The Participation of Sahaptin-Speaking Native Americans in the Hanford Site Cultural Resource Management Plan

Abstract

This paper describes the role of the Sahaptin-speaking Native Americans in the Cultural Resources Management Plan (CRMP) at the Department of Energy's famous Hanford Site in the State of Washington. The Site contains federal and civilian nuclear reactors, nuclear waste sites and other facilities. It was used to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons in World War II. I will also describe the reasons for and ways in which Native American history, prehistory and beliefs were integrated into CRMP. The Native Americans in question are three tribes and one band in the Hanford area-the Yakima Indian Nation, the Wanapum Band, the Umatilla Indian Tribe and the Nez Perce Tribe, all of whom are speakers of languages belonging to the Sahaptin language family of the upper Columbia River Basin. These ethnic groups ceded portions of their ancient aboriginal lands to the United States government in the mid-1800s when they signed treaties. However in doing so, the Sahaptins retained access rights to ceded lands for hunting, collecting and conducting important spiritual practices. Another object of this paper is to briefly describe the major federal legislation bearing on cultural resource preservation and some of the ethnohistorical techniques used to reconstruct and interpret past uses of the Site by Native Americans. These reconstructions and interpretations have become part of the CRMP.