Death Stalks the Yakama: Epidemiological Transitions and Mortality on the Yakama Indian Reservation, 1888-1964

PART FIVE CONCLUSION

Part Five CONCLUSION Yakama Reservation underwent major epidemiological and nutritional transitions over time. They have survived radical cultural changes, the difficulties of a white invasion of their lands, and the trials that ensued after the imposition of the Yakama Treaty of 1855. The harvest of the American invasion and that agreement led to what has been called the Plateau Indian War of 1855-58 and the establishment of the reservation system in the Pacific Northwest. In turn, the reservation system exacerbated the effects of infectious diseases that spread throughout the Northwest during the Age of Pestilence, beginning in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Although most whites intended reservations to be places where the United States could "civilize" and Christianize Indians, the Yakama reservation, like most, became a host to disease and social-cultural circumstances that led to foreshortened lives and high death rates among its population. During the nineteenth century, the Yakama fell victim to a rash of diseases that persisted well into the late twentieth century. 187 188 Death Stalks The Yakama Unfortunately, we do not presently have statistical information from Death Certificates for this era, and it is not until the early twentieth century that this data is in sufficient quality and quantity to assess deaths on the Yakama Reservation. Still, Yakama people survived the Age of Pestilence and rebounded during the Age of Receding Pandemics.1 Although the Yakama population grew in the twentieth century , its death rates continued to be elevated. There is no question that death continued to stalk the Yakama in the first four decades of the twentieth century; this work is a first assessment of Yakama clinical death based on the best documentary information available, Death Certificates. The government of the United States forced the Yakama and thirteen other distinct tribes and bands onto the Yakama Reservation , designating them in most documents, including Death Certificates, as generic "Yakama Indians." Although incorrect, this description was used throughout the work to describe all native peoples living on the Yakama Reservation, because in using Death Certificates, Death Registers, and Birth Registers, there was no way to distinguish among Palouse, Wishram, or Klickitat, since they were nearly always labeled "Yakama" by recording agents of the county and state. On the Yakama Reservation, the Office of Indian Affairs ruled over all of these Indians through Indian agents who were charged with caring for the people. This included overseeing health care provided the people, a task which some officials attempted to accomplish in spite of inadequate funding from the United States government. Throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Yakama Agency lacked public health programs, the means to improve sanitation, medical personnel, advanced medicines, and hospitals-clinics. Unfortunately, employees of the Office of Indian Affairsagents , doctors, nurses-failed miserably at their task of providing quality health care primarily because of the lack of resources . Yakama men, women, and children perished as a result. The Congress of the United States and the Office of Indian Affairs bear much of the responsibility for poor health care because of the lack of funding for Indian health programs. The reservation system changed many aspects of Native American life, and Indian agents controlled nearly every aspect of that life. Through instructions from the Office of Indian Conclusion 189 Affairs, Yakama agents sought to destroy two elements of traditional life among Plateau Indians. First, agents altered the traditional pattern of seasonal rounds among the people, so that they could not travel about the Plateau gathering roots and berries, hunting deer and antelope, and fishing salmon and sturgeon. Policies of the United States government directed agents to force Indians to remain on the reservation, farming and ranching so that whites could "civilize" the people. This circumstance led to many changes detrimental to Yakama people, including dietary and housing changes that promoted poor hygiene on the reservation. Second, agents actively sought to destroy native culture, particularly Indian religions, such as the Washat, Shaker Church, and Waptashi (Feather Religion). Destruction or interruption of native religions, officials reasoned , would aid in the Christianization and "civilization" of Indians. This was national Indian policy, and the significance of these policies in terms of Indian health is immeasurable (figure 4.4). These developments were detrimental to the physical, mental , and spiritual well-being of Native Americans living on the Yakama Reservation. Forcing Yakama people to live settled lives prevented them from eating traditional and nutritious foods...