The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho is located in the northern tip of Idaho a few miles south of the Canadian line along the Kootenai River. The river has always been of extreme importance and fish from here were a mainstay of their diet. Kootenai Falls is still a sacred place. Their oral history tells they were created by Quilxka Nupika, the Supreme Being, and were here to keep and guard the land forever, something they still strive to do.

In this excerpt, Indian Country Today talked with tribal chairman Gary Aitken Jr. who discussed the following list of things he felt others should know about the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho: “There are five bands in Canada, one in Montana and us here in Idaho. We’re all interconnected. There are slight differences but we all understand each other.” He spoke of slight cultural differences. “There are more elk on the Canadian plains but we lived on and used the river a lot. We fished and hunted more deer and ducks.”

“The Ktunaxa language is an isolate, a very unique language. It’s one of seven isolates in the world.” Aitken explained. “All the bands once spoke that language and still do. There are regional differences, like slang, but we fully understand each other.” The tribe is currently developing a computer program to help teach the youngsters with the blueprint of a language program used by the neighboring Kalispel Tribe. “I didn’t grow up speaking our language,” Aitken said. “My dad understood it but didn’t speak it. What I learned I learned from curiosity asking my grandmother. My children in turn, we’re in a race. I believe they know more than me. It’s sad it dwindled so far down but at the same time it’s looking up.”

“The canoe was unique to our region, unique to our tribe. It’s also been called the Kootenai canoe,” Aitken explained. “It’s very similar to the Kalispel canoe but ours go all the way down to a point.” The nose shape comes from the shape of a sturgeon and this enables the canoe to more easily glide through rushes. None have been made here in many years but plans are to have a Ktunaxa canoe builder come from Canada and teach others here how to build them to help keep the culture alive.

War of 1974 – Why would the tribe, with less than 70 members, declare war against the United States? “We were in dire straits at that time,” he said. “People were dying from all sorts of things. We had elders that died of exposure and people living in such dilapidated houses the winter winds came through the cracks, like being outside. Conditions were deplorable. My grandmother, Amy Trice, was chairwoman at the time. They needed to do something. It was a big cry for attention, to say ‘look at our plight.’ We try to do things you ask us to do but don’t have the wherewithal to keep doing these things.’ We couldn’t wait any longer. It was meant to be a cold war, a peaceful war, but people were dedicated to the cause and knew it would bring on a backlash and could end up taking lives. So we declared war. It was a war of the pen. A lot of the locals were scared and upset. A lot of tribal members sent their families away because they were afraid for their well being. We had a lot of support from the American Indian Movement. Russell Means came over with some of his group. But it ended well. President Ford deeded us our 12.5 acres at the Mission where we stayed. That’s where we started. We got our recognition and were able to get the land base which allowed us to get more services. It was a turning point for our tribe.” The tribe now owns about 2,500 acres.

Today, 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 these 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. (sources: Indian Country Today and The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

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