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English 8 Article of the Week 9

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A Short History of the Spokane Indians

A Short History of the Spokane Indians From: Wellpinit School District. 11/27/12 http://www.wellpinit.org/shorthistory.

The Spokanes (Spokans) maintain that their name originated when a native beat on a hollow tree inside of which a serpent made a noise that sounded like "Spukcane." One day, they say, as their chief pondered the noise, vibrations radiated from his head, which gave the word the vague meaning "power from the brain." In early times the Spokanes called themselves the Spukanees, which is translated "sun peoples," or more freely, "children of the sun." Others maintain that the tribal name derived from that of one of their chiefs and from nothing else.

The tribe lived on in the general area of the Spokane River in three primary bands: the Upper Spokanes, whose general area extended from Spokane Falls east to around the present-day Washington-Idaho border; the Middle Spokanes, who were west of Spokane Falls in the vicinity of the Little Spokane River; and the Lower Spokanes, whose territory was farther west as far as the confluence of the Columbia and Spokane rivers. A city and county are but two of the many things bearing the Spokane name. Although they comprised three groups, the Spokane peoples coalesced during times of emergency. No native people of the Pacific Northwest had stronger family ties than the Spokanes did. Their successors are known officially today as the Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation, Washington. Location: Among the various locations where Spokane Indians may be found are the 133,344-acre Spokane Reservation, established by executive order on January 18, 1881, northwest of the city of Spokane (on which live the greatest number of the tribe); other reservations, such as the Flathead (formerly the Jocko) and the Coeur D'Alene; and off-reservation locations, among which the city of Spokane is important.

Numbers: The Spokane Reservation tribal membership was 1,961 in 1985. Authorities disagree in their estimates of the Spokane population in the immediate precontact period. Their estimates vary from 1,400 to 2,500. A Hudson's Bay Company trader reported their number at 704 in 1827. A United States census in 1910 placed them at 643. History: The Spokanes generally lived at peace with their Interior Salish neighbors, but were known to fight them at times. Conflicts were usually of short duration, lasting only until grievances were settled. With the acquisition of horses in the eighteenth century, the Spokanes, especially the Upper Spokanes, joined the Flatheads, the Kalispels, the Nez Perces, and other tribesmen in trading and buffalo-hunting expeditions across the Rocky Mountains on the Great Plains. The Spokanes' association with the Kalispels was so close that in the middle of the nineteenth century a government official stated that the Kalispels were an amalgam of Kalispels, Spokanes, and Flatheads. Occasionally conflicts erupted between the tribes from west of the Rocky Mountains and the Blackfeet and other Plains tribes, who regarded the former as poachers on their lands. The Spokanes made their first major entry into the white man's fur-trading complex in 1810 with the establishment of the North West Company's Spokane House, which a was followed the next year by the rival Pacific Fur Company's Fort Spokane. After the failure of the Pacific Fur Company and the merger of the North West and Hudson's Bay companies in 1821, the Spokanes had a trading post in their lands until 1826, when the post was removed north to Fort Colville. The Spokane tribe's first major confrontation with Christianity came around 1830 with the return of Spokane Garry (later Chief Garry) to his people, from an Anglican mission school at Red River (later Winnipeg). Between 1838 and 1848, missionaries, the Reverends Elkanah Walker and Cushing Eells were active among the Spokanes, having been sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The presence also of Roman Catholic missionaries, including Rev. Pierre De Smet, S.J., and his successors, further widened the divisions among the Spokane peoples. The Spokanes became involved in wars with whites by joining the Coeur d'Alenes and other Salish speakers, along with the Shahaptian-speaking Palouses, in fighting American troops under Maj. Edward Steptoe in May and Col. George Wright in September, 1858. The defeat of those tribesmen in two key fights with Wright's troops opened the interior of the Pacific Northwest to American settlement. Despite pleas by the younger Chief Joseph that the Spokanes enter the Nez Perce War of 1877 against the United States, the Spokanes remained neutral, like their Coeur d'Alene neighbors. There were two major agreements between the Spokanes and the federal government. On August 18, 1877, the Lower Spokanes agreed to move by November 1, 1877, to a tract of land that was established as the Spokane Reservation by executive order on January 18,1881. Then on March 18,1887, the Upper and Middle Spokanes agreed to remove to one of the following reservations: the Colville, the Flathead, or the Coeur d'Alene. That agreement was ratified July 13, 1892, and Congress later extended its benefits to the many Upper and Middle Spokanes who had removed to the Spokane Reservation. In 1897 there were 145 Spokanes on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation and 91 on the Flathead. In the meantime, trouble had broken out between the white citizenry of the rapidly growing city of Spokane and its Indians who had not removed to reservations. Several Spokanes, including Chief Garry, were involved with whites in wrangles over land titles.

