Spokane (tribe)
Encyclopedia
The Spokane are a Native American
people in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state
of Washington. The Spokane Indian Reservation, at 47°55′42"N 118°02′45"W, is located in eastern Washington, almost entirely in Stevens County, but includes two very small parcels of land (totaling 1.52 acre
s) and part of the Spokane River
in northeastern Lincoln County.
The city of Spokane, Washington
takes its name, which literally means "children of the sun" or "Sun People", from them. Their language belongs to the Interior Salishan family. According to Lewis and Clark
, in the early 19th century they lived in the vicinity of the Spokane River
and numbered around 600. The 2000 census
reported the resident population of the reservation at 2,004 persons, living on a land area of 615.168 km² (237.518 sq mi).
, living by fishing
, hunting and gathering. Spokane territory once sprawled out over three million acres (12,000 km²) of land. The language they spoke is classified as belonging to the Interior Salish
group; it is closely related to Okanagan and others in the area.
The Spokanes constructed permanent villages for the winter by the river for fishing and huts in the mountains for gathering. Other Indian people began to influence the Spokanes introducing them to plank house
s and horses. The first white men to contact the Spokane were explorers and fur traders. A trading post known as Spokane House
was constructed near the confluence of Spokane
and Little Spokane River
s around 1810. Samuel Johnson, the first missionary
to visit the Spokane, arrived in 1836.
As with other tribes, the Spokanes suffered from introduced diseases (including smallpox
, syphilis
, influenza
) and land-grabbing brought by white settlers and exacerbated by lack of legal controls to prevent injustice. By the 1860s homesteaders
were driving into the West pushing off the original inhabitants, such as the Spokanes. Some consequences of the movement of the white men were the destruction of the burial grounds and ancient villages, the suppression of original Indian languages and cultures
, and the raping of native women. The Spokane Indians, among many other Indians, were given English names. The Spokanes made a number of agreements with the federal governments in the late 19th century. In 1877 the Lower Spokane relocated to the Spokane Reservation which was declared a reservation in 1881. In 1887 the Upper and Middle Spokane agreed to move to the Colville Flathead Reservation
.
The territory the Spokanes live on now consists of 154,000 acres (623 km²), of which they possess only ten percent of that territory; the rest is held by the government.
Uranium
was discovered on the reservation and mined from an open pit 1956-1962 and 1969–1982, at the Midnite Mine
. The now inactive mine is on the list of Superfund cleanup sites
with contaminates including metals, radionuclides and acidic drainage.
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
people in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Washington. The Spokane Indian Reservation, at 47°55′42"N 118°02′45"W, is located in eastern Washington, almost entirely in Stevens County, but includes two very small parcels of land (totaling 1.52 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s) and part of the Spokane River
Spokane River
The Spokane River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately long, in northern Idaho and eastern Washington in the United States. It drains a low mountainous area east of the Columbia, passing through the city of Spokane, Washington.-Description:...
in northeastern Lincoln County.
The city of Spokane, Washington
Spokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
takes its name, which literally means "children of the sun" or "Sun People", from them. Their language belongs to the Interior Salishan family. According to Lewis and Clark
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
, in the early 19th century they lived in the vicinity of the Spokane River
Spokane River
The Spokane River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately long, in northern Idaho and eastern Washington in the United States. It drains a low mountainous area east of the Columbia, passing through the city of Spokane, Washington.-Description:...
and numbered around 600. The 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
reported the resident population of the reservation at 2,004 persons, living on a land area of 615.168 km² (237.518 sq mi).
History
For thousands of years the Spokanes lived near the Spokane RiverSpokane River
The Spokane River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately long, in northern Idaho and eastern Washington in the United States. It drains a low mountainous area east of the Columbia, passing through the city of Spokane, Washington.-Description:...
, living by fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, hunting and gathering. Spokane territory once sprawled out over three million acres (12,000 km²) of land. The language they spoke is classified as belonging to the Interior Salish
Interior Salish
The Interior Salish languages are one of the two main subgroups of the Salishan language family, the other being Coast Salish. It can be further subdivided into Northern and Southern Interior Salish...
group; it is closely related to Okanagan and others in the area.
