The Spokane Tribe is an old North American tribe. It lived near the Spokane river in an reservation area of 1200 square kilometres for thousands of years. The name Spokane actually means ‘Children of the Sun’. They spoke a language that was closely related to Okanogan, which is also an indian language. From time to time, other Indian tribes influenced the Spokane Tribe by using horses or plank houses. The Spokane Tribe of the Plateau region built gout canoes, because it was a special way to transport things and to paddle fast from one way to another. They ate salmon, trouts and a variety of meat from the animals they hunted. The tribe also used spears, lances, knifes, bows and arrows to go hunting and to protect their families.
Later they were first contacted by white settlers and fur traders. But they suffered from diseases, for example smallpox, and their land also was grabbed by white people. In the 1860s white settlers pushed a lot of Spokanes out of their territory. In 1877, Lower Spokanes relocated the Spokane Reservation. In 1887, Upper and Middle Spokanes moved to the Colville Flathead Reservation. Another interesting fact about the Spokane Indians is, that Uranium, a chemical element, was discovered on their reservation.
The Spokane Reservation is located in Washington near Columbia. Today the area of the reservation is about 96,536 acres, which are only ten percent of their old area, because the rest is held by the government. With about 1500 inhabitants it is the smallest reservation of North America.
Some of their jobs today are, for example, forester, seasonal fisher or social worker. Mining and logging companies employ many residents, but also farming and livestock industries. Timber sale is largest income of the people.
A famous tradition is the ”Salmon Ceremony”.All men of the tribe are invited to this ceremony. First, one man is chosen to cut a Salmon into seven pieces and cook them in a special way. Then, other four men eat them. They believe, that the Salmon will return next year, so the tribe won’t starve.
Women and men wear a traditional dress, a breechcloth, a long rectangular piece of cloth tucked over a belt. The men wear leggings with the breethcloth, the women wear a skirt with the breethcloth. (CM, CW, MS, MW, DA)
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