The SalishSamantha Bannister and Tera Krone

Who are the Salish?Salish creation:Created by the Old Man

in the Sky after he dried the land.

Took the last mud balls and fashioned people.

Sent Coyote to teach the Salish how to survive.

Creation

Our story begins when the Creator put the animal people on this earth. He sent Coyote ahead as this world was full of evils and not yet fit for mankind. Coyote came with his brother Fox, to this big island, as the elders call this land, to free it of these evils. They were responsible for creating many geographical formations and providing good and special skills and knowledge for man to use. Coyote, however left many faults such as greed, jealousy, hunger, envy and many other imperfections that we know of today.

Who are the Salish?Proper name: SelinSqéliö—the peopleLive in the Flathead areaHunters/gatherersLived in permanent dwellings Chief EagleReceived horses in 1730 from the Spanish (traveling,

hunting, etc.)Adopted a plains culture

1810 – 33 lodges, 440 people, 500 horses (Lewis and Clark diaries)

Salishan branch of Algonquian-Wakashan language.

Salish HistorySalish tribe was established

by breaking up a much larger tribe unsustainable by hunting/gathering

Overtime the Salish, Pen d’Oreille, and Kootenai developed dialectically different languages

Historical conflicts with Gros Ventre, Crow, Cree, Assiniboine, Cheyenne, and Sioux tribes

The Reservation LocationCreated by Hellgate Treaty of 1855Flathead, MT1,243,000 acresFour counties:

Flathead, Lake, Missoula, Sanders

Reservation PopulationThree tribes:

Salish, Pen d’Oreille, Kootenai

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

6,961 enrolled members4,244 live on the

reservation

Reservation Land“The earth is our historian; it is made of our

ancestor’s bones. It provides us with nourishment, medicine, and comfort. It is our source of our independence; it is our

Mother. We do not dominate Her, but harmonize with Her.”

56% of land is owned by Salish/Kootenai citizens

451,000 acres of forested, agricultural, prairie, watersheds, and lakes

322,00 acres of commercial forestFirst tribes to designate a wilderness area

Tribal College Salish Kootenai College The Bison Pablo, MT Established in 1977 Accredited in 1984

Mission Statement:

The mission of Salish Kootenai College is to provide quality postsecondary educational opportunities for Native Americans, locally and from throughout the United States. The College will promote community and individual development and perpetuate the cultures of the Confederated Tribes of the Flathead Nation.

Salish Kootenai CollegeBachelor of Arts Degree

BusinessPsychologySocial Work

Bachelor of Science DegreeComputer EngineeringEarly Childhood EducationElementary EducationSecondary Science EducationEnvironmental ScienceForestryInformation TechnologyNursingHydrologyLife Science

Salish Kootenai CollegeAssociate of Arts Degree

Business ManagementEarly Childhood EducationLiberal ArtsNative American StudiesPsychology

Associate of Science DegreeElementary EducationEngineering GraphicsEnvironmental ScienceForestryLife ScienceInformational TechnologyNursing

Salish Kootenai CollegeAssociate Applied Science Degree

Business TechnologyDental AssistingMedia Design

Certificate of CompletionDental Assisting TechnologyHighway Construction TrainingMedical Office ClerkNative American StudiesOffice Professions

Resourceshttp://www.native-languages.org/salish.h

tmhttp://www.cskt.org/hc/salish.htm ****http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/

tribes/salish/salishanhistory.htmhttp://www3.cesa10.k12.wi.us/ecosyste

ms/prairies/people/fhead/flathed.htmhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Salis

h.aspxhttp://www.montanatribes.org/main.php?

page=introhttp://www.montanatribes.org/links_&_re

sources/tribes/Flathead_Reservation.pdf

Salish Hellgate Treaty

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation consist of the Bitteroot Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d’ Oreilles Tribes.

All three of the tribes were called the Flathead Indians. The Flathead Indians called themselves Salish, which meant the people.

The tribes first negotiated the Hellgate Treaty with the United States in 1855.

Salish Hellgate TreatyThe Hellgate Treaty was plagued with

translation and language issues from the start.Tribal members came to the meeting assuming

they were already forming friendships with non-Indian members.

Non-Indians goal was to claim lands and resources.

Isaac Stevens, governor and superintendent of Indian Affairs for Washington wanted to obtain land of the Bitterroot Valley from the Salish.

