SPOKANE TRIBE

SPOKANE MEANS "CHILDREN OF THE SUN". THEIR RESERVATION IS BOUNDED IN THE SOUTH BY SPOKANE RIVER IN THE SOUTH BY SPOKANE RIVER AND IN THE WEST BY COLUMBIA RIVER. IT HAS 154,000 ACRES. THEIR RESERVATION IS BOUNDED IN THE SOUTH BY SPOKANE RIVER AND IN THE WEST BY COLUMBIA RIVER. ALL BUT 10% IS HELD IN TRUST BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. THE SPOKANE TRIBE ORIGINALLY HELD THREE MILLION ACRES. THEIR ANCESTORS WERE CALLED SPOKANE, A PLATEAU PEOPLE. THEY USED TO SPEAK SALISH AND THEY ARE OFTEN CONSIDERED SALISH TRIBE. FOR MILLENIA THEY LIVED AROUND THE SPOKANE RIVER FISHING, HUNTING, AND GATHERING. THEY SHARED THEIR TERRITORY WITH SEVERAL OTHER TRIBES. THE SPOKANE FALLS WERE THEIR TRIBAL CENTER. THEY LIVED IN NUCLEAR FAMILIES. THE SPIRITUAL LIFE OF THE SPOKANE WAS CLOSELY KNIT WITH THE LAND AND LIVING THINGS. THEY WERE LIKE MANY NORTHWESTERN TRIBES, WHO BELIEVED IN A GREAT SPIRIT. OTHER SPIRITS WERE THE WINDS, THUNDER, AND SUPPORT ANIMAL SPIRITS THAT PEOPLE SOUGHT FOR PERSONAL GUARDIANS. FISHING RITES WERE CELEBRATED FOR THE IST SALMON OR 1ST BERRIES, ROOTS, FRUITS HARVESTED DURING DIFFERENT SEASONS. THEY HAD PERMANENT WINTER VILLAGES ALONG RIVERS WHERE FISH WERE PLENTIFUL. THEY MADE SEMI SUBTERRANEAN HOUSES OF CEDAR IN THE SUMMER. THEY LIVED IN CAMPS WITH CONE SHAPED HUTS COVERED WITH MATS. THEY USED HORSES AFTER 1730 WHEN EUROPEANS BROUGHT THEM HERE. THE 1800'S FUR TRAPPERS WERE FRIENDLY WITH THIS TRIBE. THEY LIVED WITH THEM, INTERMARRIED. ONCE SMALLPOX, SYPHILIS AND OTHER DISEASES HIT THEY WIPED OUT MANY VILLAGES.

FOLLOWING 1850 GOLD RUSH THESE FOLKS LOOKING FOR GOLD CARED LITTLE ABOUT THE NATIVES. THERE WERE INDIAN WARS IN THE NORTHWEST. MANY LAND HUNGRY ANGLOS COME HERE AND FORCED THE INDIANS OFF THEIR LAND. THEY WERE CONCENTRATED ON TO RESERVATIONS THAT COMPROMISED THEIR USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES. SOME OF THEIR BURIAL GROUNDS WERE ALSO DESTROYED. ALCOHOLISM WAS ANOTHER DISEASE MANY NATIVES AND OTHERS HAD.

BY 1906, 650 MEMBERS WERE ALLOTTED 64,750 ACRES. IN 1939 THE SALMON DID NOT MIGRATE BECAUSE OF THE COULEE DAM. THEIR TRIBAL LANDS WERE FLOODED. IN STRUGGLES TO WIN SOME OF THEIR RIGHTS BACK THEY ASKED THE GOVERNMENT IN 1753 TO HAVE SOME RITES RESTORED. BY 2003 THE GOVERNMENT FINALLY PASSED A BILL TO PROVIDE THEM COMPENSATION FOR SACRIFICES THAT WERE MADE. THE TRIBE FILED CLAIMS IN 1951 FOR MONETARY COMPENSATION. THEY ALSO SAID THE GOVERNMENT MISMANAGED SOME OF THE TRIBES FUNDS AND PROPERTIES. THEY WERE GIVEN $6.7 MILLION BACK! HALF OF THIS WAS GIVEN TO THE 1600 MEMBERS.

THE TRIBE FILED ANOTHER CLAIM FOR MISMANAGEMENT OF COMMISSION OF FUNDS AND THEY WERE COMPENSATED $271,000 IN 1981. WASHINGTON BECAME A STATE IN 1889.

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