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This outstanding cultural museum presents the history of the Yakama peoples through their own eyes, starting with a vivid depiction of the lifeway they enjoyed prior to European contact and ending with the present day. Housed in a tall, A-frame structure suggestive of a Yakama winter lodge, the museum stands on the western edge of town facing Mt. Adams. Inside, a central display of traditional tule-mat dwellings is surrounded by excellent exhibits that form a loose timeline highlighting important eras in Yakama life. Petroglyphs, dioramas, photographs, paintings and an abundance of craft items and tools serve to illustrate the Yakamas' traditional lives as hunters, gatherers and fishermen. Other exhibits cover the the treaty and settlement eras of the late 19C, and the sad years of the 1920s and 30s, when children were ordered to attend boarding schools in an attempt, the Yakama maintain, to break down family ties and destroy their culture. The exhibits conclude with a collection of color photographs of contemporary Indians wearing splendid ceremonial clothing.