A water tower in Toppenish, Washington. The Yakama Nation is suing the city of Toppenish to be able to run a 24-hour warming shelter in the city on reservation land. […]Read More
Chestina Dominguez explains to the Saturday wa’paas class why weaving is important to her. Dominguez, an enrolled member of the Yakama Nation, was taught to weave by her maternal grandmother […]Read More
Horse Heaven Hills, in southeastern Washington, with Webber Canyon in the distance. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee approved a large-scale renewable energy project along 24 miles of ridgelines in the area. […]Read More
A controversial wind farm that was set to be the largest in Washington has been slashed nearly in half. (Credit: John McIntyre / Flickr Creative Commons) Listen (Runtime 1:06) Read […]Read More
A group of elk runs from Yakama Nation hunters on the Hanford Reach National Monument in December 2023. (Credit: Star Diavolikis / Yakama Nation) Listen (Runtime 3:50) Read A video […]Read More
Un juez federal determinó que este, con algunas adecuaciones, será el nuevo mapa de distritos legislativos de Washington. (Crédito: Imagen tomada de documentos judiciales). LEA Por: Jeanie Lindsey, Northwest News […]Read More
Yakama Nation aviary biologists Michael Beckler (left) and Alyssa Woodward pose for a photo with Yakama Nation Tribal Council member Terry Heemsah (center) as Washington State University wildlife veterinarian Dr. […]Read More
A view from the edge of the cliff where the Goldendale Energy Storage Project could be built. An underground tunnel would carry water from a upper reservoir to a reservoir […]Read More
Cloe McMichael, 22, sets the table in the longhouse in Mission, Ore. ahead of the annual Indian New Year ceremony, which is celebrated on the Winter Solstice. The feast is […]Read More
Rattlesnake Mountain, known as Laliik by Tribes of the Columbia Basin, is incredibly important to Tribal nations. Now, the Biden Administration has announced its intention to work closely with Tribes […]Read More
WATCH Listen (Runtime 4:15) Read Editor’s Note: This report is a collaboration between the Northwest News Network, Northwest Public Broadcasting and the Yakima Herald-Republic. A cultural edit was provided by […]Read More
Sockeye salmon like these are among the salmon species in peril. (Credit: Aaron Kunz) Listen (Runtime 2:57) Read For Northwest tribes, removing the four lower Snake River dams means more […]Read More
Two years ago, the InterTribal Buffalo Council awarded the Yakama Nation a family group of 26 buffalo from Yellowstone. This male buffalo, identifiable by a blue ear tag, center, was […]Read More
Yakama Nation biologist Dave’y Lumley shows Aleeyah McJoe, 7, an adult lamprey at the Yakama Nation’s Willamette Falls Lamprey Celebration. (Credit: Courtney Flatt / Northwest News Network) Listen (Runtime 0:59) […]Read More
This historical photo, provided to Oregon Public Broadcasting by Pacific University archivist Eva Guggemos, shows seven boys who came to the Forest Grove Indian Training School from the Spokane Tribe […]Read More
David Turk, federal Deputy Secretary of Energy, speaks to about 100 people during an informational meeting about potential clean energy development at Hanford. (Credit: Anna King / Northwest News Network) […]Read More
Yakama Nation biologist Dave’y Lumley shows Aleeyah McJoe, 7, an adult lamprey at the Yakama Nation’s Willamette Falls Lamprey Celebration. (Credit: Courtney Flatt.) Listen (Runtime 4:15) Read On the banks […]Read More
Jordan Ashue, 18, says he was surprised by how long it will take to clean up portions of Hanford. Credit: Annie Warren / NWPB Listen (Runtime 4:00) Read On a […]Read More
A view from the edge of the cliff where the Goldendale Energy Storage Project could be built. An underground tunnel would carry water from a upper reservoir to a reservoir […]Read More
A view from the edge of the cliff where the Goldendale Energy Storage Project could be built. An underground tunnel would carry water from a upper reservoir to a reservoir […]Read More
Fort Simcoe Park. Source: Washington State Parks Listen (Runtime 1:48) Read Washington State Parks Department commissioners want to involve the Yakama Nation in the reinterpretation of Fort Simcoe Historical State […]Read More
From Left: Aleeyah McJoe, Donella Miller, Ava McJoe, Monica Miller, Audrina McJoe, Laura Mark. Credit: Courtesy of Donella Miller Listen (Runtime 3:31) Read Northwest Public Broadcasting reporters are interviewing Indigenous […]Read More
Miss Yakama Nation Ellia-Lee Jim and Jr Miss Yakama Nation-Tehya Listen Eleven years after the Condit Dam was removed from the White Salmon River, the fish (and the land) are […]Read More
Vegetation Returns Yakama Nations Fishieries Listen (Runtime :56) Read 11 years ago, the Condit Dam was removed and this year the Yakama Nation will celebrate the anniversary of the return […]Read More
Listen (Runtime 1:18) Read The Yakama Nation hosted an event at the confluence of the Yakima and Columbia rivers in Richland to celebrate Tribal heritage and culture. The event also […]Read More
Recorrido en bote por el río Columbia durante el “Hanford Journey”, para celebrar la defensa de la limpieza. Crédito: Bear Sky Media. Read A medida que el presupuesto para limpieza […]Read More
People take boat tours throught the Columbia River during the Hanford Journey, to celebrate cleanup advocacy. Credit: Bear Sky Media. Read As the Hanford cleanup budget has been reduced in […]Read More
Like interlaced fingers, the Inabas and the Yakama Nation have been collaborating to farm for generations. Now, this Japanese-American family, who owned and leased the land for a time, is returning it to the Yakama Nation.Read More
A federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit from Yakama Nation and Grand Ronde tribal leaders, who claimed a 2008 highway expansion destroyed a sacred site near Mount Hood.Read More