Salish HellgateTreatyWith the resistance of Chief Victor(Many

Horses), Isaac Stevens inserted into the treaty the complication of language, that defined the Bitterroot Valley as a “conditional reservation” for the Salish. Chief Victor signed the document, and was convinced that the agreement would not require his people to leave their homeland.

After the 1864 gold rush pressure mounted upon the Salish as new Montana territory was established.

Salish Hellgate Treaty

In 1870 Chief Victor (Many Horses) passed and was succeeded by his son, Chief Charlot. Chief Charlot also like his father, believed in nonviolent resistance.

In 1871 citizens lobbied President Ulysses S. Grant and declared that the survey required by the treaty had been conducted and that the Flathead reservation would be better for the Salish.

Salish Hellgate TreatyWith Grant’s executive , Congress sent

a delegation to make arrangements with the tribe for their removal.

Chief Charlot did not follow the orders or their demands and he refused to sign any agreement to leave their land. What happened after that is that Chief Charlot’s signature was forged onto the official copy of the agreement that was sent on to the Senate.

Salish Hellgate TreatyThe Hellgate meetings became clearer to the

Salish and Pend d’ Oreille people over time, and they realized that in the written document the tribes had ceded to the United States more than twenty million acres.

1.3 million acres was reserved for the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Charlot signed an agreement to leave the Bitteroot Valley in November 1889. In 1891 troops from Fort Missoula forced Chief Charlot out of the Bitteroot and marched the band of members to the Flathead Reservation.

Salish Hellgate Treaty

The three tribes, Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d’ Oreille remained at the Reservation and all could speak the Salish Language.

~Part of a Speech that was printed in 1876 which showed some of Chief Charlot’s frustration:

Since our forefathers first beheld him...[the whiteman] has filled graves with our bones...His course is destruction. He spoils what the Spirit who gave us this country made beautiful and clean. But that is not enough. He wants us to pay him besides his enslaving our country...and...that degradation of a Tribe who never were his enemies. What is he? Who sent him here? We were happy when he first came...To take and to lie should be burned on his forehead, as he burns the sides of my horses with his own name. Had heaven's Chief burnt him with some mark, we might have refused him. No, we did not refuse him in his weakness. In his poverty we fed, we cherished him-yes, befriended him, and showed the fords and defiles of our lands...We owe him nothing. He owes us more than he will pay...His laws never gave us a blade of grass nor a tree nor a duck nor a grouse nor a trout...You know that he comes as long as he lives, and takes more and more, and dirties what he leaves."

Salish Language SchoolSalish Language Immersion School-the

only Salish school in the world is located in Arlee, Montana on the Flathead Reservation.

The language school offers a full academic program through the view of the Salish world.

The goal of the program: To have students become conversationally fluent for their age.

Salish Language SchoolThe academics that are taught at the Salish

Language school are math, language arts, social studies, and science. All core subjects are taught in Salish.

Curriculum themes taught at the school are organized around the seasons. The traditions their ancestors lived are incorporated into all areas of the curriculum. Stories and beliefs are passed and told through the language from the oral histories of their elders. Students get a unique view of the world through Salish.

Salish Language SchoolSalish Language Immersion School also

helps with developing Cultural Leadership.

The students at the school are taught to respect all things around them. They are taught and presented with challenges that built their leadership skills in their culture. They are also presenting their Salish culture to organizations outside of their community.

Information from www.salishworld.com

Salish language SchoolIn August of 2011 a second edition of

the Salish Language Translation Dictionary was printed and copies are in the school and used in the school each day. Author, Tachini Pete wanted to have elders of the Salish tribe be involved with building the dictionary.

Today there are around 50 fluent Salish speakers and a few of them are under the age of 75.

Salish Language SchoolCopies of the book have been gifted to

Salish-Kootenai College and the People’s Center in Pablo. The book is also available for purchase on www.salishworld.com.

The profits from the book will go to The Salish Language Institute (Nkwusm) or to help fund later editions of the book, Pete said. Preservation of the Salish Language is the most important part of the dictionary’s use.

Salish Traditions~One of the main traditions in the Salish

Indian tribe is the art of storytelling.Most of their storytelling is told through

Coyote stories that are told by tribal members.

Most of the stories are told in the winter when people gathered together waiting for for Spring.

Resourceswww.helenaair.com/independent

record article on 16 January 2011, by Jenny Cederberg.

www.salishworld.comwww.opi.mt.gov/pdf/IndianEd/IEFA/

FlatheadTimeline.pdf