#wenatchi

[matriarchy-au]

Cornhusk bags by Mary Ann Wapato, Wenatchi artist.

[hippography]

Wenatchee and Chelan Indian Women and Children

CREATOR: Matsura, Frank, d. 1913

DATE: [n.d.]

DESCRIPTION: A group of Wenatchee and Chelan Indian women and children gathered in town for a Fourth of July celebration. Left to right are Josephine Camile, unidentified boy, a Wapato son, Monique Simon, Julianne Loup Loup Dick, Martha Timentwa, unidentified girl

Part of Visual Arts Legacy Collection

[movingtothefarm]

The land that is currently referred to as Wenatchee, Cashmere, Monitor, Dryden, Leavenworth, Lake Wenatchee, and beyond were once destined to be the Wenatchi Reservation. The P’Squosa was given the name Wenatchi by the Yakama tribe, and our current towns, cities and rivers are phonetically named after the original stewards of these lands. The P’Squosa would travel along the Icicle, Wenatchee and Columbia rivers throughout the year fishing, hunting and harvesting berries. Many tribes would gather during the summer months along the Icicle River to fish salmon, and these waters were once described as flowing red when the salmon were plentiful.  XX

A few major turning points for the P’Squosa occurred during the 1855 and 1893 treaty agreements between several tribes and the government.

The U.S. government proposed a treaty to the P’Squosa that would give the tribe a 36-square-mile reservation at the confluence of the Icicle and Wenatchee rivers and guarantee their hunting and gathering rights in an area called the Wenatchapam Fishery. However, when Wenatchi Chief Harmelt met with government officials to discuss the treaty, he requested the government wait while he went back to the tribe to discuss further with the tribe. While Chief Harmelt was away, the government officials met with the Yakama Tribe and proceeded to mislead the Yakama by lying and saying that the Wenatchi Tribe already agreed and signed the treaty. The Yakama proceeded to sign the treaty, giving them continued fishing and hunting rights. The treaty promising the P’Squosa their own reservation, was never an actual proposal the government intended to follow through with. The government failed to uphold two treaties with the P’Squosa primarily for monetary benefits.