Tlakluit woman from the Wishram tribe dressed in bridal garb, on the northern banks of Columbia River, Oregon in 1910

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She’s adorned with a beaded headdress with Chinese coins, which made their appearance in the Columbia River region at a comparatively early date. This form of head-dress was worn on special occasions by girls between the age of puberty and their marriage. Her dress is made out of buckskin and is mainly embroidered with black and white beads, with a few more colorful ones in between. She’s even wearing eyeliner and painted her lips red.

This girl was Tlakluit, part of the Wishram who were a Chinook tribe. They traditionally settled in permanent villages along the north banks of the Columbia River, near The Dalles, Oregon. The Dalles were a prime trading location, and the tribe benefited from a vast trade network. United States military expansion in the 1800s brought European diseases, which took a great toll on the Wishram and neighboring Wasco populations. In the 1700s, the estimated Wishram population was 1,500. In 1962 only 10 Wishrams were counted on the Washington census.

Both tribes were forced by the United States in 1855 to sign treaties ceding the majority of their lands. These treaties established the Yakama Indian Reservation and the Warm Springs Reservation - You might recall the portrait of Hash-Nash-Shut a few days ago, who was part of the Wasco Tribe and lived in the Warm Springs Reservation.

Before being forced into the reservations, Wishram's main summer and winter village on the Columbia River was Wishram village, referred to as Nixlúidix by its residents. It is considered the largest prehistoric Chinook village site. The site is now part of Columbia Hills State Park. The village and the name for its people as ″Wishram″ comes from the neighboring Sahaptin-speaking tribes, which called the village Wɨ́šx̣am - ″Spearfish″, and its people therefore Wɨ́šx̣amma - ″Wishram people″.