The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation of Washington State have asked Pasco Mayor Saul Martinez and City Manager Dave Zabell to reject attempts by the Colville Tribes to develop a casino in the vicinity. According to the Yakima Herald, the Yakama claim the Colville are seeking rights outside its reservation boundaries.
“This is the Yakama Nation’s notice to the city of Pasco that we object to the Colville’s attempt to lay any claim within the open and unclaimed lands of our treaty territory,” Virgil Lewis, chairman of the Yakama Nation Tribal Council, wrote in a three-page letter. “We stand firm in our position that the Colvilles do not belong in Yakama Nation ancestral territories, and we remain prepared to oppose this development at every level.”
The letter asked Pasco leaders to respect a treaty that’s been in place for 165 years and oppose Colville’s “attempt to colonize our homelands.”
The Colville Tribes spent $2.9 million on a 184-acre tract in the area to build an off-reservation casino or water park.
Rodney Cawston, chairman of the Colville Business Council, has described the Pasco area as the homelands of his mother’s people, the Palus tribe. “The Palus people lived in this part of the country for millennia, and their connection to their historic territory is strong to this day,” he said. He said the word “Pasco” is derived from a Palus place name.
The Yakama Nation also registered complaints with Governor Jay Inslee, the cities of Kennewick and Richland, Franklin County and the United States government, include the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Zabell, Pasco’s city manager, told the Tri-City Herald that Pasco appreciates the position of the Yakama Nation. “Respectfully however, the city is committed to and has a responsibility to engage in an open and transparent manner with all tribal governments within the region having an interest in lands or other concerns or interests within Pasco,” Zabell said.
“For instance, for decades the city has consulted, sought and invited input from the Umatilla, Yakama and Colville tribes prior to disturbing ground in its parks and trails located on U.S. Army Corps-owned land along the Columbia River,” he added.
The Colville have applied for a fee-to-trust acquisition, which would transfer the land into a trust status, or federal ownership, and in the long-term affect property, sales and gas taxes.
Lewis said the Yakama Nation have thrived on the lands and resources handed down from “Tamanwalá, the Creator.”
Pasco City Manager Dave Zabell told the Tri-City Herald the city respects the tribe’s position. “Respectfully however, the city is committed to and has a responsibility to engage in an open and transparent manner with all tribal governments within the region having an interest in lands or other concerns or interests within Pasco,” Zabell said.
“For instance, for decades the city has consulted, sought and invited input from the Umatilla, Yakama and Colville tribes prior to disturbing ground in its parks and trails located on U.S. Army Corps-owned land along the Columbia River,” he added.
