Tekison Cave, listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 22, 1978, is a premier archaeological site located within the rugged basalt coulees of eastern Kittitas County, Washington. Situated near Tekison Creek within the Columbia River basin, this natural rock shelter served as a vital seasonal campsite and spiritual locus for indigenous Plateau peoples for thousands of years. The cave's dry interior provided exceptional preservation conditions for a rich hunter-gatherer cultural sequence, protecting a diverse array of perishable organic materials, stone tools, and faunal remains, as well as an important collection of prehistoric rock art painted directly onto the shelter's basalt walls.

The historical significance of Tekison Cave lies in its ability to yield critical data regarding the subsistence patterns, technological adaptations, and artistic traditions of the region's early inhabitants. The site's pictographs, rendered primarily in red ochre, feature anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and geometric motifs characteristic of the Columbia Plateau style, illustrating the spiritual and cultural relationship between the native people and their landscape. Through its archaeological deposits, the site provides a vital window into the seasonal migration rounds and resource-gathering strategies of the Wanapum, Yakama, and related tribal groups who navigated the Columbia River's tributaries, making Tekison Cave a cornerstone for understanding the deep prehistory of the Pacific Northwest.