Spokane (people)

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The Spokane or Spokan are a North American Indian tribe of the Salish language family .

Their traditional home was originally in the Columbia Plateau in the river basin of the Spokane River and its tributaries and extended in the south to the upper reaches of the Palouse River and in the west to the Columbia River , the Spokane Falls ( Stluputqu - "fast water") were a important traditional meeting place and trading place for neighboring tribes - thus the area (approx. 12,000 km²) covered large parts of the northeast in today's US state Washington and the adjacent northwest Idaho . Like the neighboring Flathead (Séliš or Salish) , Lower Kalispel (Lower Pend d'Oreille) , Upper Kalispel (Upper Pend d'Oreille) and Coeur d'Alene (Schitsu'umsh or Skitswish), they belonged to the Southern Inland Salish which, unlike the coastal Salish , had to adapt to the often drier and mountainous landscapes of the plateaus of the Columbia River and thus counted culturally to the cultural area of ​​the plateau .

Indigenous cultural areas in North America. The Spokane can be added to the plateau

Tribal name

There are different hypotheses for the origin of the tribal name commonly used today:

  • The name "Spokane" or "Spokan" is mostly given today as "people of the sun" or sometimes as "muddy people" (referring to the wetlands along the rivers), but it is probably a wrong translation of their own name. Lt. Gibbs this was originally just the name of the Coeur d'Alene for a band of the Spokane, which was later transferred by the Europeans to all allied bands; According to another tradition, it goes back to a chief's name.
  • A tribal legend reports that the term "Spokane" derives from Spukcane , the sound a snake makes when a person hits a hollow tree in which the snake is hiding.
  • Your autonym is given as Spoqe'ind ("round head") or Spoqín or Sp'q'n'iʔ or Sp'q'n'i , but sometimes it is also simply Sqeliz ("the people, the people") called.

Spokane regional bands

The Spokane were divided into three large regional bands , each of which was designated with reference to the geographical location of their settlement area along the Spokane River:

  • Lower Spokane (Lower Spokane) or Scqesciłni , Scqecioni ("People of Little Falls"): lived in the northwest of the tribal area; north of the Spokane River to its confluence with the Columbia River in the west, the Spokane River upstream to the settlement of Tum Tum on Long Lake (32 km northwest of today's Spokane) and along the Columbia northwards almost to the present-day border between the USA and Canada . One of their main meeting places was at the Little Falls of the Spokane River (near the confluence with the Columbia River). In the north of their tribal area lived the Chewelah ("water snake", originally a band of the Lower Kalispel (Lower Pend d'Oreille) in the Chewelah Mountains (also: Calispell Mountains ) and in the Colville River Valley . In their area at the confluence of the Spokane with the Columbia River Fort Spokane (1880 to 1929) built to keep the tribes of the Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation away from the city ​​of Spokane, which was only founded in 1871. Other (mostly historical) names: Stsêkastsiʼ / Tskaistsihlni / Skai-schil-t'-nish / Scaite Cuthinish / Chekisschee / Che-kis-chee / Che-kiss-chee (“Running Fast”); James Teit, Curtis, War Department, HBC, James Mooney, Winans, Department of Indian Affairs ).
  • Middle Spokane (Middle Spokane) , South Spokane (Southern Spokane) or Snxʷme̓n Volkey , Snx'w'meney ("people along the Steelhead Trout River, ie the Little Spokane River"): lived south of the Spokane River (and thus south of the Lower and Upper Spokane) to the upper reaches of the Palouse River (a right tributary of the Snake River ) in the south as well as along Crab Creek and Latah Creek (or: Hangman Creek). In the south their territory bordered on that of the Palus (Palouse) and in the southeast on that of the Coeur d'Alene (Schitsu'umsh or Skitswish). Other (mostly historical) names: Sin-ho-man-naish / Sinhomene (“Salmon Trout People”; William S. Lewis, Curtis), Sntutuūʼli (“Pounding”; James Teit), Sintootoo / Sin-too-too ( James Mooney , Winans, Department of Indian Affairs), Sinohomenish / Sma-hoo-men-a-ish (“Middle Way Indians” / “Middle River Indians” / “Middle River People”; HBC, War Department, Ray).
  • Upper Spokane (Obere Spokane) or Sntʔtʔúlixʷ , Sntu't'ulixi ("people along the waterfalls"): lived in the northeast of the tribal area; north of the Spokane River, from Tumtum further up the Spokane River to the confluence of the Latah (Hangman) Creek, their settlements were concentrated along the Little Spokane River (Nxweme'a'tkxy - "river in which the steelhead trout migrates") and extended to the Pend Oreille River and Lake Pend Oreille in the north and eastwards to Coeur d'Alene Lake - however, the areas southwest and west of the two lakes mentioned up to today's Washington were also joined by the Coeur d'Alene neighboring to the east ( Schitsu'umsh or Skitswish) claimed. Important fishing grounds were at the confluence of the Spokane River with the Little Spokane River, at the mouth of the Latah (Hangman) Creek and at the Spokane Falls ( Stluputqu - "fast water" - in downtown Spokane). Other (mostly historical) names: Sin-too-too-oulish / Sintutuuli (“Muddy Creek People”; William S. Lewis, Curtis), Senxomê (“Salmon Trout”; James Teit), Sintatoluh / Sin-too-too- lish (“Up River People” / “Upper River Indians”; HBC , War Department , Ray), Sineegunomenah / Sin-ee-guo-men-ah / Sin-ce-quo-men-ah (James Mooney, Department of Indian Affairs , Winans), “People of Steelhead Trout Place” (Ray) or “Lake People” (McCarty).

