Blythe Delarosa

Environmental Scientist at Yakama Nation

Yakama Nation, WA

September 8th, 2025

The Westies spent the morning viewing the wild horses of the Yakama Reservation, and were enthralled by their majesty. We then returned to our campsite to meet with Blithe Delarosa. As we sat beneath the blazing Yakima Valley sun, she held our attention with her quizzical perspective on the wild horses and Agriculture in the Yakama Indian Reservation.

Blithe is a Whitman alum and Yakama Descendeant who now works as an Environmental Scientist for the Yakama Nation; she focuses her work with the tribe to maintain soil and water quality. Her job is exceedingly important, as the Yakima Valley produces 80 percent of the United States hopps and around 70 percent of the apples—for which the quality of the soil and water is essential.

Blithe also discussed the challenges the tribe faces with the wild horses. She explains that they are called ‘Shitters’ and due to their extreme overpopulation have mutilated the landscape and with it, the Yakima Nation’s access to their first foods, including deer, roots, elk, salmon, and huckleberries. Our conversation with Blithe challenged our earlier perceptions of the horses as wild and symbiotic with landscape perspective and allowed us to see a more multifacited view of the issues that exist for the Yakima Nation and the Valley at large.

by Jackson Garrison