Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs

Three women photographed on the Warm Springs reservation in 1902.

The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs is a federally recognized confederation of Native American Tribes who currently live on and govern the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in the U.S. state of Oregon.

Tribes

The confederation consists of three tribes of the Pacific Northwest:

• The Sahaptin-speaking Warm Springs Indians, organized into four bands: Upper and Lower Deschutes (the Tygh and the Wyam), the Tenino, and the John Day (Dock-spus);

• Two bands (The Dalles a.k.a. the Ki-gal-twal-la, and Dog River) of Wasco Indians who spoke a dialect of Upper Chinook

• The Northern Paiutes, who speak an offshoot of the Uto-Aztecan language family related to Shoshonean, had a way of life very different from the Warm Springs and Wasco bands.

History

The Confederated Tribes adopted a constitution in 1938, after the construction of Bonneville Dam flooded the major fishing site at Cascades Rapids. Upon receiving a $4 million settlement in compensation for the 1957 flooding of Celilo Falls by the construction of The Dalles Dam, the Tribes used part of the sum to build the Kah-Nee-Ta resort, which opened in 1964.

In 2001, members of the Confederated Tribes persuaded the Oregon Legislative Assembly to pass a bill mandating that the word squaw be changed in numerous place names.

See also

• List of Native American Tribal Entities in Oregon
• Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort and Casino, a resort on the Warm Springs Reservation

External links

• The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs (official website)