In some later sources the "Upper Spokane bands" and the "Middle Spokane bands" are confused or referred to as a single band, so that the naming or localization of the regional bands is often unclear; the "Upper Spokane" were sometimes called Snxwemi'ne ("people at the Steelhead Trout Square"), the "Middle Spokane" as Squasi'lni ("fishermen" after a settlement name) and the "Lower Spokane" as Sineka ' lt ("[people] at the falls, probably the Little Falls", also named after a settlement name). All of the names mentioned reflect the great importance of fishing for the Spokans.

These three regional bands were in turn divided into smaller bands and local groups with their own fishing grounds and settlement areas, each under the leadership of a chief (Salish: Ilmixʷm); today only the following Spokane bands are known by name:

  • Sntu / t / uliz or Sntʔtʔúlixʷ, Sntu't'ulixi (Upper Spokane)
  • Snzmeme /, Snzmen / ey or Snxʷme̓nʔey, Snx'w'meney (Middle Spokane)
  • ScqesciOni or Scqesciłni, Scqecioni (Lower Spokane)
  • Sl / otewsi
  • Hu sDmqeni

However, the following Spokane bands are sometimes listed:

  • Uliz, probably identical to the Sntu / t / uliz
  • Snzmeme, identical to the Snzmeme /
  • Otewsi, probably identical to the Sl / otewsi
  • Hu
  • Sdmqeni

history

Neighbor Tribes and Lifestyle

Before 1800, estimates of the number of Spokans vary widely. They are between 1,400 and 2,500. In 1827, an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company put their number at 704.

In the east, north and west, the neighboring tribes of the Spokane were the Salish-speaking Coeur d'Alene, the Flathead, the Sanpoil and the Colville. In the south lived Sahaptan (Shapitan, Sahaptin) speaking tribes: the "Nimipu" (also "Chopunnisch", Nez Percé ) and the Umatilla . There were Spokans who could also speak to Sahaptan.

With the introduction of the horse especially the Upper Spokane changed their lifestyle and crossed together with Flathead, Nez Perce Kalispel and the Rocky Mountains to bison hunt. This led to confrontations with the Blackfoot .

The Spokane fished in the Spokane and gathered again and again at the great waterfalls of the Spokane in today's place of the same name. They lived in three groups by the river: Upper Spokane, Middle Spokane, and Lower Spokane. They went hunting and lived in teepees . With the arrival of white fur traders , they also hunted and traded fur animals.

