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The Cayuse are a Native American tribe in what is now the state of
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. The Cayuse tribe shares a
reservation __NOTOC__ Reservation may refer to: Places Types of places: * Indian reservation, in the United States * Military base, often called reservations * Nature reserve Government and law * Reservation (law), a caveat to a treaty * Reservation in India, ...
and government in northeastern Oregon with the Umatilla and the Walla Walla tribes as part of the
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are the federally recognized confederations of three Sahaptin-speaking Native American tribes who traditionally inhabited the Columbia River Plateau region: the Cayuse, Umatilla, and ...
. The reservation is located near
Pendleton, Oregon Pendleton is a city and the county seat of Umatilla County, Oregon. The population was 17,107 at the time of the 2020 census, which includes approximately 1,600 people who are incarcerated at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution. Pendleton ...
, at the base of the Blue Mountains. The Cayuse called themselves the ''Liksiyu'' in the
Cayuse language The Cayuse language (''Cailloux, Willetpoos'') is an extinct unclassified language formerly spoken by the Cayuse Native American tribe in the U.S. state of Oregon. The Cayuse name for themselves was ''Liksiyu'' (see Aoki 1998). Classification ...
. Originally located in present-day northeastern Oregon and southeastern
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, they lived adjacent to territory occupied by the Nez Perce and had close associations with them. Like the Plains tribes, the Cayuse placed a high premium on warfare and were skilled horsemen. They developed the Cayuse pony. The Cayuse ceded most of their traditional territory to the United States in 1855 by treaty and moved to the Umatilla Reservation, where they have formed a confederated tribe.


