For years, the Yakama Nation has fought to restrict access to one of its most sacred sites outside the Tri-Cities. Rattlesnake Mountain, or Laliik, is one of the highest points in the region. And some hikers want access to the treeless mountain.
The mountain, which is more than 3,500 feet tall, lies within the Hanford Reach National Monument. It was seized in 1943 and became a buffer zone to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
Over a decade ago, former U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, who represented Central Washington, tacked on a provision to a must-pass defense bill. It allowed some access to the mountain, like wildflower tours that happened in 2013.
That angered tribal members, who have said any sort of noise could destroy the sacred land’s "pristine atmosphere.”
“The one group that is not going to agree with you, you just don't sweep them (under the rug),” said Phil Rigdon, the Yakama Nation’s Department of Natural Resources superintendent. “That's been (our) premise from the very start.”
Rigdon spoke at a recent Columbia Basin Badger Club forum on the history and future of Rattlesnake Mountain, or Laliik.
The area is also an important place for the tribes to gather culturally important first foods.
“Our people are connected to the land and these things that have provided for us over time,” Rigdon said. “Our stories and things that guided us on the principles of what have held us onto the places that we live, and the connection to who we are across this landscape. There are very few places that become a cornerstone of it.”
In 2014, the Yakama Nation sought a restraining order to halt the tours. They noted the mountain is a traditional cultural property.
More recently, the Biden administration vowed to give tribes more authority in managing the mountain. Access remains closed to the public.
Rigdon said he’s only been up to the summit twice to pray.
“I think it's very important for people to understand we just don't go up there,” he said.
“ It's been a long time since our people have had that opportunity ourselves to go into this place and to re-remember the songs, the legends, and those things as we tell them to amongst ourselves,” Rigdon added.
At the forum, hikers asked whether the tribe would consider a one-day pass, once a year, noting that people would just like to go see the area in a respectful manner.
U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, who replaced Hastings, later wrote in a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after a tour of Rattlesnake Mountain, “ Everyone in our community, as well as those across the country and globe, should have the same opportunity to experience this national treasure right here in Central Washington."
However, Rigdon worried that not everyone would treat the land kindly. He balked at the idea of the tribes giving tours.
“It's just sitting there not really understanding the importance it is to our people and to what that connection to that place is,” he said.
Read the audio transcript here.