The Spokanes constructed permanent villages for the winter by the river for fishing and huts in the mountains for gathering. Other Indian people began to influence the Spokanes introducing them to plank house
Plank House
The indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest constructed their homes, a plank house from the biodegradable cedar tree.The American Heritage Dictionary defines longhouse as "a long communal dwelling, especially of certain Native American, Polynesian, and Indonesian peoples." The homes commonly...
s and horses. The first white men to contact the Spokane were explorers and fur traders. A trading post known as Spokane House
Spokane House
Spokane House was a fur trading post founded in 1810 by the British-Canadian North West Company under direction of David Thompson. The post was sited on a peninsula where the Spokane River and Little Spokane River meet. Today this site is in Spokane County in the U.S...
was constructed near the confluence of Spokane
Spokane River
The Spokane River is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately long, in northern Idaho and eastern Washington in the United States. It drains a low mountainous area east of the Columbia, passing through the city of Spokane, Washington.-Description:...
and Little Spokane River
Little Spokane River
The Little Spokane River is a major tributary of the Spokane River, approximately 35 mi long, in eastern Washington in the United States. It drains a rural area of forested foothills and a farming valley north of the city of Spokane along the Idaho-Washington border.It rises in southern Pend...
s around 1810. Samuel Johnson, the first missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
to visit the Spokane, arrived in 1836.
As with other tribes, the Spokanes suffered from introduced diseases (including smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
, syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
, influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
) and land-grabbing brought by white settlers and exacerbated by lack of legal controls to prevent injustice. By the 1860s homesteaders
Homesteading
Broadly defined, homesteading is a lifestyle of simple self-sufficiency.-Current practice:The term may apply to anyone who follows the back-to-the-land movement by adopting a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle. While land is no longer freely available in most areas of the world, homesteading...
were driving into the West pushing off the original inhabitants, such as the Spokanes. Some consequences of the movement of the white men were the destruction of the burial grounds and ancient villages, the suppression of original Indian languages and cultures
Cultural imperialism
Cultural imperialism is the domination of one culture over another. Cultural imperialism can take the form of a general attitude or an active, formal and deliberate policy, including military action. Economic or technological factors may also play a role...
, and the raping of native women. The Spokane Indians, among many other Indians, were given English names. The Spokanes made a number of agreements with the federal governments in the late 19th century. In 1877 the Lower Spokane relocated to the Spokane Reservation which was declared a reservation in 1881. In 1887 the Upper and Middle Spokane agreed to move to the Colville Flathead Reservation
Colville Indian Reservation
The Colville Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Washington, inhabited and managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, which is recognized by the United States of America as an American Indian Tribe...
.
The territory the Spokanes live on now consists of 154,000 acres (623 km²), of which they possess only ten percent of that territory; the rest is held by the government.
Uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
was discovered on the reservation and mined from an open pit 1956-1962 and 1969–1982, at the Midnite Mine
Midnite Mine
The Midnite Mine is a currently inactive uranium mine in the Selkirk Mountains, about eight miles from Wellpinit, Stevens County, Washington. The mine was listed as Superfund site on 5/11/2000....
. The now inactive mine is on the list of Superfund cleanup sites
Superfund
Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...
with contaminates including metals, radionuclides and acidic drainage.
Notable members
- Sherman AlexieSherman AlexieSherman Joseph Alexie, Jr. is a writer, poet, filmmaker, and occasional comedian. Much of his writing draws on his experiences as a Native American. Two of Alexie's best known works are The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven , a book of short stories and Smoke Signals, a film...
(Spokane-Coeur d'Alene), author and filmmaker - Gloria BirdGloria BirdGloria Bird is a poet and scholar and member of the Spokane Tribe of Washington State. She is one of the founding members of the Northwest Native American Writers Association.-Awards:...
, poet and scholar - Chief GarryChief GarrySpokane Garry was a Native American leader of the Middle Spokane tribe. He also acted as a liaison between white settlers and American Indian tribes in the area which is now eastern Washington state....
, 19th-century tribal leader and diplomat - Charlene TetersCharlene TetersCharlene Teters is a Native American artist, educator, and lecturer. Her paintings and art installations have been featured in over 21 major exhibitions, commissions, and collections. She is a member of the Spokane Tribe, and her Spokane name is Slum Tah...
, artist and anti-mascot activist
External links
- Spokane Tribe of Indians, official site
- History and Culture, presented in the Website of the Wellpinit School District
- Spokane Tribe of Indians Language Program
- The Spokan Indians, by John Alan Ross, published 2011, ISBN 978-0-9832311-0-3, the definitive ethnography