Chief Kamiakin

Kamiakin
Drawing by Gustav Sohon (1855). Credit: Washington State Historical Society
Born	Kamiakin: "He won't go" 1800 near Starbuck, Washington
Died	1877 Rock Lake, Washington
Occupation	Tribal leader
Known for	Leading resistance against encroaching settlers

Kamiakin (1800–1877) (Yakama) was a leader of the Yakama, Palouse, and Klickitat peoples east of the Cascade Mountains in what is now southeastern Washington state. In 1855, he was disturbed by threats of the Territorial Governor, Isaac Stevens, against the tribes of the Columbia Plateau. After being forced to sign a treaty of land cessions, Kamiakin organized alliances with 14 other tribes and leaders, and led the Yakima War of 1855-1858.

Finally defeated, Kamiakin escaped to British Columbia and Montana. He returned to his traditional homeland in 1860. He moved to his father's former territory at Rock Lake in Whitman County, Washington in 1864, where he lived until his death.

Kamiakin was of mixed Nez Perce, Spokane and Yakama ancestry. His father Ki-yi-yah was the son of a Nez Perce father and a Spokane mother. His mother was Yakama.

In 1825 Kamiakin married Sal-kow, also a Yakama, whose father Te-i-as and grandfather Weowikt were leaders in the tribe. Kamiakin later married Colestah, also a Yakama.

In 1855 Isaac Stevens, the new Washington Territory governor, was anxious to extinguish claims to traditional lands by regional tribes and free up Native American land for sale to European Americans, who would develop it in recognized ways. He threatened leaders of several tribes to remove the Natives by force from the area east of the Cascades and bordering the Columbia River if they did not sell their lands. He thought that the most reasonable strategy was to gather many other tribes.

Kamiakin, a leader of the Yakama, began to organize immediately, allying with Peo-peo-mox-mox (Yellow Bird) of the Walla Walla and Allalimya Takanin (Looking Glass) of the Nez Perce. He eventually formed an alliance with a total of 14 tribes living on the Columbia plateau. The leaders agreed on wanting to resist encroachment by American settlers and government officials in the Washington Territory. The ensuing hostilities are referred to as the Yakima Indian War of 1855.