First contacts with white fur traders and missionaries

The first tradition of the name "Spokane" is documented from 1807. The Trapper and cartographer David Thompson of the North West Company described the three Spokane groups in this way. He is probably the first white man to visit your country. With the arrival of more fur traders, their lives changed. An Iroquois and French-speaking trader, not known by name, brought the Spokans into first contact with the Christian religion.

In 1810, the Canadian North West Company established a fur trading post called Spokane House at the confluence of the Little Spokane River with the Spokane, about 15 kilometers downstream from what is now the city of the same name. Spokane House , surrounded by palisades, was the first non-Native American settlement in what is now Washington State. It was in the Middle Spokane area. For 16 years it was the headquarters of the fur trade between the Rocky Mountains and the Cascade Range . Beaver pelts were exchanged for rifles (30 beaver pelts) and horses (2 beaver pelts), for example. As a competitor to the British Spokane House, Fort Spokane appeared at times, which operated the US trading company Pacific Fur Company .

In 1825 the Hudson's Bay Company , which had been merged with the North West Company in 1821 , decided to close Spokane House and relocate this post to the Kettle Falls of Columbia . This post was called Fort Colville .

The first contact with Christian missionaries was through Spokane Garry, who later became Chief Garry. He had attended an Anglican mission school in what was later to be Winnipeg . But there was soon a split in the Spokane by different denominations, because some of them were baptized by Pierre De Smet , a Catholic Jesuit . In 1836 came the Protestant Samuel Parker. From 1836 to 1848, missionaries Elkanah Walker and Cushing Eells, sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, recruited the Spokane.

Increased influx of white settlers and gold prospectors

After the end of the California gold rush , the prospectors looked for gold in other regions of the American West, so that around 1860 the immigration of white settlers to the Spokane area increased sharply. They and their neighboring tribes felt threatened in their way of life and founded a 1000-strong defense alliance with the Coeur d'Alene, smaller groups from Yakama , Kalispel, and Palouse ( Spokane-Coeur d'Alene-Paloos War , Yakima-War , also Spokane War or Coeur d'Alene War ). In May 1858 attacked around 1000 Coeur d'Alene, Spokane, Yakama, Palouse and Northern Paiute 164 soldiers of the US Army under Major Edward Steptoe (1816-1865), who had been deployed after Palouse had killed white settlers. A larger force under Colonel George Wright (1803-1865) with 600 soldiers and some Nez Perce scouts defeated the Indians on September 1, 1858 ( Battle of Four Lakes ). The Indians, this time fewer than 500 warriors, had no chance against the new bolt- action rifles , were pushed back and some were killed. Not a single soldier lost his life in the process.

In the peace treaty of 1858, the Spokane were obliged, among other things, to let white people roam their territory peacefully. To insure himself about the Spokane, Wright took her chief and four families hostage for a year. Missionaries taught the Spokans how to keep livestock and how to grow crops, but this was restricted and sabotaged by other whites.

In 1872 missionaries published a textbook of the Spokane language. The Lower Spokane under Chief Lot built a Presbyterian church near Wellpinit , in which many of them were baptized. They stayed out of the war of the Nez Perce under Chief Joseph in 1877.

Settlement in reserves

On August 18, 1877, the Lower Spokane under Chief Lot agreed to move on November 1 to the area of ​​the later Spokane Reservation, which was not established until January 18, 1881.

In 1880 there were 3,000 Spokans. Fort Spokane was built at the confluence of the Spokane and Columbia rivers to protect white settlers from Indian raids.

The Upper and Middle Spokane refused because the reservation was in Lower Spokane territory and they were not Presbyterian, but Catholic.

In 1887 they finally agreed to move to the Coeur d'Alene Reservation in Idaho or other nearby reserves, including the Spokane Reservation , after settlement pressure had taken their habitats . The deal was not ratified by Congress until July 13, 1892 . The majority of Upper Spokane moved to the Coeur-d'Alene reservation and mixed with the Coeur d'Alene, who were also Catholic and who were related by numerous relatives, some moved to the Flathead reservation in Montana . Most of the Middle Spokane went to the Spokane reservation. According to a census by the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1897, 340 Lower Spokane (Lot's group) and 188 Upper and Middle Spokane (Chief Enoch's group) lived on the Spokane reservation. 145 lived with the Coeur d'Alene, 91 on the Flathead reservation.

