Colville reservation
The Colville Indian Reservation ( English Colville Indian Reservation ) is an Indian reservation in the upper Columbia Basin in the US state of Washington . The reservation is named after Andrew Colville, a director of the Hudson's Bay Company .
location
The landscape is characterized by canyons, steppe, mountain rivers, lakes in granite basins and wooded mountains. The eastern and southern borders of the reserve are formed by the Columbia River and the Okanogan River to the west. On the southern border lies the Grand Coulee Dam , which dams the Columbia River. The reservation is home to the Colville Confederated Tribes Museum, Fort Okanogan Intepretive Center, and a former Catholic mission. The area is surrounded on three sides by state forests, including the Pasayten, Glacier Peak and Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness, which together form the largest area of the USA without roads. The reserve covers an area of 2,187 square miles (5,664 square kilometers), making it one of the largest reserves in the state.
history
Before the arrival of the Europeans, the natives lived in permanent settlements and camps on the upper Columbia River, which they only visited during salmon migrations. The main fishing grounds were the Kettle Falls on what is now the Canadian border , one of the mightiest waterfalls on the Columbia River before dams were built. A number of tribes came together here every year to replenish their salmon stocks. In 1826 the Hudson's Bay Company set up a trading post near Kettle Falls trading rugs, pearls, and ironmongery for skins. Between 1826 and 1871 there was a brisk trade in beaver skins , buffalo skins and wild skins - up to 20,000 skins were sold by traders.
The Kettle Falls, along with the former trading post and Fort Colville, are now buried under the waters of Lake Roosevelt created by the Grand Coulee Dam.
The reservation occupied a third of Washington State within the boundaries of the 1855 Treaty. As early as 1875 it had shrunk to an area of around two million hectares. A few months later, settlers again forced the federal government to rewrite the treaty and drive the twelve tribes that lived on the reservation further west from eastern Washington.
The Senijextee and Sinkaietk (also called Southern Okanagon) were the largest of the twelve tribes that were deported into the reservation. They were joined by Colville , Entiat ( Chelan ), Methow , Moses Columbia , Nespelem , Palouse , Sanpoil and Wenatchi . All spoke Salish dialects , except for a group of Nez Percé who spoke Sahaptin. This group, the survivors of Chief Joseph , came on the reservation upon returning from exile in Oklahoma . Chief Joseph, who died sitting in front of his tipi in 1902, is buried near the tribal headquarters in the town of Nespelem .
literature
- Jan Halliday, Gail Chehak in Cooperation with the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians: Native Peoples of the Northwest , Seattle 2007
Web links
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 48 ° 14 ′ 42 " N , 118 ° 49 ′ 51.6" W.