Dept. of Licensing v. Cougar Den, Inc.
In 2019 a divided Court held the 1855 Yakama treaty's right to travel on public highways bars Washington's fuel-import tax on a Yakama business.
The law behind it
The legal ideas behind the decisions, and related records without a date. Court cases and laws with a date are in what happened next, above.
Legal doctrine
canons of construction
Courts read ambiguous treaties in favor of tribes and as the Indians would have understood them, rules the Supreme Court has repeated for more than a century.
Legal doctrine
reserved rights
Treaties are 'a grant of right from' tribes, not to them: reserved hunting and fishing rights survived cessions, statehood and even termination.
Legal doctrine
treaty fishing rights
Treaties that reserved fishing rights have been read as rights the tribes kept, not gifts: Winans (1905), Fishing Vessel (1979) and Mille Lacs (1999).
Legal doctrine
allotment
Allotment divided tribal reservations into individual parcels under the 1887 Dawes Act and opened the unallotted remainder to purchase.
Legal doctrine
civil jurisdiction
Tribal civil power is strongest over members; Williams v. Lee (1959) protected it, and Montana (1981) limited it over non-members.
Legal doctrine
montana rule
Montana v. United States (1981) set a presumption against tribal civil power over non-members on non-Indian fee land, with two exceptions.
Legal doctrine
preemption
Federal law displaces state law in Indian country when state action conflicts with federal and tribal interests, under White Mountain Apache v. Bracker (1980).
Legal doctrine
taxation
States cannot tax reservation Indians' reservation income, but tribes and states can both tax non-Indian oil producers on a reservation.
Who is doing the work today
The nations connected to this treaty come first, then groups returning land and defending treaty rights. Support goes directly to them.
Who is doing the work
This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Sources
Sources
- digitreaties.org/treaties/treaty/178295262reference work
- treaties.okstate.edu/treaties/treaty-with-the-yakima-1855-0698reference work
Ratified Mar. 8, 1859. | Proclaimed Apr. 18, 1859.
Corrections to this record
- date ratified was listed as “”; corrected from treaties.okstate.edu
Ratified Mar. 8, 1859. | Proclaimed Apr. 18, 1859.
Research notes
Acreage ~10-11 million (, not entered); Stat. page (OCR index prints 961); Kappler page. Subject of Washington v. Washington State Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessel Ass'n, 443 U.S. 658 (1979) and Cougar Den v. Washington State Dept. of Licensing (2019).
Shapes are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land, title or jurisdiction.