FLATHEAD INDIAN RESERVATION

THIS RESERVATION SUPPORTS THREE TRIBES - THE SALISH, THE PEND D'ORIELLE AND THE KOOTENAI. THEY ORIGINALLY HAD 1.2 MILLION ACRES BY THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. THE FLATHEAD RIVER RUNS THROUGH THIS RESERVATION AS WELL AS THE FLATHEAD LAKE. THE SALISH PEND D' OREILLE AND KOOTENAI TRIBES LIVE HERE. SELIN IS ALSO CALLED SALISH - OR THE PEOPLE. THE ABORIGINAL NAME FOR THE KOOTENAI TRIBE IS KUTANAXA (LICKS THE BLOOD). TODAY THEY ARE KNOWN AS THE CONFEDERATED SALISH AND KOOTENAI TRIBES. AFTER THE RESERVATION PERIOD, SOME OF THESE LANDS WERE OPENED TO HOMESTEADING IN 1910. MANY NON-INDIANS LIVED ON THE RESERVATION AFTER THIS PERIOD. THEIR STORY BEGINS WHEN THE CREATOR PUT THE ANIMAL PEOPLE ON EARTH. HE SENT COYOTE AHEAD AS THIS WORLD WAS FULL OF EVILS AND NOT YET FIT FOR MANKIND. COYOTE CAME WITH HIS BROTHER FOX TO THIS BIG ISLAND. COYOTE LEFT MANY FAULTS SUCH AS GREED, JEALOUSY, AND HUNGER, AND ENVY. ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE FOUND AND DATED SITES HERE TO 12,000 - 14,000 YEARS AGO. THIS IS THE END OF THE ICE AGE. FROM THE BEGINNING AS THEY KNOW IT , THE SALISH AND PEND D' ORIELLE HAD A SUBSISTENCE STRATEGY THAT WAS COMPLEX. ELDERS SAY LIFE WAS HARD BUT GOOD. THEY ATE BITTEROOT, CAMAS BULBS, WILD ROSE, BUFFALO IN OLD TIMES, FRUITS AND VARIOUS BERRIES. THEY GATHERED HUNDREDS OF PLANTS AND MEDICINAL PLANTS. THE MEN HUNTED AND THE WOMEN TANNED HIDES. FISHING WAS VERY IMPORTANT DURING WINTERS. WHEN THEY HAD THE FIRST SNOW, THIS WAS SACRED TIME AND CEREMONIAL DANCES WERE HELD. THEY SPLIT UP INTO SMALLER BANDS AND ELDERS SAT THAT TRIBES BROKE UP INTO SMALLER GROUPS TO MORE EASILY BE SUPPORTED. THESE TRIBES INTERMARRIED. THEY BANDED TOGETHER TO HUNT AS WELL. THE SALISH LANGUAGE PLACE NAMES ARE STILL REMEMBERED . ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE RESERVATION THE SALISH HAD CONFLICTS WITH THE BLACKFEET. BEFORE GUNS, WARFARE, WAS SETTLED BY CEREMONIES. IT HONORED MEN'S BRAVERY. DURING THE 1600'S THE INDIANS WERE IMPACTED BY SMALLPOX AND MEASLES, ETC. TRAPPERS PUSHED THEM WESTWARD. BUFFALO HUNTING ENDED IN 1883. THE SUN AND MOON WERE BROTHERS IN THEIR MYTHS AND TRANSFORMED ALL BEINGS. THE KOOTANAI BUILT CANOES AND WERE EXPERTS AT FISHING AND TRAPPING. OPI.MT.GOV/PDF