Kamiakin (c. 1800–1877) (Yakama) was a leader of the

Yakama The Yakama are a Native Americans in the United State, Native American tribe with nearly 10,851 members, based primarily in Eastern Washington, eastern Washington (state), Washington state. Yakama people today are enrolled in the federally rec ...

Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of North Central Idaho, north central Idaho, southeastern Washington (part of eastern Washington), and by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. ...

, and Klickitat peoples east of the Cascade Mountains in what is now southeastern

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

state. In 1855, he was disturbed by threats of the Territorial Governor,

Isaac Stevens Isaac Ingalls Stevens (March 25, 1818 – September 1, 1862) was an American military officer and politician who served as governor of the Territory of Washington from 1853 to 1857, and later as its delegate to the United States House of Represe ...

, against the tribes of the Columbia Plateau. After being forced to sign a treaty of land cessions, Kamiakin organized alliances with 14 other tribes and leaders, and led the

Yakima War The Yakima War (1855–1858), also referred to as the Plateau War or Yakima Indian War, was a conflict between the United States and the Yakama, a Sahaptian-speaking people of the Northwest Plateau, then part of Washington Territory, and the tr ...

of 1855–1858. Finally defeated, Kamiakin escaped to British Columbia and Montana. He returned to his traditional homeland in 1860. He moved to his father's former territory at Rock Lake in

Whitman County, Washington Whitman County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,973. The county seat is Colfax, and its largest city is Pullman. The county was formed from Stevens County in 1871. It is na ...

in 1864, where he lived until his death.

Early life

Kamiakin was of mixed

Nez Perce The Nez Perce (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region h ...

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...

and

ancestry. His father Ki-yi-yah was the son of a Nez Perce father and a

mother. His mother was Yakama. In 1825 Kamiakin married Sal-kow, also a Yakama, whose father ''Te-i-as'' and grandfather '' Weowikt'' were leaders in the tribe. Kamiakin later married

Colestah Colestah (died 1865), was one of the five wives of Chief Kamiakin (1800–1877) of the Yakama Native American tribe. She is described as being a medicine woman ''(twati)'', a psychic, and a "warrior woman". Early life Colestah was the youngest ...

, also a Yakama.

Yakama War

In 1855

, the new

Washington Territory The Washington Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

governor, was anxious to extinguish claims to traditional lands by regional tribes and free up Native American land for sale to European Americans, who would develop it in recognized ways. He threatened leaders of several tribes to remove the Natives by force from the area east of the Cascades and bordering the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

if they did not sell their lands. He thought that the most reasonable strategy was to gather many other tribes. Kamiakin, a leader of the Yakama, began to organize immediately, allying with Peo-peo-mox-mox (''Yellow Bird'') of the Walla Walla and Allalimya Takanin (''Looking Glass'') of the

. He eventually formed an alliance with a total of 14 tribes living on the

Columbia plateau The Columbia Plateau is an important geology, geologic and geography, geographic region that lies across parts of the U.S. states of Washington (state), Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It is a wide flood basalt plateau between the Cascade Range a ...

. The leaders agreed on wanting to resist encroachment by American settlers and government officials in the Washington Territory. The ensuing hostilities are referred to as the Yakima Indian War of 1855. In 1855 Kamiakin convened a council in Eastern

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, with representatives from all of the tribes in the

Grande Ronde Valley The Grande Ronde Valley is a valley in Union County, Oregon, Union County in northeastern Oregon, United States. It is surrounded by the Blue Mountains (Oregon), Blue Mountains and Wallowa Mountains, and is drained by the Grande Ronde River. La Gr ...

, in order to discuss how best to deal with the invaders and keep their lands. Governor Stevens learned of the meeting when Lawyer, a Nez Perce, informed him of the decisions made there. At the subsequent Walla Walla Council, when Kamiakin arrived, he noticed the large number of Nez Perce and U.S. Government officials, and realized his confidences had been betrayed. Stevens had used the information about the earlier meeting to marshal support for establishing reservations among the wavering tribal factions. When Oregon's Superintendent of Indian Affairs asked Kamiakin to speak, the proud Yakama refused. The other chiefs eventually pressured Kamiakin into signing the treaty "as an act of peace;" it established the

Yakama reservation The Yakama Indian Reservation (spelled Yakima until 1994) is a Native American reservation in Washington state of the federally recognized tribe known as the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The tribe is made up of Klikitat ...

.Trafzer, p. 313 Kamiakin led a band of warriors into the first engagement of the war and on October 4 and 5, 1855, he defeated a force of 84 soldiers led by Major Haller near Simcoe Valley. Kamiakin was also instrumental in the final battle of the war. On September 5, 1858, Colonel George Wright, with a force of 700 soldiers, defeated Kamiakin and his warriors at the

Battle of Four Lakes The Battle of Four Lakes was a battle during the Coeur d'Alene War of 1858 in the Washington Territory (now the states of Washington and Idaho) in the United States. The Coeur d'Alene War was part of the Yakima War, which began in 1855. The bat ...

