Tribal Resources
Home of the Warm Springs, Wasco, and Paiute tribes, the Warm Springs Reservation is inhabited by nearly 4,000 tribal members, most of whom live in or around the town of Warm Springs.Within the community, the Tribal government provides a variety of services, including education, public safety, utilities, health, resource management, business development and recreation. Many services not offered by the Tribal government are provided by locally-owned private businesses.
The tribal economy is based primarily on natural resources, including hydropower, forest products and ranching. Tourism and recreation also make important contributions. http://www.warmsprings.com/warmsprings/Tribal_Community/ |
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Upon central Washington's plateau and along the Columbia River reside tribal people called the Yakama's. The Cascade mountains shelter this central portion from marine showers. The rolling foothills and Yakima River are the eastern border.The tribal people comprising the Yakama Nation have lived in this area since the beginning of time. They used the entire land base, from the lowlands around the Columbia River to the snow-peaked Cascade Mountains.
Bordering the reservation, the Yakima River flows southward from the Cascade Mountains to the Columbia River. Along the river there is a pass, a gap in Ahtanum Ridge called Union Gap. The Yakima River flowed through this area before the ridges existed. The Toppenish Basin is shaped like a scoop that is open to the east. The higher sides of the scoop are Ahtanum Ridge to the North, Toppenish ridge to the south and the Lost Horse Plateau to the west. Located along the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountain Range, the Yakama Nation forest consists of 600,000 acres of timbered lands. http://www.yakamanation.org/programs.php |
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The Cowlitz Tribe is a growing force in community building in what are now Clark, Cowlitz, Lewis and parts of Pierce, Skamania and Wahkiakum Counties, a vast territory occupied by numerous Cowlitz villages prior to non-Cowlitz exploration and seizure. Today, an elected Tribal Council is composed of professionals adept at managing multiple programs and projects. Tribal members engage in a rich cultural practice of old Cowlitz lifeways such the Smelt, Salmon and River Ceremonies. They join coastal tribes in Canoe Journeys on major waterways. They drum and sing at ceremonies throughout the year and as called upon for funerals, naming ceremonies, healings and celebration. The Cowlitz Pow-Wow is one of the largest in southern Washington. The Cowlitz Tribe is a significant employer and contributor to local economies. When the Federal Government recognized the tribe officially in 2000, the Tribe thought of it as belated acknowledgement of a cohesive culture spanning centuries. Without cover of Federal status, tribal members overcame tremendous obstacles during millennium changes, holding firm to their remembered past as one of the largest and richest tribes in what is now Washington State.
http://cowlitz.org/ |