The Salish peoples are indigenous peoples of the American and Canadian Pacific Northwest, identified by their use of the Salish languages which diversified out of Proto-Salish between 3,000 and 6,000 years ago. The term “Salish” originated in the modern era as an exonym created for linguistic research. Salish is an anglicization of Séliš, the endonym for the Salish Tribes of the Flathead Reservation. The Séliš were the easternmost Salish people and the first to have a diplomatic relationship with the United States so their name was applied broadly to all peoples speaking a related language.
The Salish people have a different creator god, Amotken is an old man that lives alone in heaven and shares his kindness with the people. When he originally created mankind, he started by creating 5 women using 5 of his own hairs. When he asked the five women what they wanted to be, each of them had a different idea; one wanted to be wicked and cruel, one wanted to be good, one wanted to be mother of the earth, one wanted to be mother of the fire, and the last one wanted to be mother of the water. Amotken obliged, and said that wickedness might rule the earth for a while, but goodness would prevail in the end. Apparently Amotken was not only kind, but also very wise. Much like the Australian Aborigines, the Native American and First Nations people have a deep mythology and belief in the spirits that were part of creating their world. With ties to nature and the earth and stars themselves being part of their beliefs, how can their stories influence your game ideas, and how can you incorporate lessons and morals in the same way that they have. If there is deeper meaning behind your games stories, perhaps the purpose of play, and retention and return for your games will be better too?
Salishan People of the Pacific Northwest
The Salishan people share a group of languages of the Indians of the Pacific Northwest, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia, Canada. The language group is comprised of 23 different dialects spoken by various tribes. Although distinct from one another, the Salishan language is similar to the Chimakuan and Wakashan languages. Salish is the largest language family in the Pacific Northwest. Two widely separated branches of Salishan languages developed — Coastal and Interior. All of the Salishan languages are considered critically endangered, some extremely so, with only three or four speakers left. The Pentlatch, Tillamook, Twana, and Nooksack are no longer spoken. Of those that remain, the Salishan languages are spoken almost exclusively by older adults. However, efforts are being made to revive the languages as they are now taught in a number of schools, as well as at the Salish Kootenai College in Montana, where students can train to teach the language.
A long time ago, fire belonged only to the animals in the land above, not to those on the earth below. Curlew, keeper of the sky world, guarded fire and kept it from the earth. Coyote, however, devised a clever plan to steal fire, aided by Grizzly Bear, Wren, Snake, Frog, Eagle, and Beaver. These brave and resourceful animal beings raided the land above and risked all to steal fire from Curlew. Beaver Steals Fire is an ancient and powerful tale springing from the hearts and experiences of the Salish people of Montana. Steeped in the rich and culturally vital storytelling tradition of the tribe, this tale teaches both respect for fire and awareness of its significance, themes particularly relevant today.
Confederated Salish And Kootenai Tribes
The Flathead Reservation is comprised of three tribes; the Bitterroot Salish, Upper Pend d’Oreille, and Kootenai tribes. The Bitterroot Salish and Upper Pend d’Oreille (pronounced Pawn do-RAY) became the “Confederated Salish” and together the three entities were soon called The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. According to Salish and Pend d’Oreille culture, Coyote and other animal-people taught the Salish about spirituality, subsistence, and social organization. These teachings were centered on a relationship with the land and all living creatures. There was no concept of land ownership; it was the land, water, and sun that owned the people.
HONORING THE PAST TO ENSURE THE FUTURE…
The Flathead Indian Reservation is home to three tribes, the Bitterroot Salish, Upper Pend d’Oreille, and the Kootenai. The territories of these three tribes covered all of western Montana and extended into parts of Idaho, British Columbia and Wyoming. The Hellgate Treaty of 1855 established the Flathead Reservation, but over half a million acres passed out of Tribal ownership during land allotment that began in 1904. The subsistence patterns of our Tribal people developed over generations of observation, experimentation and spiritual interaction with the natural world, creating a body of knowledge about the environment closely tied to seasons, locations and biology. This way of life was suffused with rich oral history and a spiritual tradition in which people respected the animals, plants and other elements of the natural environment. By learning from our Elders and teaching our children, those Tribal ways of life continue to this day.
Ql’ispé (Pend d’Oreille or Kalispel) and Séliš (Salish or Flathead) People
“Our stories teach us that we must always work for a time when there will be no evil, no racial prejudice, no pollution, when once again everything will be clean and beautiful for the eye to behold—a time when spiritual, physical, mental, and social values are inter-connected to form a complete circle.” – Salish and Pend d’Oreille Culture Committee
The Salish and Pend d’Oreille are the two easternmost tribes of the people comprising the Salish language family, which extends from Montana to the Pacific Coast, generally north of the Columbia River. The Salish-speaking people were separated thousands of years ago into different bands. These individual bands then became separate tribes in different parts of the Northwest eventually speaking different dialects of the Salish language. The territories of the Salish and Pend d’Oreille tribes originally encompassed parts of over 22 million acres (8,903,000 hectares) of land straddling the east and west sides of the Continental Divide in parts of British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Today, the Flathead Indian Reservation encompasses just over 1.3 million acres (526,000 hectares). The cultures and life practices of the Salish and Pend d’Oreille were very similar. In the traditional way of life, they gathered roots from early spring through the growing season including bitterroot, camas bulbs, carrots, onions, and potatoes. Camas was a staple that was baked and dried for preservation. They also picked chokecherries, hawthorne berries, huckleberries, serviceberries, and strawberries. Fish provided an important source of protein and a buffer of stability for the people of the region. They caught many types of fish including bull trout, cutthroat trout, mountain whitefish, long-nosed sucker, large scale sucker, northern pikeminnow, salmon, and sturgeon some of which they dried for use throughout the year.