However, many Spokane continued to live in the outskirts of the fast-growing city of Spokane, and there were numerous conflicts over land, in which Chief Garry became involved.

Just before the turn of the century, many tribal members came at a smallpox - epidemic killed. In 1902 the Ministry of the Interior was commissioned to privatize the land. As of 1906, Spokane received 651 land holdings totaling 64,750 acres . All other land could be sold.

The denominational problem persisted on the Spokane reservation, with half of the residents belonging to one of the two denominations. Chief Lot preferred white teachers. In Fort Spokane, which was abandoned in 1898, a boarding school was established for the children of the Spokane. Under the direction of the Spokane Agency was assimilation pursued, but the traditionalists on the other hand fought with some success.

The Spokane Reservation's first Catholic church was built in 1911. In 1913 the Bureau of Indian Affairs set up an agency in Wellpinit.

Reorganization and reparations

After the Indian Reorganization Act was enacted in 1934 , it took until 1951 for the tribe to organize itself according to its specifications. With 95 votes to 34, the tribe accepted on May 12th that the tribe was giving itself a formal, elected organization.

In the same year, the tribe filed a lawsuit for insufficient compensation for the land expropriation of 1887, and at the same time sued for the poor management of the fiduciary properties and assets. After the tribe accepted the compensation amount of $ 6.7 million for both items in a vote in December 1966 with 155 votes to 3, the Indian Claims Commission decided on February 21, 1967 to pay the sum. Half were distributed to the 1,600 or so beneficiaries or should be kept in trust for the next generation. The other half went into land buybacks, training programs and loans.

When supporters of the Indian movement came to the reservation in 1973 , they were turned away by the conservative Spokane. In 1974 the Kalispel moved from their agency in Northern Idaho to the Spokane reservation. In 1961 1,961 Spokane lived here. In 1989, however, there were only 1,248.

In 1981, the tribe received the last compensation for the mismanagement of the authorities responsible for Indians of $ 271,431.23.

A veneer factory had to close its doors in 1979. Agriculture still dominates today, especially since irrigation has been practiced here since the completion of the Grand Coulee Dam on Columbia. At Spokane in the southern part of the reserve, it will irrigate 2000 acres of land. But for a long time the Spokans did not participate in the proceeds from the water dammed there and the energy production at Little Falls Dam.

After decades of controversy as to whether the Indian agency is in Spokane or on the reservation, and the question of whether it should be a sub-agency or an agency, the agency came to Wellpinit on the reservation. As a result, more funds were poured into health care. Language and culture were also promoted more strongly, including the Alex Sherwood Memorial Center , which houses a library and a museum, as well as the tribal office.

Uranium mining in the Spokane reservation and the consequences

In 1954 the brothers Jim and John LeBret, both Spokane, found uranium on Spokane Mountain . From 1955 to 1981 uranium was mined in a mine near the town of Wellpinit and processed into yellow cake in a uranium mill nearby . Many tribal members found well-paid employment here. Numerous cases of cancer along the road from previous uranium transports have been recorded in the Spokane reservation, the water of the Blue River is poisoned.

The Midnight Mine was operated by the Dawn Mining Company , the Sherwood Mine by Western Nuclear since 1966. At times, the option of building a nuclear power station was examined . A project to clean up the contamination, which was also related to the first nuclear power plant, the Hanford Site , was estimated at $ 40 million and would span more than a quarter of a century.

Revival of language and identity

Their language, the Npoqínišcn (Spokane), is a dialect of the Montana Salish ( npoqínišcn-qlispé-séliš , also: Kalispel – Pend d'Oreille , Kalispel – Spokane – Flathead or Spokane – Kalispel – Bitterroot Salish – Upper Pend d'Oreille ) and is one of the Southern Inland Salish languages ; other dialects are the Séliš (Salish) of the Flathead (Séliš or Salish) and the Qlispé / Qalispé (Kalispel) of the Upper Kalispel (Upper Pend d'Oreille) , Lower Kalispel (Lower Pend d'Oreille) and the Chewelah .

