Klickitat Indian Tribe
Location
Klickitat. From a Chinook term meaning "beyond" and having reference to
the Cascade Mountains.
Also called:
Awi-adshi, Molala name.
Lûk'-a-tatt, Puyallup name.
Máhane, Umpqua name.
Mǐ-Çlauq'-tcu-wûn'-ti, Alsea name, meaning "scalpers."
Mûn-an'-né-qu' tûnnĕ, Naltunnetunne name, meaning "inland people."
Qwû'lh-hwai-pûm, own name, meaning "prairie people."
Tlakäï'tat, Okanagon
name.
Tsĕ la'kayāt amím, Kalapuya name.
T!uwānxa-ikc, Clatsop name.
Wahnookt,
Cowlitz name.
Connections
The Klickitat belonged to the
Shahaptian division of the Shapwailutan linguistic family.
Subdivisions and Villages
Possibly the Atanum or Atanumlema should be added to the Klickitat. Mooney
(1928) reports that their language was distinct from, though related to,
both Klickitat and Yakima.
The following villages are mentioned:
Itkilak or Ithlkilak, at White Salmon Landing, which they occupied jointly
with
the Chilluckquittequaw.
Nanshuit (occupied jointly with the Chilluckquittequaw), at Underwood.
Shgwaliksh, not far below Memaloose Island.
Tgasgutcu (occupied jointly with the Chilluckquittequaw), said to be about
34
mile west of a long high mountain opposite Mosier, Oreg., and about 1 mile
above White Salmon Landing but the exact location seems to be in doubt.
Wiltkun (exact location unknown).
History
The original home of the Klickitat was somewhere south of the
Columbia, and they invaded their later territory after the Yakima crossed the
river. In 1805 Lewis and Clark found them wintering on Yakima and Klickitat
Rivers. Taking advantage of the weakness of the Willamette tribes following upon
an epidemic of fever between 1820 and 1830, the Klickitat crossed the Columbia
and forced their way as far south as the valley of the Umpqua but were soon
compelled to retire to their old seats. They were active and enterprising
traders, profiting by their favorable location to become middlemen between the
coast tribes and those living east of the Cascades. They joined in the Yakima
treaty at Camp Stevens, June 9, 1855, by which they ceded their lands to the
United States, and most of them settled upon the Yakima Reservation.
Population
Mooney (1928) estimated that the Klickitat, including the Taitinapam, numbered 600 in 1780. In 1805 Lewis and Clark placed their
total population at about 700. The census of 1910 returned 405
Connection in which they have become noted
The Klickitat were early distinguished from other tribes of
central Washington owing to their propensity for trading. The name is
perpetuated in that of a small affluent of the Columbia and in the name of the
county, and a post village in the county.
Additional Resources
Notes About the Book:
Source: The Indian Tribes of North America, by John R. Swanton, 1953, Bureau of
American Ethnology, Bulletin 145, US Government Printing Office, Washington DC.
Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing
has been done, and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual
output.
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