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Colville Tribes. The Colville Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in the Northwestern United States, in north central Washington, inhabited and managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, which are federally recognized. Established in 1872, the reservation currently consists of 2,825,000 acres (4,410 sq mi; 11,430 km ...
The Twelve Bands compose the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation: Chelan, Chief Joseph Band of Nez Perce, Colville, Entiat, Lakes, Methow, Moses-Columbia, Nespelem, Okanogan, Palus, San Poil, Wenatchi
- History
- Important Dates
- Religion
- Indian Shaker Religion
- Language
- Colville Words
- Government
- Economy
- Daily Life
- Chipmunk and The Owl Sisters
Early European contact
The first meeting between the Colville and Europeans may have occurred before 1800, but no records of the contact exist. Around 1782–83 a smallpox epidemic swept through the area, indicating that Europeans were nearby. Later other contagious diseases would have killed most of the tribe if Roman Catholic priests had not given the people vaccines. In addition to diseases the Europeans also introduced horses. When the Colville obtained horses in the eighteenth century, their territory expanded....
1782–83:Smallpox epidemic strikes the Colville population. 1825:Fort Colville is established. 1846: Treaty of Washington divides Okanagan territory and gives United Statescontrol of the Oregon Territory. 1872:The Colville Reservation is established. 1892:U.S. government takes the northern half of the reservation. 1938:Constitution is approved; Colv...
The Colville refer to their Supreme Being by various names. One is “The Chief Above.” The people believe that all things found in nature—animals, rocks, plants—contain spirits that can be called on for aid in healing, raising crops, and making war. Young men and women take part in a vision quest—a ceremony in which they undergo a secluded training ...
John Slocum, a member of the Squaxin tribe, founded the Indian Shaker Religion in 1881 near Olympia, Washington. Slocum became ill and seemed to have died; he returned to life with a mission to found a new church. About a year later, before starting his missionary work, Slocum fell ill again. As his wife, Mary, approached his sickbed, she trembled ...
The Salishan language family includes twenty-three languages divided into three major branches: Coast Salish, Tsamosan Salish, and Interior Salish. The Interior branch spoken by the Colville is the most popular of the three branches. In the early twenty-first century more than three thousand people speak the language. Elders are training young spea...
naks… “one”usil… “two”kalis… “three”mus… “four”In the early days each village was an independent unit headed by a chief. The chief was usually the oldest member of the group. He decided when it was time to move to a new area and was in charge of running ceremonies and keeping the peace within the village. Usually the chief’s younger brother took over the job when the chief died. In modern times...
Early lifestyle
For centuries the tribe subsisted as hunter-gatherers, living mainly on fish. They gathered roots and berries and hunted deer and small game, first for food and later for furs to trade. Groups of men worked together to drive deer over cliffs or into blinds. The Colville had four main hunts a year: 1) deer and sheep in spring; 2) elk, bear, sheep, and deer in late fall; 3) deer in midwinter; and 4) sheep in late winter. After they acquired horses, they also hunted bison. Once the Canadian bord...
Modern economy
Today the tribe’s main natural resource is their forests. They own 1.4 million acres of valuable timberlands, and timber is processed at their sawmill and wood treatment plant. Their wood products are marketed worldwide. To replenish their forests, a tribal nursery grows and replants trees. In addition, Colville Tribal Enterprise Corporation (CTEC) owns a construction company that uses the lumber. The company builds tribal housing and public facilities on the reservation and has secured const...
Buildings
Like many tribes who lived in cold climates, the Colville maintained both winter and summer homes. Their early winter dwellings were about 45 feet (14 meters) in diameter and were located almost completely underground. These circular lodgings were entered through a hole in the roof. Later homes were lodges, 20 to 60 feet (6 to 18 meters) long and covered with several layers of tule mats, fir branches, and bark. The Colville dug a few feet into the dirt so their homes were partially undergroun...
Manufacturing
Living near so many rivers and lakes, the Colville often traveled in canoes made of white pine or birch bark. They also used trees to create many useful items—baskets from birch bark, coiled cedar, or spruce roots; bows and arrow shafts of juniper; and snowshoes from a variety of woods. They wove blankets from goat’s wool or strips of rabbit’s fur and made sacks from bulrushes, bark, and hemp. To keep food fresh, they inflated animal intestines using a tube made from an elderberry stem. They...
Clothing and adornment
In winter Colville women wore tunics with leggings and moccasins. Men wore leggings, moccasins, and breechcloths (flaps of animal skin that covered the front and back and were suspended from the waist). The Colville fringed, punctured, and embroidered their clothing using porcupine quills and decorated them with seeds, hoofs, shells, elk’s teeth, tufts of hair, feathers, and ermine skins. Both sexes added fur robes for warmth. They lined their moccasins with bunchgrass, goat hair, or down to...
This Colville tale is part of a much longer tale that tells how Coyote tricks the Owl Sisters to save Chipmunk. It is set during the time animals had human characteristics, so the Owl Sisters have hands. This selection from the story explains why chipmunks have stripes on their backs. Grandmother sends Chipmunk to pick berries, but warns her not to...
The U.S. government established the Colville Indian Reservation in 1872, providing a permanent home for a dozen nomadic groups of aboriginal people on and around the Columbia River. Credit: Library of Congress. Kettle Falls had been a historic salmon fishing spot for Native Americans for around 7,000 years. Credit: Northwest Museum of Arts and ...
- American Experience
Sep 2, 2017 · 12 Bands. “We have 12 bands, sometimes also referred to as tribes, which make up the Colville Reservation. These include the Arrow Lakes (Sinixt), Chelan, Colville, Entiat, Nespelem, Okanogan, Methow, Moses-Columbia, Joseph Band of Nez Perce, Palus, San Poll, and Wenatchi.”. 12 bands make up the Colville Confederated tribes.
- Jack Mcneel
Aug 22, 2023 · 1. The name Colville is coined from the Scheulpi of Chualpay native people’s association with Fort Colville, named after the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Andrew Colvile. Earlier, the French traders called them Les Chaudières (“the Kettles”), referring to them occupying Kettle Falls. 2.
The Colville Indian Reservation is in the Northeastern part of Washington State not too far from the city of Spokane. The original reservation was established by Presidential executive order on April 9, 1872. [11] The reservation then shifted several times and shrunk dramatically in size in the months and years after its establishment.
