KENNEWICK, Wash. (AP) — The longtime leader of the Wanapum band of Native Americans has died. Rex Buck Jr. was 66 when he died Feb. 11 at his ancestral village at Priest Rapids on the Columbia River in Grant County, Washington.
The Tri-City Herald reported the Wanapum band lived at what is now the Hanford Nuclear Reservation site until the land was seized during World War II. The Wanapum were forced to resettle at their winter campsite in Priest Rapids.
Buck’s obituary says he started leading the Wanapum people while still in his 20s. He is survived by his wife, seven children and grandchildren.