On July 16, 1855, eighteen leaders of the Flathead, Kootenai, and Upper Pend d'Oreilles Indians signed an agreement with the United States government, ceding their title to almost all the land in western Montana and establishing the Flathead Indian Reservation. Born of confusion and disagreement, the Hell Gate Treaty is the legal basis for the modern relationship between the tribes and the federal government. In the Name of the Salish &amp; Kootenai Nation reproduces the complete text of the Hell Gate Treaty and collects previously published documents relating to the treaty, among them the official proceedings of the treaty council, Gustavus Sohon's portraits of many of the treaty signers, and letters from the Jesuit priest, Adrian Hoecken, who was present at the treaty deliberations. These documents are presented in the hope that they will inspire further questions and research.

In the Name of the Salish and Kootenai Nation: The 1855 Hell Gate Treaty and the Origin of the Flathead Indian Reservation

History

Americas

Salish Kootenai College Press

These legends are still told by the Ktunaxa (pronounced tun-a-ha') or Kootenai people living in the Rocky Mountain region in Western Montana, Northern Idaho, and British Columbia. Coyote, or Skinkuc, is the main character of about half of these stories, which have been repeated by parents, grandparents, and elders since ancient times. Through these stories, Ktunaxa children have learned never to waste any part of wild game or other food. They have learned respect for all of creation and a personal regard for all life. The experiences of Coyote show how greed, crooked dealings, and boundless appetite can cause trouble. The legends tell of the humanity, the spirit of all creation. Illustrations by Ktunaxa artists appear on every page, adding to the tales' appeal for readers of all ages. Carefully translated into English, the legends offer a glimpse into the history of story-telling and Ktunaxa Indian tradition.

Ktunaxa Legends

Children's Books

Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths

The 1880s were a critical decade for the Salish and Kootenai people of the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana. The recent loss of the plains buffalo herds forced tribal members to look for new ways to support themselves. The priests and schools at St. Ignatius Mission taught many of the skills they needed, but not without simultaneously pressuring the Indian people to abandon valuable elements of Salish and Kootenai culture. A Pretty Village is a collection of original documents describing life at St. Ignatius Mission and the interactions between missionaries and tribal people. Assembled from St. Ignatius church records, letters written by missionaries, reports of visiting newspapermen, government documents, and other sources, the collection provides detailed descriptions of events that affected the Indian community and in so doing takes the reader on a trip through time that will fascinate general readers and historians alike.

A Pretty Village: Documents of Worship and Culture Change, St. Ignatius Mission, Montana, 1880-1889

The Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana is home to the Salish, Pend d’Oreille, and Kootenai Indian people. Between 2005 and 2006 author Maggie Plummer listened to a cross-section of voices representing the tribes on the reservation and published profiles in the tribal newspaper, the Char-Koosta News. This book collects these interviews and preserves a slice of the recent history of the Flathead Reservation community.

Passing It On: Voices from the Flathead Indian Reservation

Plummer, Maggie

Distributed on behalf of the Salish Kootenai College Press Medicine for the Salish Language includes conjugations of most Salish verbs and sample sentences providing context for the use of many words. A short introduction to Salish language grammar is also included. Compiled by Tachini Pete, this dictionary is used for language revitalization work on the reservation.

Medicine for the Salish Language: English to Salish Translation Dictionary, Second Edition

Reference

Pete, Tachini

Foreign Language Study & Reference

Ancient Wisdom, Modern Science is a collection of essays examining the experiences of Native American tribally controlled colleges and universities working to “Indianize” their math and science curricula. Inspired by the writings of the late Vine Deloria and other Indian scholars, tribal college faculty and key administrators are attempting to take control of the science curriculum and create courses and entire degree programs that link Native and Western ways of knowing. With growing confidence, colleges are validating traditional tribal knowledge and exploring scientific concepts from a Native perspective.

Ancient Wisdom, Modern Science: The Integration of Native Knowledge at Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities

Published by the Salish Kootenai College Press Montana Memories is the life story of a mixed-blood Indian woman in western Montana and southern Alberta during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Born in 1866 to a white trader and a Shoshone and Salish Indian mother, Emma Magee saw Montana change from Indian Country to a part of industrial America. When she was born, mixed-blood Indians were socially part of the white community in Montana. By the time she died in 1950, however, mixed-bloods were considered Indians. In the memoirs of her long and dramatic life, Magee recounts many interesting aspects of early Montana:
-Her father’s experiences as a free trader in the Rocky Mountains. -Her mother’s tales of her Shoshone ancestors. -Her memories of her life as a mixed-blood child in the Missoula Valley during the nineteenth century. -Her father’s and other relatives’ role in the Nez Perce War of 1877. -Her travels with her first husband through the Upper Flathead Country and the Thompson Falls area of Montana and High River, Alberta. -Her move with her second husband to the Flathead Indian Reservation and her impressions of the impact of allotment and the new irrigation system on the reservation community. -Her daughter’s life in the boarding school at St. Ignatius Mission in the early twentieth century.

