{"id":12933,"date":"2021-06-16T12:37:33","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T16:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=12933"},"modified":"2021-06-16T13:19:30","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T17:19:30","slug":"yakama-nation-celebrates-resounding-victory-for-treaty-lands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/06\/16\/yakama-nation-celebrates-resounding-victory-for-treaty-lands\/","title":{"rendered":"Yakama Nation celebrates ‘resounding victory’ for treaty lands"},"content":{"rendered":"
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9th Circuit Court of Appeals: Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation v. Klickitat County – November 20, 2020<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n
Yakama Nation celebrates ‘resounding victory’ for treaty lands<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, June 16, 2021<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe Yakama Nation<\/a> is celebrating after a federal appeals court confirmed that the tribe has been right all along about its treaty lands in Washington state.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nIn a unanimous decision on Friday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals<\/a> ruled that the 1.4-million acre Yakama Reservation includes a parcel known as Tract D. The land was set aside by treaty<\/a> more than 150 years ago in recognition of its importance to the tribe and its citizens. \r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cThe Ninth Circuit\u2019s decision is a resounding victory for the rights that our ancestors reserved in the Treaty of 1855<\/a>,\u201d Chairman Delano Saluskin said in response to the 26-page ruling<\/a>.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nTract D<\/a> consists of 121,465 acres in the southwestern part of the reservation. It includes land near Mount Adams<\/a> — one of the most sacred places for the Yakama Nation — that tribal ancestors recognized as critical for food, water and other resources.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cBoth parties to the treaty joined together to protect the Yakama Reservation from Klickitat County\u2019s challenge, and we are thankful the Ninth Circuit honored the treaty parties\u2019 common understanding,\u201d said Saluskin.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n \"Tract<\/a>

A Bureau of Land Management map submitted as part of litigation includes Tract D within the boundaries of the Yakama Reservation in Washington state. Source: BLM[\/caption]\r\n
<\/figcaption> A Bureau of Land Management map submitted as part of litigation includes Tract D within the boundaries of the Yakama Reservation in Washington state. Source: BLM <\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nDespite the language of the treaty, the minutes from the government-to-government negotiations and a map of the reservation that at one point went missing, Tract D has been the subject of dispute. Officials in Klickitat County<\/a> have repeatedly asserted jurisdiction on the land, including the prosecution of a minor Yakama Nation citizen for an alleged incident of juvenile delinquency.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWith its decision, the 9th Circuit acknowledged some \u201cambiguity\u201d in connection with Tract D and its boundaries. But when all of the evidence is taken into account, including the fact that tribal negotiators weren’t completely proficient in English in 1855, the court held that the Yakama Nation’s interpretation of the treaty must be respected.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cUnder the Indian canon of construction, the treaty\u2019s ambiguity must be resolved according to the Yakamas\u2019 understanding that Tract D was included within the Yakama Reservation,\u201d Judge Michelle Friedland<\/a> wrote for the appeals court.\r\n

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