News — Kennewick Man

Tradition: Once Upon a Time on Native Land

Tradition: Once Upon a Time on Native Land

  This is the story we need to tell Natives live in a vast amount of land, now called America. The Yakama people view their world then and today as "Ichi tiichum iwa nimi" (this land is a part of us). This phrase is a Yakama compass. People are not perfect and sometimes we make mistakes. This phrase and the religion, songs, and ceremonies orientate us. We must remember our promise to speak for the resources that cannot speak for themselves. It is a reminder that by caring for the resources, then eating them, they become a part of us,...