Colville Indian Reservation in Washington, United States
The Colville Indian Reservation locates in north-central Washington, in the northwest United States.
Therefore, The reserve establishes 150 years ago in 1872 and now covers 2,825,000 acres largely in Okanogan’s southeastern corner of the county and the southern half of Ferry County. Another trust acreage in eastern Washington is included, including in Chelan County, just northwest of Chelan.
Moreover, the Colville Indian Reservation is located on the Columbia River, downstream of the Teck Cominco smelter in Trail, British Columbia, Canada.
The Sanpoil region is a center in the Sanpoil River Valley and extends north to the current Colville Reservation line.
However, the name of the reservation was adopted from Fort Colville, which was called after Andrew Colville, a London governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, the British colonists.
Keller Public Schools educates kids in grades K through 6. Colville Tribes kids attend junior and senior high school at Wilbur High School, Lake Roosevelt High School, or Republic High School. Keller students rarely attend the primarily European-American community of Republic, Washington, because of previous negative beliefs of Native Americans. Discrimination and negative opinions of students find in Wilbur, Coulee Dam, and other towns around the reservation.
Tribes in Colville Indian Reservation
Although there are 12 tribes, the Confederated Tribes have 8,700 people descended from twelve indigenous tribes. The Colville, Nespelem, Sanpoil, Palus, Wenatchi, Chelan, Entiat, Methow, southern Okanagan, Sinkiuse-Columbia, and Nez Perce of Chief Joseph’s Band are the tribes’ English names. After the Colville reservation was founded, several members of the Spokane tribe moved there.
Languages of Tribes
Likewise, Colville-Okanagan, a Salishan language, is the most widely spoken indigenous language on the reservation. Excluding the Nez Perce and Palus, who speak Sahaptian languages, other tribes speak various Salishan languages.
Communities in Colville Indian Reservation
However, there are many communities:
- Coulee Dam (part, population 915)
- Desautel
- Elmer City
- Inchelium
- Keller
- Nespelem
- Nespelem Community (Agency area)
- North Omak
- Okanogan (a small part, population 2)
- Omak (part, population 742)
- Twin Lakes
What did the Colville people eat?
The traditional Colville diet, as well as that of other tribes in the region, consisted of “roots, berries, meat, and fish.” Wild strawberries, deer and elk, and other species of camas were among the delicacies on Noyes’s PowerPoint that she was unable to bring in.
Legislative districts of Colville Indian Reservation
Furthermore, there are four Districts:
The Okanogan Valley and the eastern portion of the city of Omak make up the Omak District. It is the most populous district by the population of reservation. The Okanogan River forms the western border of the reservation and separates it from the rest of Omak.
The Nespelem District encompasses the west-central region of the reservation. It includes the Nespelem Valley and a portion of Coulee Dam. The Reservation Offices are on the Bureau of Indian Affairs Agency site near Nespelem, in the district. Within the town borders of Coulee Dam, the Columbia River also functions as a reserve border.
Keller District: This includes the east-central portion of the reservation. It encompasses the San Poil Valley to the Columbia River’s mouth, as well as a tributary and the San Poil River and the margin of the man-made Lake Roosevelt.
The northeast portion of the reservation calls the Inchelium District.
