"Paiute Wadatika Ma-Ni-Pu-Neen"

The Burns Paiute Reservation is located north of Burns, Oregon in Harney County. The current tribal members are primarily the descendants of the "Wadatika" band of Paiute Indians that roamed in central and southern Oregon. "Wadatika" band is named after the wada seeds they collected near the shores of Malheur Lake.

The Wadatika's aboriginal territory included 5,250 square miles between the Cascade Mountain range in Central Oregon and the Boise, Idaho valley area, and from the southern part of the Blue Mountains near the headwaters of the Powder River north of John Day, to the desert south of the Steens Mountain and on to the Nevada border. The Great Basin, now desert, was once a series of lakes. This was the home to the ancestors of the Burns Paiute people who lived on the shores of these lakes.

The Constitution and Bylaws of the Burns Paiute Tribe were adopted May 16, 1968 and revised in 1988.

The Tribe continues to hunt and gather traditional foods: camas, bitterroot and biscuit root, chokecherries and berries. They also gather willow and tule for basket making and cradleboards. Other traditional crafts include beadwork and drum-making.

A celebration and gathering of tribal members and neighboring tribes has become an annual Pow Wow. The Pow Wow includes traditional dancing and drumming, dance contests, crafts and food booths. Another annual festival is Reservation Day on October 13, in honor of the day the land held in trust for the Tribe became a reservation.

Today their are nearly 300 members of the Tribe. The Burns Paiute Tribe is proud of its history and culture, looking toward the future and building a stronger and healthier community for future generations.

(Information gathered from Paiute Wadatika Ma-Ni-Pu-Neen Book)

To learn more about the history of the Burns Paiute Tribe, click here