Yakima

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Yakima Native North Americans of the Plateau culture, whose language belongs to the Sahaptin branch of the Penutian language group. In the early 19th century some 1,200 Yakima lived along the Columbia, Wenatchee and Yakima rivers in central Washington. In 1855 an attempt by the US government to force the Yakima onto a reservation resulted in war. Led by Kamiakin, the Yakima stoutly resisted for over three years, until suffering a decisive defeat at the Battle of Four Rivers. In 1859 they were placed on a reservation in Washington, where their descendants remain to this day.

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