Global InformationSpokane people information
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|
Sqeliz[citation needed] | |
|---|---|
 Tribal logo (ca. 2006)[1] | |
| Total population | |
| 2,900[2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States ( Washington) | |
| Languages | |
| English, Salish (dialect of Kalispel-Pend d'Oreille language)[3] | |
| Religion | |
| Dreamer Faith,[4] traditional tribal religion, Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Bitterroot Salish, Coeur D'Alene, Kootenai, Pend d'Oreilles, and other Interior Salish tribes |
The Spokan or Spokane people are a Native American Plateau tribe who inhabit the eastern portion of present-day Washington state and parts of northern Idaho in the United States of America.
The current Spokane Indian Reservation is located in northeastern Washington state, centered at Wellpinit (Sčecuwe[citation needed]).[5] The reservation is located almost entirely in Stevens County, but also includes two small parcels of land (totaling about 1.52 acres [0.62 ha]) in Lincoln County, including part of the Spokane River. In total, the reservation is about 615 square kilometres (237 sq mi).
The city of Spokane, Washington (Sʎˈetkʷ[citation needed]) is named after the tribe. It developed along the Spokane River, within the historic ancestral land of the tribe, but not within the reservation (see map).
The Spokane language (Npoqínišcn[citation needed]) belongs to the Interior Salishan language family, being a dialect of Montana Salish. Therefore they are close kin both by language and culture to the neighboring Bitterroot Salish (Flathead) (Tˈatˈʔayaqn[citation needed]) and Pend d'Oreilles. They were in loose alliance with other Plateau tribes - and sometimes the Kutenai (Sqlˈse[citation needed]), Crow Nation (Stemčiʔ[citation needed]) and Cree-Assiniboine (Iron Confederacy) (Ncoʕʷaqs) joined in - against their common enemy (Sˈmen), the mighty Blackfoot Confederacy (Sčqˈʷišni) and later Lakota people (Hułnʔixʷtˈusm) on the east. The precontact population of the Spokane people is estimated to be about 1,400 to 2,500 people. The populations of the tribe began to diminish after contact with settlers and traders due to mortality from new infectious diseases endemic among the Europeans, and to which the Spokane had no acquired immunity. By 1829 a Hudson's Bay Company trader estimated there were about 700 Spokane people in the area. Since the early 20th century, their population has been steadily increasing: in 1985 tribal enrolled membership was reported as 1,961. In 2019 the tribe reported its population to be around 2,900 people.[6]
- ^ spokanetribe.com/ (October 2006)
- ^ As of 2019, " Spokane Tribe " (retrieved March 16, 2015)
- ^ Pritzker, 280
- ^ Pritzker, 281
- ^ Spokane Tribe Language and Culture
- ^ Encyclopedia of American Indian History. Gale Virtual Reference Library: ABC-CLIO. 2008. Retrieved May 23, 2016.