TOPPENISH, Wash.-A temporary restraining order against the City of Toppenish will allow the Yakama Nation to continue operating an emergency cold weather shelter through Dec. 18.
The Yakama Nation sued the City of Toppenish on Nov. 20 over its Iniitnu’t Cold Weather Shelter that provides a heated space, food, clothes and resources to the community.
The Yakima Valley Farmworkers Clinic granted the Yakama Nation permission to operate its shelter out of a building in Toppenish that the clinic owns and which was reserved in the Treaty of 1855 for the use and benefit of the Yakama Nation, according to court documents.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington issued the temporary restraining order against Toppenish on Nov. 27, saying that the Yakama Nation was likely to succeed on the “merits of its 1855 Treaty claim.”
The Yakama Nation had sought to work with Toppenish City Council to operate the shelter, however, the council did not decide to support or oppose the shelter, according to the Yakama Nation.
The Yakama Nation Tribal Council then authorized staff to run the 24-hour emergency shelter on Nov. 7, according to court documents, however, the Toppenish City Council issued a letter on Nov. 18 in an attempt to limit operation of the shelter to six hours per day for health and safety reasons.
According to a Yakama Nation press release on the restraining order, the tribe hopes to establish a permanent shelter that would be owned and operated by the tribe that would be open to everyone on the Yakama Reservation in the future.
When the temporary restraining order expires on Dec. 18 another hearing will be held to decide whether to issue a preliminary injunction against the City of Toppenish.
