INDIAN TRIBES OF WASHINGTON TERRITORY. 
407 
valley—the Tahk prairie. This was iormerly the bed of a lake, the remains of which now 
appear in a marshy pond of some extent. The wolf, when the prairie was made, promised that 
it should be rich in their favorite roots, the kamas and the wapp-a-too; and likewise that the 
salmon should come there in abundance. But the Indians, forgetful of their obligation to him, 
showed no gratitude, and when they came there, spent their time in horse-racing and gambling, 
instead of fishing and the business of life; wherefore the wolf took away the salmon, and placed 
two stones upon the prairie, beyond which they should not pass. 
Alas, for the perverseness of man! notwithstanding the punishment, the Klikatats and their 
friends run horses and gamble there to this day. 
There is also, in contrast with the gigantic race above mentioned, a story of one of diminutive 
size, but a span high, whodived near the foot of the St. Helens, and whose footprints the Indians 
have seen where they held their nocturnal dances. Since the eruption of 1S42, it may be men¬ 
tioned, they have not ventured to ascend Mount St. Helens. They have also tales connected 
with certain of the constellations, many of which are named. The Great Bear, for instance, is 
called “spilyeh,” or the wolf. The Yakimas occupy the country drained b}’’ the river of that 
name. They are divided into two principal bands, each made up of a number of villages, and 
very closely connected; the one owning the country on the Nahchess and lower Yakima, the 
other upon the Wenass and main branch above the forks. Over the first there are three chiefs— 
Kam-ai-ya-kan and his brothers Skloo and Sha-wa-wai. Over the latter, Te-eh-yas and Ow- 
hai. Of all these, Kam-ai-ya-kan possesses the greatest influence, none of the others undertaking 
any matter of importance without consulting him. Skloo is accused of being tyrannical and 
overbearing with his weaker neighbors, and Sha-wa-wai of being indolent and wanting in force. 
Kam-ai-ya-kan is, in turn, much under the influence of the missionaries, with whom he lives 
altogether. The others are both intelligent, and bear very good characters. All of them appear 
to be well disposed and friendly towards the whites, whose superiority they have sense enough to 
understand. 
Most of what has been said of the Klikatats is applicable also to the Yakimas, though, from 
the nature of their country, some difference in their modes of life is of course observable. Their 
name, it may be mentioned, is not an appellation of their own. It is said to be the word signifying 
a black bear in the Wallah-Wallah dialect. West of the mountains, both at Vancouver and at 
Puget sound, they also are generally called Klikatats. Like the last, they live in rude huts 
covered with mats, the distance of their winter habitations from timber rendering the construction 
of houses inconvenient; a reason, however, which does not exist with the others. They raise 
potatoes, a few melons and squashes, together with a little barley and Indian corn. The latter 
is of the eight-rowed variety, and what we saw of it very small and stunted, the ears being not 
over five inches long. The potatoes were generally very fine, and of several varieties; of which 
we noticed the lady-finger, mercer, and blue-nose. Their gardens were, for the most part, 
situated in the little valleys running up towards the mountains, and near enough to the streams 
to receive moisture during the early summer. They were rudely fenced around to exclude 
animals. This invaluable addition to their means of subsistence, it should be said, they, in 
common with many other tribes, owe to the Hudson’s Bay Company. The country around the 
northern or main branch of the Yakima is frequently called by them Pschwan-wapp-am, or the 
stony ground, and the Indians living there sometimes assume the name to themselves. Besides 
the fisheries at the Dalles, the Yakimas have others in their river, up which the salmon run 
without interruption far into the mountains. On the main fork, in particular, they penetrate to 
Lake Kitchelus, at the very foot of the dividing ridge. In addition to the different kinds of 
salmon proper, they have also the salmon-trout, two varieties of the speckled trout, the red and 
black spotted, both of them growing to a large size; and some other species of fresh-water fish. 
The salmon they take in weirs and cast-nets. The weirs are constructed with considerable 
skill, upon horizontal spars, and supported by tripods of strong poles erected at short distances 