History

According to Haruo Aoki (1998), the Cayuse called themselves ''Liksiyu'' in their language.Haruo Aoki (1998), ''A Cayuse Dictionary based on the 1829 records of Samuel Black, the 1888 records of Henry W. Henshaw and others'', Manuscript. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Their name ''Cayuse'' was derived from the French word "cailloux," meaning stones or rocks, adopted by early French Canadian trappers of the area. The name may have referred to the rocky area the tribe inhabited or it may have been an imprecise rendering of the name they called themselves. The tribe has been closely associated with the neighboring Nez Percé and Walla Walla. The Cayuse language is an isolate, independent of the neighboring
Sahaptin The Sahaptin are a number of Native American tribes who speak dialects of the Sahaptin language. The Sahaptin tribes inhabited territory along the Columbia River and its tributaries in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Sahaptin-s ...
-speaking peoples. The Cayuse population was about 500 in the eighteenth century. The Cayuse were a seminomadic tribe and maintained summer and winter villages on the
Snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more ...
, Tucannon, Walla Walla, and
Touchet Touchet is a surname, and may refer to: Members of the English peerage: * James Touchet, 5th Baron Audley, (c. 1398–1459) * George Thicknesse-Touchet, 19th Baron Audley (1758–1818) ** George Thicknesse-Touchet, 20th Baron Audley, (1783–1837) ...
rivers in Washington, and along the Umatilla, Grand Ronde, Burnt,
Powder A powder is a dry, bulk solid composed of many very fine particles that may flow freely when shaken or tilted. Powders are a special sub-class of granular materials, although the terms ''powder'' and '' granular'' are sometimes used to distin ...
,
John Day River The John Day River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately long, in northeastern Oregon in the United States. It is known as the Mah-Hah River by the Cayuse people, the original inhabitants of the region. Undammed along its entire ...
, and from the Blue Mountains to the
Deschutes River Deschutes River may refer to: *Deschutes River (Oregon) **Little Deschutes River (Oregon), a tributary of the Deschutes River in Oregon *Deschutes River (Washington) The Deschutes River is a river in the U.S. state of Washington. Its headwater ...
in Oregon. Historian Verne Ray has identified seventy-six traditional Cayuse Village sites, most temporary, seasonal sites; five separate villages in the Walla Walla Valley and seven Cayuse Bands scattered throughout Eastern Oregon and Washington. The Walla Walla River Cayuse Band was called the ''Pa'cxapu''. Other sources name only three distinct regional bands within the Cayuse at the time; two centered on the Umatilla River; the third on the Walla Walla River. The Cayuse were known for their bravery and as horsemen. They bred their ponies for speed and endurance, developing what is now called the
Cayuse horse Cayuse is an archaic term used in the American West, originally referring to a small landrace horse, often noted for unruly temperament. The name came from the horses of the Cayuse people of the Pacific Northwest. The term came to be used in a ...
. No longer restricted to what they could carry or what their dogs could pull, they moved into new areas, traveling as far east as the Great Plains and as far south as California, to hunt, trade, fight, and capture slaves. Meanwhile, their herds multiplied rapidly, a combination of skillful breeding and periodic raids on other tribes. By the early 1800s, a Cayuse who owned only 15 to 20 horses was considered poor; wealthy families controlled 2,000 or more. Horses improved the range and effectiveness of war parties, making it possible for Cayuses to dominate their sedentary neighbors on the Columbia. They claimed ownership of The Dalles, the great fishery and trade emporium of the Columbia, forcing the weaker bands in that area to pay them tribute in the form of salmon and other goods. They frequently were in conflict fighting with Piute, Shoshone, and Bannock Tribes to the south and east referred to as the Snake people and other tribes such as the Blackfeet over territory and hunting sites. As white settlers moved into their territory in large numbers following the opening of the
Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and emigrant trail in the United States that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail spanned part of what is now the state of Kans ...
in 1842, the Cayuse suffered. Even settlers passing through competed with them for game and water. Crowds of whites invaded the region during the
California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California f ...
beginning in 1848 and when gold was discovered in Eastern Oregon in 1862. The tribe gained wide notoriety in the early days of the white settlement of the territory. In 1838,
Marcus Whitman Marcus Whitman (September 4, 1802 – November 29, 1847) was an American physician and missionary. In 1836, Marcus Whitman led an overland party by wagon to the West. He and his wife, Narcissa, along with Reverend Henry Spalding and his wife, E ...
and his wife Narcissa established a mission among the Cayuse at ''Waiilatpu'' ("Place of the Rye Grass"), a site about seven miles from the present-day city of Walla Walla and about a quarter mile east of where the Cayuse ''Pásxa'' winter village was located. In 1847, a
measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...
epidemic, suspected by some to be contracted from white settlers, resulted in high fatalities among the tribe. A small group of Cayuse, after putting Witmans medicine to the test with both sick and non sick individuals, and which all test individuals died, believed the missionaries were deliberately poisoning their native people, since a much higher percentage of the natives were dying from the measles than were the whites. In addition, cultural differences and settler encroachment had caused growing tensions. The Cayuse attacked the missionaries, killing Whitman and his wife Narcissa, and eleven others. They captured 54 European-American women and children and held them for ransom. They destroyed the mission buildings. This attack prompted an armed response by the United States and the
Cayuse War The Cayuse War was an armed conflict that took place in the Northwestern United States from 1847 to 1855 between the Cayuse people of the region and the United States Government and local American settlers. Caused in part by the influx of disease ...
ensued. Five Cayuse warriors were hanged; see Cayuse Five. The Cayuse put the captives to work together with their members; the adults made clothing for the tribe. They released the hostages after the
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...
brokered an exchange of 62 blankets, 63 cotton shirts, 12 Hudson Bay rifles, 600 loads of ammunition, 7 pounds of tobacco and 12 flints for the return of the now 49 surviving prisoners. The Cayuse and many from other nearby tribes such as the Walla Walla Tribe were hunted down by Militias and massacred. The Cayuse eventually lost the war. They were forced to cede their land to the US and shared a reservation with the Umatilla and Walla Walla. By 1851, the Cayuse had long intermarried with the neighboring Nez Percé, with whom they had sheltered; many learned their language. Kathleen Gordon a Tribal member of the Confederate Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation was a Cayuse/Nez Pierce Language instructor who spoke and taught the Nez Pierce language, but also knew small amounts of the Original Cayuse Language that is now extinct. In 1855, the Cayuse joined the Treaty of Walla Walla with the Umatilla and Walla Walla by which the Umatilla Indian Reservation was formed. Since that time, they have officially resided within the reservation's limits. During the mid-twentieth century, some members moved to cities under the Indian Relocation Act of 1956, an effort to give better access for contemporary jobs. Their number was officially reported as 404 in 1904; this number may be misleading. A count in 1902 found one pure-blooded Cayuse on the reservation. Descendants with ancestry partially of the other tribes may still have identified as Cayuse. The Cayuse language is believed to have become extinct by then. As the members of the three tribes have intermarried, they no longer keep separate population numbers.


