Spokane people

Around the 1950s, uranium was discovered on the reservation. With the development of nuclear weapons and other tools, it was considered highly valuable. It was mined (under leases arranged on behalf of the Spokane by the federal government) from 1956 to 1962 out of an open pit. This practice was ended, and from 1969 to 1982, uranium was mined at the Midnite Mine. The now inactive mine is on the list of Superfund cleanup sites, as the mining process left the grounds and underground water highly contaminated by metals, radionucleides and acidic drainage.

The creation of dams on the Spokane and related waterways, to generate hydroelectric power and provide water for irrigation in the arid eastern part of the state, has also affected the Spokane people. Construction of the Little Falls dam resulted in the end of most of the salmon run at Spokane Falls. The Grand Coulee Dam, on the Columbia River, blocked salmon from migrating upriver and ended all salmon runs on the Spokane River.[6]

The Spokane tribe was divided into three geographic divisions, upper, lower, and middle. Each area was divided into bands, which were composed of groups of related families or kin groups.

The Upper Spokane or Sntʔtʔúlixʷ (Sntu't'ulixi) ("People of the Falls") resided along the Little Spokane River and all the country east of the Lower Spokane to within the borders of the Coeur d'Alene and Kalispel, sometimes their name is given as Sineka'lt ("[People] at the Rapids"). The Middle Spokane or Snxʷme̓nʔey (Snx'w'meney) ("People of the steelhead river, i.e. Little Spokane River") occupied the area near Spokane Falls to Hangman (Latah) Creek and Deep Creek to Tum Tum, Middle Spokane territory includes Spokane House, the site of the first permanent white settlement in Washington State, another variant of their name is Snxwemi'ne ("People of the steelhead trout place"). The Lower Spokane or Scqesciłni (Scqecioni) ("People of Little Falls") traditionally occupied the lower Spokane River from Little Falls to the confluence of the Columbia River, also known as Squasi'lni ("Fishers", after a settlement name).

Individual bands were led by a Ilmixʷm or chief and a sub chief, who were both selected to lead based on their leadership qualities. Decisions were made by consensus of the group.[7]

The Spokane had a matrilocal custom, in which the husband of a Spokane woman, after marriage, would join her and her people as the site of their home together. Occasionally, the wife would move to the husband's people. There was mobility between bands, by which a person or family could spend one winter with a band and the next winter with another.[9]

The Spokane diet consisted of fish, local game, and plants, including nuts and roots. The men hunted whitetail deer and mule deer, which provided essential protein and other nutrients in the winter. Individual hunters would track the deer and kill them using a bow and arrow. Fish, especially salmon, were a huge part of the Spokane diet and also a large part of the trade economy. The Spokane people also ate trout and whitefish. They would smoke or dry the fish for trade or for storage in winter. Fish eyes were considered delicacies. Plants gathered by women provided nearly half of the caloric intake for the Spokane tribe.[6]

Men of the Spokane tribe created tools, fished, and hunted. After the tribe acquired horses, the men cared for and trained these animals, and horses became a measure of wealth. The animals allowed the people to travel wider territories, and were used also to carry or pull their supplies. The men rode the horses during hunting and warfare.[7] Horses were introduced to the Spokane tribe from either the Nez Perce, Kalispel, or Flathead tribe. By about 1800, the Spokane tribe was acquiring herds, showing that they had fully embraced use of these animals.

Spokane women made coiled baskets out of birch bark (or from cedar roots). They wove wallets and bags from strips of processed animal hide. They would also sew mats and other items which were sometimes traded with other Native peoples and white traders and settlers.[7] Some of the plants they gathered were camas roots and local berries and barks. The women used digging sticks to uproot and gather their food. It was a fundamental tool for their lives, and it was a rite of passage for young girls to be given their first digging sticks. Women's graves were often marked with these sticks.[6]

A Spokane religion was the Dreamer Cult, also called Washani, meaning "worship" or "dancers". It developed in the Columbia Plateau tribes and emerged from the pressures of colonization during the second half of the nineteenth century.[10]

The Dreamer Cult developed as a mix of traditional spirituality and aspects of Christianity. The Dreamer prophets rejected non-Native culture and belief systems. The prophets advocated returning to traditional ways of life. "[P]rior to contact, Plateau Indian spirituality revolved around a complex of Winter dances, personal vision quests, and seasonal feasts tied to the annual subsistence cycle and the acquisition of guardian spirit powers"(Fisher).[10]

A few examples of spiritual dances include the Prophet Dance and the Spirit Dance, which took place in mid-January. Dancers sought to identify with the Prophet's spirit. In the Spirit Dance a shaman would call upon the spirit to visit an individual.[9]

It is believed the prophet Smohalla in a vision

"foresaw the disappearance of the whites, the resurrection of the Indian dead, and the restoration of the world to a pristine state. This millennial transformation required no acts of violence — indeed, most Dreamers counseled pacifism — but to achieve it, the Indians had to obey the instructions of the Creator as conveyed through the prophets" (Fisher).[10]

The Dreamer Cult remained prominent within the Columbia Plateau peoples until the early 1890s, when the major prophets died and their followers began to lose faith in the promise of a world free of white people. The closest contemporary religion to the Washani is the Seven Drums Religion.[10]

• "Spokane Lake of Long Ago" told by Chief Lot[11]
• "The Origin of the Spokane River"[12]

The Creator, Amotkan made light only after all the animals had congregated to create it for Woodpecker up it, but the pole was too hot for him. They next sent Coyote up the pole. But he was too noisy, all the time shouting down to his children. Bear volunteered, but he found it too cold atop the pole. The sound of thunder shattered their efforts then. It loosened a piece of red rock, which turned into a handsome red man. He wanted a brother, so Amotkan gave him one made from the root of an herb called spowaunch. The two brothers went to a lodge occupied by a witch, Lady Bullfrog. She became so enamored of the brother formed of the root that she leaped onto his face—and stuck there. In pulling loose, she tore out one of his eyes. He then volunteered to ascend into the sky to be light for the earth, for he did not want people to see his face, now missing one eye. Thus, he became the sun, and when people looked at him, they had to close one of their own eyes. The other man joined his lonely brother in the sky. But before he did so, Lady Bullfrog had jumped onto his face, too. He became the moon. Today, if one looks carefully at the moon, one can see Lady Bullfrog clinging to his face.

Because he was lonesome, Coyote, after several failures, made Spokane man… Coyote then mixed all these elements together [pitch, clay, hot rock, and reeds] and—adding berries, smoke, and fire—created the Spokane man. With these same elements, he created Spokane woman, and Amotkan, the Creator, gave her life. Man and woman soon became wild, caring little for the safety of the others who had sprung from them. A flood came then and covered the land, destroying all except a few people. The survivors banded together for safety, elected a leader, and multiplied. In time, the leader divided the people into small groups. They became the various tribes.

— Spokane creation mythos as retold in The Spokane Indians: Children of the Sun (Ruby) [9]