Pä′lus (Shahaptian stock).—Synonyms: Palouse, Pelloatpallah Chopunnish (Lewis and Clark), Peloose, Polonches, Sewatpalla. The Pälus owned the whole basin of Palouse river in Washington and Idaho, and extended also along the north bank of Snake river to its junction with the Columbia. They were, and are, closely connected with the Wanapûm and the Nez Percés. Pälus, the name by which the tribe is commonly known, is properly the name of Standing Rock, at the junction of Palouse and Snake rivers. They can not explain the meaning. They have four villages: Almotu, on the north bank of Snake river in Washington, about 30 miles above the mouth of Palouse river; Pälus, on the north bank of Snake river just below the junction of the Palouse; Ta′sawĭks, on the north bank of Snake river about 15 miles above its mouth; and Kasĭ′spä or Cosispa (meaning “at the point,” from kăsĭ′s, a point, and pä, the locative), at Ainsworth in the junction of the Snake and Columbia. This last village has a slight difference in dialect and is sometimes regarded as belonging to the Wanapûm. Although the Pä′lus are mentioned as parties to the Yakima treaty of 1855, they have never as a tribe recognized any treaty limitations or come upon a reservation. They are aboriginal in their ideas and among the most devoted adherents of the Smohalla doctrine. They were estimated at 500 in 1854, but, not being officially recognized, it is impossible to give their present number.
Pĭskwaus or Winä′tshipûm (Salishan stock).—Synonyms: Piscaous, Piscous, Pisquose. The name by which this tribe is commonly known is properly the name of a fishing place on Wenatchee river, and is probably Salishan, but may be from the Yakima pĭsko, signifying “a bend in the river.” The Yakima call the river Winätshi, signifying a “river issuing from a cañon,” and the tribe Winätshipûm. The Piskwaus proper, on Wenatchee river, with their connected bands or tribes living in the same neighborhood, west of the Columbia in Kittitas and Okanogan counties, Washington, are a southern extension of the Mitaui and speak the same language. Under the name of Piskwaus, Stevens includes “the Indians on the Columbia between the Priests’ and Ross rapids, on the Pisquose or Winatshapam river; the Enteatkeon, Chelaun lake, and the Mithaw on Barrier river. The name of Pisquouse, however, properly refers to a single locality on the river known to the Yakamas as Winatshapam. The Pisquouse themselves, as has before been remarked, are so much intermarried with the Yakamas that they have almost lost their nationality. These bands were formerly all united under one principal chief, Stalkoosum, who is said to have been a man of great note among them. He was killed a few years since in a fight with the Blackfeet, since which there has been no head of the tribe.” (Stevens, Comr. Rept., 1854.) The Piskwaus and smaller connected tribes took part in the Yakima treaty of 1855, but do not live on the reservation. Most of them live on the Wenatchee and the north branch of Yakima river in Kittitas county. They are all Catholics. There is no official statement of their number. Smaller tribes or bands connected with the Piskwaus proper and speaking the same language are:
1. K̔′tătäs, K̔tătäs-‛lĕ′ma, Ketetas (Stevens), Pshwa′năpûm (Yakima name), Shanwappoms (Lewis and Clark). K̔′tătäs signifies “a shoal,” ‘lĕ′ma being a tribal suffix, and Pshwană-pûm in the Yakima language signifies “shoal people,” the name referring to a shoal in Yakima river at Ellensburg.
2. Ska′utăl, or Skaddal (of Lewis and Clark). About Boston creek and Kahchass lake, at the head of Yakima river.
3. W‛shä′nătu, or Shallattoos (of Lewis and Clark). The word means “huckleberry” in Yakima, and is applied to a site on Yakima river just above Ellensburg.
4. Skwa′nănă, or Squannaroos (of Lewis and Clark). A Yakima word meaning “whirlpool,” and applied to a point on Yakima river about opposite the entrance of Selah creek, the village being on the west bank of the river. This band may possibly speak the language of the Ätanûm, a Shahaptian tribe, whose territory adjoins them.
5. Qamĭl-‘lĕma or Kahmiltpah. The name is Yakima, and signifies “people of Qamĭ′lh.” Qamĭ′lh, or “Watching for Fish,” was a chief who formerly lived with his band about Saddle mountain, on the east side of the Columbia, above Priest rapids. They are called Kahmiltpah in the Yakima treaty of 1855. They now live with the other tribes last named in Kittitas county.