Montana Memories: The Life of Emma Magee in the Rocky Mountain West, 1866–1950

Biographies & Memoirs

Patterson, Ida S.

Community & Culture

Published by the Salish Kootenai College Press Peter Ronan (1839–93) was the government agent for the Salish and Kootenai tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana from 1877 until his death. It was a period of rapid cultural and economic change for the tribes as hunting and gathering resources declined and the surrounding white population exploded in western Montana. As an ex-newspaperman, Ronan provided reports to the commissioner of Indian Affairs with unusually full and detailed information about Flathead Reservation events during a critical time for the tribes. Ronan was a unique federal Indian Agent in the nineteenth century both because of both the length of his tenure and his ability to work with tribal leaders.
“A Great Many of Us Have Good Farms” includes Ronan’s letters from 1877–87, when the Salish and Kootenai navigated crises that could have destroyed the tribes. In 1877 the tribes worked hard to stay out of the Nez Perce War, after which they then had to avoid conflict with white settlers who could mistake them for hostiles and a government that tried to deprive them of guns and ammunition for hunting and self-defense. The Bitterroot Valley Salish struggled to preserve their right to live in their traditional homeland. 
The letters, an 1884 photographic tour of the reservation, and a biographical sketch of Ronan provide a rich and exciting journey through nineteenth-century Flathead Indian Reservation history.

"A Great Many of Us Have Good Farms": Agent Peter Ronan Reports on the Flathead Indian Reservation, Montana, 1877-1887

Ronan, Peter

Published by the Salish Kootenai College Press Peter Ronan (1839–93) was the government agent for the Salish and Kootenai tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana from 1877 until his death. It was a period of rapid cultural and economic change for the tribes as hunting and gathering resources declined and the surrounding white population exploded in western Montana. As an ex-newspaperman, Ronan provided reports to the commissioner of Indian Affairs with unusually full and detailed information about Flathead Reservation events during a critical time for the tribes. Ronan was a unique federal Indian Agent in the nineteenth century both because of both the length of his tenure and his ability to work with tribal leaders.
Justice to Be Accorded to the Indians includes Ronan’s letters during the 1888–93 period covered by this second volume of Ronan’s letters, the tribes navigated growing economic and legal crises. Tribal farms and cattle herds expanded to make up for declining traditional hunting and gathering resources. Ronan and Kootenai chief Eneas worked hard to avoid open conflict with white settlers encroaching on the northern boundary of the reservation. Despite repeated provocations, Eneas was able to keep the peace and struggled to get equal justice for Kootenai victims of white criminals. The letters also detailed Ronan’s efforts to relocate the Bonners Ferry Kootenai and Lower Pend d’Oreille Indians on the Flathead Reservation and make off-reservation allotments to those tribal members who chose to remain in Idaho and Washington. This volume includes biographical sketches of Salish chiefs Arlee, Charlo, and Louison; Pend d’Oreille chief Michel; and Kootenai chief Eneas.

Justice to Be Accorded To the Indians: Agent Peter Ronan Reports on the Flathead Indian Reservation, Montana, 1888-1893

Distributed by the University of Nebraska Press for the Salish Kootenai College Press 
Lori Lambert (Mi’kmaq/Abenaki) examines the problems that researchers encounter when adjusting research methodologies in the behavioral sciences to Native values and tribal community life. In addition to surveying the literature with an emphasis on Native authors, she has also interviewed a sampling of indigenous people in Australia, northern Canada, and Montana’s Flathead Indian Reservation. 
Members of four indigenous communities speak about what they expect from researchers who come into their communities. Their voices and stories provide a conceptual framework for non-indigenous researchers who anticipate doing research with indigenous peoples in the social, behavioral, or environmental sciences. This conceptual framework created by indigenous stories similarly provides a framework for hope and empowerment as indigenous communities endeavor to pass on their values and stories to future generations. 
Indigenous research methodologies developed from stories told by elders help researchers to both respect the unique character of Native communities and contribute to their healing and empowerment. Indigenous research as such, however, is not a new phenomenon. Indigenous story keepers have always, through careful observation, articulated in their stories how their world works, thereby also preserving knowledge of their community’s past. 
Lori Lambert is a member of the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe of Vermont and a descendant of the Mi’kmaq/Huron Wendot. For the last twenty years she has taught at Salish Kootenai College on the Flathead Indian Reservation, Montana. Lambert is the founder of the American Indigenous Research Association.

Research for Indigenous Survival: Indigenous Research Methodologies in the Behavioral Sciences

Lambert, Lori

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Books by Salish Kootenai College Press