. Kamiakin was wounded in the battle when he was struck by a pine tree felled by cannon fire. Colestah is reported to have saved her husband from capture by the U.S. soldiers. In the end, Kamiakin was the only leader who refused to surrender, escaping to Kootenai, British Columbia. From there he went to Montana, where he lived with the Flathead tribe.

Final years

In 1860, Kamiakin returned to his home on the

Palouse River The Palouse River is a tributary of the Snake River in Washington and Idaho, in the northwest United States. It flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 3, 2011 south ...

. Following the death of Colestah in 1864, he moved to his father's homeland near

Rock Lake (Washington) Rock Lake is the deepest and largest of all scabland lakes left behind from the Missoula Floods, and holds that distinction for all of eastern Washington. At its deepest, it is more than deep, although the official measurement is uncertain. The ...

. Ranchers led by William Henderson repeatedly tried to drive Kamiakin from his ancestral lands, but Robert Milroy, superintendent of

Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to Native Americans and A ...

, intervened. He followed through on his vow to allow Kamiakin to live out his days there. On at least two occasions, Kamiakin was offered food and clothing by local Indian agents, charity which he steadfastly refused. The day before he died (sometime in 1877), Kamiakin was baptized a Catholic and given the name "Matthew." On the year anniversary of his death, according to his people's customs, his son (Tesh Palouse Ka-mi-akin) opened his father's grave and wrapped his remains in a new blanket. Several years later, when Kamiakin's body was exhumed in order to be reburied elsewhere, it was discovered that "the head and shoulders had been cut off and removed", probably for "public exhibition" as a curiosity." Historian Clifford Trafzer states that friends of Kamiakin were upset and retrieved these

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

. In any case, what was left of his remains were interred at

Nespelem, Washington Nespelem is a town in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. The population was 180 at the 2020 census. The town is located on the Colville Indian Reservation. The name Nespelem is derived from a local Native American term meaning "large ...

, a village he had founded.

Places named after Kamiakin

There are at least five schools in Washington state named for Kamiakin: * Chief Kamiakin Elementary School in Sunnyside *

Kamiakin High School Kamiakin High School is a Public school (government funded), public high school in Kennewick, Washington, Kennewick, Washington (state), Washington, the second of three comprehensive high schools in the Kennewick School District. Kamiakin opened ...

Kennewick Kennewick () is a city in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima ...

* Kamiakin Junior High in Kirkland * Kamiak High School in

Mukilteo Mukilteo ( ; ) is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located on Puget Sound between Edmonds and Everett, approximately north of Seattle. The city had a population of 20,254 at the 2010 census and an estimated 2019 ...

* Kamiak Elementary in

Pullman, Washington Pullman is the most populous city in Whitman County, located in southeastern Washington within the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. The population was 32,901 at the 2020 census, and estimated to be 32,508 in 2022. Originally founded as ...

In addition, Kamiak Butte and Kamiakin's Gardens are named for him. The latter is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Northeast Kamiaken Street - Pullman, WA
Kamiakin Trail - Fairchild AFB, WA
North Kamiakin Trail Lane - Colbert, WA
East Kamiakin Ave - Liberty Lake, WA
Kamiakin Road - Wapato, WA
Kamiakin Road - Ellensburg, WA

Notes

References

* -
Historylink.org essay 5285 "Saint Joseph's Mission at Ahtanum Creek is founded in the Yakima Valley on April 3, 1852"
History Link * -
Historylink.org essay 5288 First irrigation ditch in the Yakima Valley is dug at the Saint Joseph Mission in 1852."The Treaty Trail: US-Indian Treaty Councils in the Northwest"
Washington History Online * Dockstader, Frederick J. "Kamaiakin," IN ''Great North American Indians: Profiles in Life and Leadership''. New York : Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1977 (OCLC ) * Mooney, James. "Kamaiakan" IN ''Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico'' Washington : G.P.O., 1907–1910, vol. 1 (OCLC ) * Ruby, Robert H. "Kamiakin" IN ''American national biography'' New York : Oxford University Press, 1999, vol. 12 (OCLC ) * Splawn, A.J
''Ka-mi-akin, Last Hero of the Yakimas''
Portland, OR: Kilham Stationery & Printing Co., 1917 (OCLC ) * Trafzer, Clifford. "Kamiakin" IN ''Encyclopedia of North American Indians'', New York : Houghton Mifflin Co., 1996 (OCLC ) *

External links

*
Chief Kamiakin (ca. 1800-1877)
at

HistoryLink HistoryLink is an online encyclopedia of Washington (state), Washington state history. The site has more than 8,100 entries and attracts 23,000 weekly visitors. It has 500 biographies and more than 14,000 images. The non-profit historical organi ...

Kamiakin: Head Chief of the Yakamas

* ; on his interactions with Chief Kamiakin
Gold in the Northwest -- A Snapshot History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamiakin 1800s births 1877 deaths 19th-century Native American leaders Pre-statehood history of Washington (state) Native American people of the Indian Wars People from Columbia County, Washington Yakama people