6. Si′ăpkat or Seapcat. They reside now in Kittitas county, but probably lived originally at a place of the same name on the east bank of the Columbia, about Bishop rock and Milk creek, below Wenatchee river. They are called Seapcat in the Yakima treaty of 1855. The word is of the Piskwaus language.
Yä′kĭmâ (Shahaptian stock).—Synonyms: Cutsahnim (Lewis and Clark), Eyackimah, Pa′‛kiut-‛lĕ′ma, Stobshaddat (by Puget sound tribes, Tolmie), Waptai′lmĭm, Yackamans, Yookoomans. The Yakima are the most important tribe of the Shahaptian stock, excluding the Nez Percés. They occupied the country of Natchess and middle Yakima rivers, in the present Yakima county, Washington, and are now on a reservation within the same county. Stevens says the name signifies “black bear” in the Wallawalla language, but Yakima informants state that it is a nickname signifying “coward” or “runaway,” and say that the proper name of the tribe is Waptai′lmĭm, people of the “narrow river,” or Pa′‛kiut-‛lĕ′ma, “people of the gap,” both names referring to the narrows in Yakima river at Union gap, near Yakima bridge. Their old village was on the west side of the river, just below the gap. They are the Cutsahnim of Lewis and Clark. This name may possibly come from the same root as Kû′tsano′t, “Lying Alongside,” the name of an old Yakima chief who died about 1880. In 1854, according to Stevens, they were “divided into two principal bands, each made up of a number of villages and very closely connected, the one owning the country on the Natchess and lower Yakima, the other on the Wenass and its main branch above the forks.” These latter, however, were chiefly of the Piskwaus connection. They had then several chiefs, of whom Kamaiakan was the most important. Like all the other Columbia tribes east of the Cascade range, they formerly crossed the Rocky mountains annually to hunt the buffalo on the waters of the Missouri. In 1855 the government made a treaty with the Yakima, Piskwaus, Pälus, and other tribes by which they were to cede a territory on both sides of the Columbia, extending generally from the Cascade range eastward to Palouse and Snake rivers, and southward from above Chelan lake to the Columbia, excepting a small portion between the Columbia and the lower Yakima. At the same time the Yakima reservation was established and an arrangement was made by which all the tribes and bands concerned were to be confederated under the title of the “Yakama Nation,” with Kamaiakan as head chief. Shortly afterward the Yakima war broke out, and the treaty remained unratified until 1859. As already stated, the Pälus and several other tribes have never recognized it or come on the reservation, and their objection to such removal has become a religious principle of the Smohalla doctrine. In the original treaty of 1855 fourteen tribes are named as participating, as follows: Yakama (Yäkima), Palouse (Pä′lus), Pisquouse (Pi′skwaus), Wenatshapam (another name for Piskwaus), Klikatat (Klûkatät), Klinquit (not identified), Kowwassayee (K′kasawi), Liaywas (not identified), Skinpah (Skinpä), Wish-ham (Wushqûm), Shyiks (not identified), Ochechotes (Uchi′chol), Kahmiltpah (Qamil′lĕma), and Seapcat (Si′apkat). Among these were represented at least six languages and three linguistic stocks. The majority of these Indians west of the Columbia, including the Yakima proper and others on the reservation, are Catholics, with also a number of adherents of the Shaker and Smohalla doctrines. Those on the reservation numbered 1,200 in 1892, with an estimated 1,500 outside the boundaries. Beside the principal band of Yakima, the Waptailmĭm already mentioned, there are also the Sĕ′tăs-‛lĕma, or “people of the rye prairie,” on Setass creek, a western tributary of the Yakima in the eastern part of the reservation, and the Pĭsko, or people of the “river bend,” in a village also on the south side of the Yakima, between Topinish and Setass creeks. (See [Pishquitpah].) Their dialects are said to differ slightly from that of the Waptailmĭm.
Ä′tănûm-‛lĕma (Shahaptian stock) or “people (‛lĕma) of Ätanûm creek.”—A small tribe on Atahnam creek, in Yakima county, Washington, on the northern boundary of the reservation. They are said to speak a language distinct from Yakima or Klûkatät, but cognate. They have no official recognition now or in the treaty of 1855. The name Ä′tănûm is Yakima, and refers to a stream “ascended” (by salmon).