Tribal leaders from the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde said that the federal government knowingly destroyed a sacred religious site near Mount Hood in 2008 when it bulldozed the area for a highway safety project. The long-running case over religious freedom was back in court Tuesday.Read More
The Goldendale Energy Storage Project would be a solution to generate energy when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing. But, to the Yakama Nation, the destruction of those sites would add another heartbreak to an ever-expanding list. Countless important cultural areas have faced destruction across the Northwest, largely because they’re not understood by Read More
The Yakama Nation seeks to stop gravel mining near a historic village and burial ground near Selah, Washington. The litigation could change the way tribal sites can be developed.Read More
Many states – including Oregon and Washington – have set renewable energy goals. But, there’s a problem. The wind isn’t always blowing, and the sun isn’t always shining. That’s why wind and solar power are variable, or intermittent. Enter pumped hydro. It's not a new technology, but it is gaining more interest regionally.Read More
The Washington State Supreme Court reversed a century-old ruling Friday against a Yakama Nation tribal member for fishing outside the reservation. The 1916 ruling mandated criminal charges against Alec Towessnute for fishing outside the Yakama reservation on traditional fishing grounds – a right assured by the Yakama’s Treaty of 1855 with the federal government. Read More
Historically, the Yakama Nation Tribal School was a school “of last resort,” says principal Adam Strom, where students came after they could no longer attend other area schools. That’s changing. He says courses like this one in environmental science and natural resources are a big reason why.Read More
The Treaty of 1855 created the Yakama Nation reservation as we know it today. In the decades after, the Yakama, Washington state, and the United States were trying to figure out their new relationship. At the turn of the century, Louis Mann was in the middle of it all, working as an interpreter for the tribe. Now, audio recordings of Mann’s strong voice have resurfaced.Read More
Lorenzo Elias Mendez, a former officer of the Yakama Nation Tribal Police Department, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison this month. That’s after a jury found him guilty of attempted production of child pornography.Read More
The Yakama Nation and the states of Oregon and Washington are asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to declare a new Superfund site on the Columbia River at Bradford Island alongside Bonneville Dam.Read More
Standing on the banks of the Columbia River, near the remnants of Celilo Falls in the Columbia River Gorge, Yakama Nation Chairman JoDe Goudy traced the history of decrees, congressional acts and court cases that led to the damming of the river.Read More
Almost a year later, KYNR, "the voice of the Yakama Nation," is broadcasting again after a burglary knocked them off the air. Staff were heartbroken for themselves and their listeners. Tribal members and others in the community depend on the station for news and information.Read More
The fire that engulfed Notre Dame cathedral shocked the world earlier this year. And a wildfire in July on Rattlesnake Mountain in southeast Washington similarly shocked Northwest tribes.Read More
A wildfire continued burning today near the Hanford Nuclear Site. The Cold Creek Fire is burning sensitive, federally protected habitat. As of Friday afternoon it was estimated at about 18,000 acres and 10 percent containment.Read More
Typically, if you tuned in to KYNR 1490 AM, "The Voice of the Yakama Nation," you’d hear everything: local high school sports, birthday call-outs, musical guests. But eight months ago, the station was robbed and the broadcast came to a halt. That left 6,000 tribal members and other non-Native listeners without local news.Read More
On Dec. 26, 2017, Myrna Cloud’s 23-year-old cousin went missing on the Yakama Nation reservation in Central Washington. D. Lloyd’s body was found in a rural part of the reservation four days later. The murder is still under investigation. Read More
On this conservative court, Gorsuch has been one of the most conservative voices. But in cases involving Native tribes' treaties and rights, he is most often counted among those sympathetic to tribes' claims.Read More
In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court decided in favor of tribal treaty rights in a case between the Washington Department of Licensing and Cougar Den, a gas station in White Swan on the Yakama Reservation. Read More
Recently, a federal judge sided against the Yakama Nation in a jurisdiction case involving the tribe, the city of Toppenish and Yakima County. When a crime happens in Yakima County, a couple questions are key. One: Were either the victim or perpetrator Yakama Nation citizens? And two: Where exactly did it happen? Read More
A public art project proposed to be built beside the now-inundated great falls of the Columbia River has been put on indefinite hold by its sponsor. The installation was planned for Celilo Falls — east of The Dalles, Oregon — as the sixth and final outdoor artwork in a series by celebrated designer Maya Lin along the Columbia and Snake rivers.Read More
On Jan. 14, the Yakama Nation held an all-day community meeting in Toppenish, Washington, to discuss violence that affects Native American women and girls. Over 200 people attended the community meeting, including Yakama tribal members, the Washington State Patrol, local police departments, and the Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs. Read More
The city of Vancouver has been fined $60,000 after raw sewage was accidentally released into the Columbia River in 2017. The discharged sewage from Vancouver’s Westside Wastewater Treatment Plant happened during two separate spills in September and October of 2017Read More
