Aviva Directory » People & Daily Life » Ethnicity » American Indians » Colville

In this part of our guide to the American Indian people, the focus will be on the Colville people, a Pacific Northwest people whose name comes from its association with Fort Colville.

In their own Sylix language, they were known as Enselxcin, while the neighboring Coeur d'Alene knew them as Sqhwiyi̱'ɫpmsh, the Spokane called them Sxʷyelpetk, and French traders referred to them as Les Chaudières, a reference to Kettle Falls. Other outside groups called them Scheulpi, Chualpay, or Swhy-ayl-puh.

Prior to extended European or European-American contact, the Colville people were largely nomadic, moving from place to place in small groups. They fished for salmon on the Colville River at Kettle Falls, hunted mountain meadows, and gathered berries, nuts, seeds, roots, and other edible plants. During the winter, they made use of stored foods.

They became more mobile after acquiring horses in the late 18th century, after which they traveled to hunt buffalo. They also traded with neighboring tribes and, later, European-Americans.

Their clothing was made of bark and fur, often decorated with shell ornaments from the Pacific Ocean, porcupine quills, animal teeth, and claws.

Summer villages included longhouses made of tule matting over wooden frames, while winter villages consisted of a number of structures, such as longhouses and subterranean pit houses, as well as a sweat lodge and various ceremonial buildings. While traveling on horseback, they adopted the tipi as a portable home.

Prior to reservation governments, Colville villages were autonomous, presided over by a chief and a sub-chief. Any married adult could be eligible as a candidate for these positions, but honesty, integrity, and diplomacy were required characteristics.

There were advantages and disadvantages to the introduction of Europeans to the area. The Colville people did a brisk trade with the Hudson Bay Company for a time, and, after the Jesuit St. Paul's Mission was established in 1846, most of the upper Columbia River tribes were converted to Catholicism.

Next, of course, came reservation life. In 1872, the Colville tribe was relocated to a reservation in eastern Washington named for them. Managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the federally recognized tribe includes members of twelve bands, including the Colville, Arrow Lakes, Chelan, Entiat, Methow, Sinkiuse-Columbia, Nespelem, Nez Perce, Okanagan, Palus, Sanpoil, and Wenatchi.

The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation was formed by the executive order of President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872. Originally, the reservation was a large area with a wide variety of habitats and resources, but its size was later reduced, as some of the best lands were made available for European-American settlement.

Today, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation owns and operates a variety of entities that serve the tribe and general public. The Colville Tribal Enterprise Corporation oversees several enterprise divisions that include a gaming division and three casinos, a wood products company, retail stores, and financial services. The tribe also maintains a tribal museum, community centers, and the Fort Okanogan Interpretive Center, as well as the Lake Roosevelt Community Health Centers.

Educational programs on the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, are operated under various programs and entities, assisted by the Colville Tribal Education Assistance Program, and funded, in part, by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Online resources representing the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and any other organization comprised of Colville Indians are appropriate for this category, including tribal businesses, enterprises, schools, medical facilities, museums, programs, events, and other entities, whether operated by the tribe or by individual members of the tribe.

 

 

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