The use of the Salish languages ​​has increased again, but whether the languages ​​can be saved is unclear. As there were numerous connections with whites, the tribal identity has often passed to the reservation itself, more than to any of the original nations.

Demographics

It is estimated that between 1,400 and 2,500 Spokans lived by the late 18th century. The US census of 1910 speaks of 643 Spokane (referring to the Spokane of the Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation in Washington - consisting of descendants of the Lower Spokane and the majority of the Middle Spokane). Separate numbers for tribe members with Spokane ancestors on the neighboring reservations of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation (with descendants of a minority of the Upper Spokane), The Coeur D'Alene Tribe, Coeur D'Alene Reservation, Idaho (with descendants the majority of the Upper Spokane) and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (with descendants of a minority of the Upper Spokane and the Middle Spokane) do not exist, so that no total number of tribesmen with Spokane ancestors or who identify themselves as Spokane is given can be.

Known Spokane

  • The Spokane chief Tum-se-ne-ho ("The Man Without Blood") was painted by Paul Kane in 1847.
  • Spokane Garry (1811-1892) was baptized in 1827 and attended a mission school in Winnipeg ( Canada ). His father was a chief of the Middle Spokane. In 1829 he went to the Spokane, missionized and instructed them in agricultural methods. He had a balancing effect between the Spokane and the white settlers. When the Yakama rebellion emerged, which some younger Spokans wanted to join, he advocated peace. He was succeeded by Chief Lot.
  • Charlene Teters ( Slum Tah ) is an artist who campaigns against the use of mascots caricaturing Indians in sports.
Sherman Alexia
  • The Spokane / Coeur-d'Alene Indian Sherman Alexie is an important writer and in some of his stories relentlessly shows the conditions in the tribal reservations. He lives in Seattle today . The film "Smoke Signals", which was produced exclusively by Indians, is based on a short story by Sherman Alexie.

Places named after the Spokane

In addition to the Spokane River and Spokane Mountain, Spokane County in Washington and Spokane (the second largest city after Seattle) and the Spokane Valley community are named after the tribe.

Today's tribes of the Spokane or with Spokane descendants

The Spokane are now organized in several federally recognized tribe :

