In February 2018, leaders of the Yakama Nation faced what they called a public safety crisis on its sprawling reservation in central Washington State.

The tribal council said it was confronted with an “epidemic of drug use, plague of criminal activity, disregard for the rule of law and general civil unrest” across the reservation, between the Cascade mountains and the Columbia River. In response, the council imposed a daily curfew for youth, set up a 24-hour hotline for reporting crime and stiffened penalties for assault and theft.

When five people were killed Saturday on the reservation near the community of White Swan, it once again underscored the tribe’s challenges with violent crime. On Monday, two people who are suspects in the killings were charged in related crimes.

Public documents did not indicate that anyone had been charged in the killings.

Efforts to reach members of the Yakama Nation Tribal Council were unsuccessful Tuesday evening. The Yakama Nation Tribal Police did not respond to a request for comment.