False Promises

The Wenatchi Tribe Today

Most of the Wenatchi Tribe now live on the Colville Reservation. Some Wenatchis also moved to the Yakama Reservation.

Chief John Harmelt's granddaughter, Celia Ann Dick, was forced to move from the Wenatchapam Fishery to the Colville Indian Reservation after her grandfather's death. As an adult, Celia Ann passed on to her children the history of the Wenatchis' ancestral homeland and how their tribe's reservation was taken from them. Those children made a promise to their mother that they would fight for the return of the Wenatchi Tribe's Reservation and treaty rights. Today, her children, the Wenatchi Advisory Board, and many others help carry on the fight.

Can the United States comply with its promises and guarantees to the Wenatchi Tribe that were made in the 1855 Treaty and the 1894 Agreement? Today, about 28% of the land in the area that should have been a Wenatchi Reservation is still a part of the public domain. Even today, the United States could help right an historical wrong, and provide the tribe with a sizeable number of acres in their ancient homeland.

Promised in the 1855 Treaty	Promised in the Ratified 1894 Agreement	Today, the Wenatchi Tribe asks…
Providing the Tribe with a 36 square mile reservation (22,000 acres) surrounding the Wenatchapam Fishery located at the confluence of the Wenatchee River and Icicle Creek.	Allotments of land promised to the 180 tribal members (as of 1894) of 80 -160 acres per tribal member- a total of 14,000 - 28,000 acres in the Wenatchapam fisheries area where they lived. These allotment were offered in lieu of the 36 square mile reservation promised the Tribe in the 1855 Treaty.	…for a land base in their aboriginal homeland.
Honoring the Wenatchi Tribe's hunting and gathering rights in their traditional territory.	A promise that the tribe would not lose any of the rights guaranteed the Tribe in the 1855 Treaty.	…that the United States recognize the Tribe's hunting and gathering rights.
Honoring the tribe's fishing rights on Icicle Creek in the Wenatchapam Fishery, and at "usual and accustomed places".	A continuation of the Tribe's fishing rights in the Wenatchapam, which were promised in the 1855 Treaty.	…that the United States recognize the Tribe's right to fish in the Wenatchapam fisheries area per the 1855 Treaty and the 1894 Agreement.