Lifestyle

The Cayuse Indians were located in the Columbia Basin and were nomadic, sometimes moving on a daily basis. They lived in
teepee A tipi , often called a lodge in English, is a conical tent, historically made of animal hides or pelts, and in more recent generations of canvas, stretched on a framework of wooden poles. The word is Siouan, and in use in Dakhótiyapi, Lakȟó ...
s, which many nomadic tribes used for portability. The Cayuse were skilled horsemen, and used horses in hunting. They also used them for their trip over the
Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...
each year to hunt a supply of buffalo to bring back for their families. The men hunted game and fished salmon. The women gathered and picked berries and dug and processed roots. The women also processed the animal skins to make materials for shelter and clothing. The men considered bravery to be an important quality, with brave warriors being held in high esteem. The strongest would be made chief.


Language

The
Cayuse language The Cayuse language (''Cailloux, Willetpoos'') is an extinct unclassified language formerly spoken by the Cayuse Native American tribe in the U.S. state of Oregon. The Cayuse name for themselves was ''Liksiyu'' (see Aoki 1998). Classification ...
is a
language isolate Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The nu ...
. Scholars have proposed that it may be related to
Molala The Molala (also Molale, Molalla, Molele) are a people of the Plateau culture area in the Oregon Cascades and central Oregon, United States. They are one of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, with 141 of the 882 member ...
, making up a Waiilaptuan family ultimately related to the
Penutian Penutian is a proposed grouping of language families that includes many Native American languages of western North America, predominantly spoken at one time in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California. The existence of a Penutian s ...
stock. This proposal is unproven. The language has been extinct since the 1930s. Weyíiletpuu is a dialect of the Nez Perce language as used by the Cayuse people of the
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation are the federally recognized confederations of three Sahaptin-speaking Native American tribes who traditionally inhabited the Columbia River Plateau region: the Cayuse, Umatilla, and ...
. A distinctive dialect of the Cayuse people has not been used since the 1940s and is designated as extinct.


Cuisine

One of the Cayuse's main food source was salmon from the Columbia River. Along with trout and eels, they also hunted elk, deer, as well as small game such as rabbits and fowl. Most significantly, women gathered camas roots, bitter roots, wild celery, huckleberry and choke cherry, processing them for cooked and dried foods for their survival. They also gathered bark, leaves, flowers, and roots for making medicine.


Notable Cayuse

* Tawatoy (known as Young Chief), Head Chief, uncle and predecessor of the next Young Chief (''Weatenatemany''), was a well-known leader and warriorYoung Chief (Weatenatemany)
Washington History
* Weatenatemany (also known as Young Chief, c.18??–1859), Head Chief, nephew of Tawatoy, became the new Young Chief in October 1853, leader of the more conciliatory faction of the Cayuse, killed in a skirmish with the Snake during the summer of 1859. * Five Crows (also known as ''Achekaia'' or ''Hezekiah''), brother and first successor of Tauitau, and leader of the hostile Cayuse, principal rival to Tauitau's son Young Chief (Weatenatemany) for the role of Head Chief,


Footnotes


Further reading

* Robert H. Ruby and John A. Brown, ''The Cayuse Indians: Imperial Tribesmen Of Old Oregon.'' Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972. * Clifford E. Trafzer, ''Yakima, Palouse, Cayuse, Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Wanapum Indians'', Scarecrow Press, 1992


External links


Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
official website {{Authority control Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau Native American tribes in Oregon Native American tribes in Washington (state) Umatilla County, Oregon Cayuse