Today's Spokane, Colville, Coeur d'Alene, and Flathead Reserves
  • Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation : Since the Spokane Reservation is located in the territory of the Lower Spokane , they make up the majority of the population, but later the majority of the Middle Spokane forcibly moved to the Spokane Reservation as well - in addition, the politico-military had already earlier dominated by the Spokane Chewelah (originally a band of the Lower Kalispel (Lower Pend d'Oreille) ) joined the Lower Spokane as the Chewelah Band of Indians and had also moved to the reservation. The reserve in east Washington now has a size of about 637 km² and is located almost exclusively in Stevens County - however, it also includes two very small parcels of land (approx. 1.52 acres) and fishing grounds along the Spokane River in northeast Lincoln County ; the administrative headquarters and at the same time the capital is Wellpinit. The tribal members elect the Spokane Tribal Business Council as their representative , which in turn determines the tribal chairman (comparable to the chief who was previously also elected by council ). Every year there is a Pow Wow , the Annual Spokane Tribal Labor Day Pow Wow . In 1991 the tribe inaugurated a salmon farm , and the timber industry and the oldest casino in Washington provide additional jobs . In 1969 the tribe had 1,657 registered members, of whom only a third lived on the reservation, many lived in the nearby city of Spokane. In a 2006 census, the tribe had 2,441 members; currently (September 2013) there are 2,992 tribe members, 1,437 of whom live within the reservation.
  • Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation : A minority of the Upper Spokane today form this tribe together with the Flathead (Seliš or Salish), Upper Kalispel (Upper Pend d'Oreille) and the Ksanka Band (K̓upawi ¢ q̓nuk) of the Lower Kootenai on the Flathead Reservation ( Pablo-Salish & Kootenai Reservation ) in northwest Montana between the towns of Kalispell and Missoula , two-thirds of the reservation area is in Lake County , one-third extends to Sanders County in the west, Missoula County in the south, and Flathead County in North. The reserve covers approximately 5,058 km². The Indian seat of government and administration is Pablo . Today (2013) the tribe has approx. 6,800 members, of which approx. 4,000 live within the reservation.
  • The Coeur D'Alene Tribe, Coeur D'Alene Reservation, Idaho : The Coeur-d'Alene Reservation covers an area of ​​345,000 acres in the Worley and Lovell Valley in northern Idaho and includes farmland (with cultivation of wheat, barley, Beans, lentils) and foothills of the Rocky Mountains as well as Lake Coeur d'Alene and the Coeur d'Alene and St. Joe rivers. The majority of the Upper Spokane live here next to the Coeur D'Alene , as in the 1890s the last 90 families of the Upper Spokane and a small group of the Lower Kalispel (Lower Pend d'Oreille) were forced to close the urban area around Spokane leave and settle in a surrounding reserve. Today, the tribe claims to have a total of 2,190 members, with no distinction being made between Coeur D'Alene and Upper Spokane.
  • Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation : The Colville Reservation is located in Okanogan County in east Washington , the tribes also own a small piece of land in Chelan County as trust land . The historical twelve tribes are as follows: the Colville (Swhy-ayl-puh) , Nespelem , Sanpoil , Sinixt (also: Lakes or Arrow Lakes Band), Wenatchi , Chelan , Entiat , Methow , Sinkaietk (also: Lower or Southern Okanagon), the Sinkiuse-Columbia (also: Middle Columbia Salish) and the Sahaptian-speaking Palus (also: Palouse) and the Chief Joseph's Band of Nez Perce ; In addition, small groups of the Upper Spokane and Middle Spokane also moved to the Colville Reservation - however, they could not claim their separate identity and are therefore not counted among the historical tribes of the Confederated Tribes. According to its own information, the tribe had 9,500 members in 2015.

However, many Spokane today live outside the reservations in the neighboring cities and most of them live in the city of Spokane .

See also

literature

  • Christian Carstensen: Between catching salmon and hunting bison. In: Christian F. Feest (ed.): Cultures of the North American Indians, Cologne 2000, p. 240 ff.
  • Robert H. Ruby / John A. Brown, A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest , University of Oklahoma Press 1992, pp. 217-220

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Flathead are also the namesake of this language group, because they called themselves Seliš or Salish - "the people".
  2. ^ Pritzker, Barry M. "Spokanes." The Encyclopedia of North American Indian Wars, 1607-1890: A Political, Social, and Military History
  3. ↑ Plateau People 'Web Portal - Spoqín (Spokan)
  4. ^ Spokane Tribe Language and Culture - Names of Tribes
  5. ^ Robert H. Ruby, John A. Brown: The Spokane Indians: Children of the Sun , Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press, ISBN 978-0-8061-3761-2 , page 9
  6. ↑ http://www.spokanetribe.com/page.php?code=tribe Spokane Tribe
  7. ^ Anadromous migratory fish of the Columbia River Redband Trout are known as "Redband Steelhead Trout".
  8. ↑ The Case of Spokane Garry
  9. ↑ http://www.wellpinit.wednet.edu/sal-qa/q.php?iinclude=../sal-qa/fq_neigh.txt
  10. ^ The North West Company establishes Spokane House in 1810, HistoryLink.org
  11. ↑ http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=5143
  12. ↑ A Spokane Indian Timeline
  13. ^ Radioactive Remains: The forgotten story of the Northwest's only uranium mines. In: Seattle Times, February 24, 2008
  14. ^ Christian Carstensen: Between salmon catching and bison hunt , in: Christian F. Feest (Ed.): Cultures of North American Indians, Cologne 2000, p. 242
  15. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.accessgenealogy.com
  16. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated November 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / content.lib.washington.edu
  17. ^ Wellpinit School District
  18. ↑ Spokane Tribe
  19. ↑ The Spokane Tribe of Indians: A Socioeconomic Profile 2012
  20. ↑ http://www.wellpinit.wednet.edu/sal-cos/cos_ch04.php