The Flathead peoples now live on a tract of land south of Flathead Lake, Montana, which they share with the Kootenai tribe. Native Americans have lived in Montana for more than 14,000 years, based on archaeological findings. The Flathead Native Americans were not just one tribe. The term Flathead was the nickname given by Europeans to any Native Americans who intentionally changed the shape of their heads to a flat, elongated profile. These tribes included the Coast Salish, the Chinooks, the Clatsop, Kathlamet, Killamuck, Winnapa, Cowlitz, Kwalhioquas and the Wahkiakum tribes. The Bitterroot Salish came from the West Coast, whereas the Kootenai lived mostly in the interior of present-day Idaho, Montana, & Canada & left artifacts there from prehistoric time. One group of the Kootenai in the northeast lived mainly on bison hunting. Another group relied primarily on fishing & lived on the rivers & lakes of the mountains in the west. When they moved east, they could not rely on fishing & turned to eating plants & bison.
Flathead of the Salish & Kootenai – Montana (U.S.)
The Flathead Reservation covers almost 620,000 acres of western Montana. This land is home to two separate Tribes functioning as a single unit, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (GAI, 193). A small contingent of the Kalispel Nation and some Spokane, both Salish Tribes, also live there. The Salish were called “Flatheads” by the whites, due to their appearance and connection to the Coastal Salish who actually tied padded boards to their foreheads to shape their heads. However, they now call themselves by their original name. The Kootenai live both in the United States and Canada, where their name is spelled “Kootenay” (ENAT, 113-114). After countless generations as fishermen, the Kootenai obtained horses around 1700 and transformed themselves into a Tribe of the Plains, pursuing the buffalo and using tepees.
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation (Montana Salish: Séliš u Ql̓ispé, Kutenai: k̓upawiȼq̓nuk) are a federally recognized tribe in the U.S. state of Montana. The government includes members of several Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai and Pend d’Oreilles tribes and is centered on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The peoples of this area were named Flathead Indians by Europeans who came to the area. The name was originally applied to various Salish peoples, based on the practice of artificial cranial deformation by some of the groups, though the modern groups associated with the Flathead Reservation never engaged in it.
10 Things You Should Know about the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
The region is gorgeous. The high alpine mountains of the Mission Range frame the eastern border with patches of snow lasting much of the summer. The valley is broad with small towns bordered by ponds, lakes, and rivers. Flathead Lake, the largest natural lake in the west, forms part of the northern border of the reservation. The Flathead Reservation, home to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai people is remarkable for its beauty and for the vast array of wildlife which shares its home. While it’s nearly 1.3 million acres ranks 17th in size for all reservations and is larger than the state of Rhode Island, their ancestral homeland was once over 20 million acres. The Hellgate Treaty of 1855 reduced that area to its present size. The population of the tribes is roughly 7,500 members with about two-thirds living on or near the reservation. Ten councilmen make up the tribal council. Two districts provide two councilmen each and the other six districts have one each. Vernon Finley is the current chairman.
Salish and Kootenai cultures – Many tribes speak different dialects of the Salish language. This includes coastal Salish from Oregon into British Columbia and Interior Salish east of the coastal mountains. McDonald explained that the Confederated Salish and Pend d’Oreille of the Flathead Reservation are the easternmost Salish band. “We are the Bitterroot Salish. Many people get this incorrect. We’re home to the Confederated Salish which are the Salish and the Pend d’Oreille, plus the Kootenai Tribe. The Salish and Kootenai have different language, different culture and different practices.” “The Kootenai language is known as a language isolate. It’s not related to any other known language in the world. There are Kootenai classes and Kootenai curriculum textbooks and dictionaries as there are for Salish. It’s an effort to keep both languages alive.”
aay u sqélix͏ʷ a history of bull trout
and the Salish and Pend d’Oreille people
M̓a ɫu es šʔi ɫu cwičtn y̓e st̓úlix͏ʷ, q͏ʷamq͏ʷmt y̓e st̓úlix͏ʷ. X̣est y̓e st̓úlix͏ʷ.
In the beginning, when I saw this land, it was beautiful. This land was good.
Esyaʔ, esyaʔ u it cniɫc u es x͏ʷisti ɫu puti tas x͏ʷʔit ɫu suyapi.
Everything, all things were used from the land when there were not many white people.
K͏ʷem̓t esyaʔ ye qe sewɫk͏ʷ ye qe nsisy̓etk͏ʷ u x̣est es momoʔop. X̣est es en̓esi.
All our waters, our creeks were flowing along good. It was going good.
L šey̓ ye l sewɫk͏ʷ u ɫu x͏ʷʔit ɫu x͏ʷix͏ʷey̓uɫ — ɫu sw̓ew̓ɫ ɫu tʔe stem̓.
It is there in the water — that is where there were many animals — fish and other things.
K͏ʷem̓t šey̓ še nk̓͏ʷúlex͏ʷ qe sq͏ʷyúlex͏ʷ ɫiʔe l sewɫk͏ʷ….
And by that, we were wealthy from the water….
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) are made up of the Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d’Oreilles Tribes. Together, their aboriginal territories include over 20 million acres in western Montana, northern Idaho, and southern Canadian provinces. Today the reservation of the CSKT is just 1.3 million acres along the Flathead River in western Montana. The land currently supports a thriving community that has been recognized as a model of a self-sufficient sovereign nation. However, climate impacts threaten the diverse range of ecosystems on the reservation and throughout their homelands. For Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d’Oreilles peoples, these impacts have serious ramifications for their cultural, material, and spiritual well-being. Observed and expected changes that will impact the CSKT include increasing temperatures, lower summer stream flow, earlier and greater spring runoff, shifts in species ranges, increased likelihood of severe wildfires, and increased spread of invasive species.
Indigenous Peoples Literature 