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Among various acts pertaining to the Spokane Reservation was a joint congressional resolution of June 19, 1902, providing that the secretary of the interior make allotments in severalty to Indians. In 1906 a total of 651 members of the Spokane tribe were allotted 64,750 acres. Among subsequent acts was that authorizing the secretary of the interior to sell surplus unallotted and agricultural reservation lands.

In its earlier period the Spokane Reservation retained its primarily Protestant orientation. After the removal there of Chief Enoch and his Catholic followers in 1896, the religious picture altered greatly; of an estimated 600 reservation inhabitants, about half were of the Catholic faith. Helping Spokanes to adjust to the white men's ways was Chief Lot, who favored white teachers for reservation children. After Fort Spokane, at the confluence of the Columbia and Spokane rivers, was abandoned in 1898 by the military, a government boarding school was established there. In the early twentieth century, when the reservation was under the Colville Agency, its chief executive, Capt. John McA. Webster, worked diligently on behalf of the Spokanes to prepare their entry into the modern world. Ironically, many of the technical advances that he sought for them benefited the white community. Traditionalism remained strong among the Spokanes. The termination movement of the 1950s never gained much support among them. A 1961 study of Spokane assimilation patterns indicated that there was closer assimilation with white culture in the later nineteenth century than there was a half century later. Government and Claims: After the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934 (48 Stat. 984), it was not until May 12, 1951, that the Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation, Washington, approved its formal organization by a vote of 95 to 34. Its constitution and bylaws were approved by the commissioner of Indian affairs on June 2 7, 1951.

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On August 10, 1951, the tribe filed a petition with two claims (Docket 331) with the Indian Claims Commission. One claim alleged that the cession of the tribe's land to the United States under the agreement of March 18, 1887 (27 Stat. 120, 139; ratified July 13, 1892) had been for an unconscionably small consideration. A second, separate claim, filed by amended petitions for accounting purposes became Docket 331-A. The tribe alleged that the United States, which, as the tribe's guardian and trustee, held certain of its monies and properties in trust, had failed to account for their management, handling, and disposition. On February 3, 1969, the tribe and the United States filed a joint motion with the Indian Claims Commission, requesting that the two dockets (331 and 331-A) be consolidated.

The commission approved a settlement of $6.7 million for both dockets. The final judgment was rendered on February 21, 1967, after the tribe in December, 1966, had voted 155 to 3 to accept the compromise offer. About half the monies received were distributed to the approximately 1,600 tribal members, with shares for minors placed in trust. The other half of the monies was spent for various tribal programs, such as land acquisition, scholarships, resource development, credit, and financing. Later the Spokanes filed claims (Dockets 523-71 and 52471) that were transferred to the Court of Claims, for mismanagement of the Indian Claims Commission judgment funds and for other funds, such as Individual Indian Money accounts held in trust by the United States. The tribe in 1981 was awarded $271,431.23. Contemporary Life and Culture: The tribe, as well as some individual Spokanes, has benefited from sales of the uranium ore that was discovered on the reservation in 1954. When the Midnight Mine from which the ore came became exhausted, its operator, the Dawn Mining Company, began processing lowgrade ore. Another mine, the Sherwood, which is completely on tribal land, has been operated since 1966 by Western Nuclear. It too processes low-grade ore. From its operations the tribe receives a small dividend. The tribe has investigated the possibility of establishing a nuclear plant. A wood-veneer plant near the town of Ford on the eastern edge of the reservation was closed down in 1979. Spokanes on the reservation also engage in logging, stock raising, and farming. After a projected fruit-raising project failed to materialize, the tribe maintained that previous agreements for the construction of Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia (completed, 1940) had provided for rehabilitation of Spokane lands. Thus the tribe was able to water 2,000

acres by a $6 million irrigation system for production of crops. The lands are on benches along the Spokane River on the southern edge of the reservation.

Like other tribes, the Spokanes have been involved in conflicts with state and federal agencies over jurisdictions on the reservation. They seek compensation for the water stored behind Grand Coulee Dam and other dams on the Spokane River. From Little Falls Dam on the Spokane they also seek a percentage of the revenues from power production. The tribe won its fight for the waters of Chamokane Creek on the eastern edge of the reservation when the state of Washington was forbidden to approve the tapping of new wells in the aquifer of that creek.

Notes on my thoughts, reactions connections, and questions as I read:

Initially the Spokane Agency was a sub-agency under the Colville Agency and was located at Chewelah. In 1887 it was moved to the Spokane Reservation, which is across the Spokane River from Fort Spokane. In 1902 the sub-agency moved to Fort Spokane across the river into abandoned buildings next to the boarding school. In 1912 the Spokane Sub-agency became a full agency. At that time it moved to the city of Spokane, but in the same year was returned to the old agency grounds on the Spokane Reservation. Because its facilities were rundown, the agency returned in November, 1913, to Spokane, where it remained until 1915, when it was moved to Wellpinit on the Spokane Reservation. In 1925 the agency was reduced once more to the status of a sub-agency under the Colville Agency until 1970 the Spokanes again had their own agency at Wellpinit. In 1973 the administration of the Kalispel Reservation, formerly under the Northern Idaho Agency at Lapwai, was transferred to the Spokane Agency. With re-establishment of the Spokane Agency on the Spokane Reservation in 1970, health facilities were greatly expanded. Alcohol and drug-abuse programs were put in operation. Under BIA funding the tribe sponsored a summer work-experience program for its youth, who made trails and did cleanup work on the reservation. Under BIA control an Indian Action program trained tribal members in carpentry, heavy-equipment operation, electrical installation, clerical work, and other fields. On the reservation there have been Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, and Assemblies of God churches, which attempt to harmonize as much as possible the Christian faith with native traditions and ceremonials, such as root festivals. Among the classes offered in the Wellpinit school was a class on the Spokane language. The schools in the city of Spokane, which has a sizable Indian population, conducted classes which included Indian culture. The Alex Sherwood Memorial Center, dedicated June 7, 1975, fosters Spokane Indian culture. It is a large two-story stone structure housing tribal offices, a short-order food service, a library, and a museum. In 1979 a longhouse was dedicated near Wellpinit. Noted historically for their conservatism, the Spokanes in the 1960s and 1970s opposed termination of their reservation and of their relationship with the federal government. In 1973, when militants of the American Indian Movement came on the reservation, they made little headway with its Indians. As part of a land purchase program the tribe in August, 1982, purchased from heirs of an allottee a quarter section of land near Colville, Washington, for commercial development. Held in trust for the tribe, it is known as the Chewelah Homestead Allotment. Special Events: During a weekend in mid-May the Smoo-kee-shin Powwow, featuring Indian games and wardance contests, is held at the Community Center in Spokane. Near mid-June the Reservation Day Celebration is held at Wellpinit. In early August a WRA-approved rodeo is held at Wellpinit. On Labor Day weekend the Spokane Indian Days Celebration, featuring games, dances, and exhibits, is held at Wellpinit.

Notes on my thoughts, reactions connections, and questions as I read:

From Poets.Org, 11/27/12 http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/395

Complete the following: Write 3 things that you learned from these readings. ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Write 2 connections you made from this reading (T-T, TS, or T-W). ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ________ Write 1 question you have for Sherman Alexie. ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ ____________________