Salish and Kootenai Indian chiefs speak for their people and land, 1865-1909 / edited by Robert Bigart and Joseph McDonald.

Pablo, Montana : Salish Kootenai College Press, [2023]

237 pages : illustrations, maps ; 26 cm

"This collection includes talks or petitions by Salish and Kootenai chiefs found in the surviving his-torical record. The Salish and Kootenai Indians of the Flathead Indian Reservation confronted many crises in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The physical and cultural survival of the tribes was challenged by epidemics, intertribal warfare with larger enemy tribes, and an invasion of white settlers. The tribes had to fight to have their voices heard and get the United States govern-ment to keep its promises. Fortunately, the tribes had capable leaders who spoke up for their interests and negotiated with vis-iting government officials. The chiefs were able to get sympathetic white men to write letters sup-porting their efforts to keep a reservation in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana and pressure the government to honor other promises made in the 1855 Hellgate Treaty. In later negotiations their white neighbors coveted tribal land and assets. Many of the chiefs' statements were preserved in English by newspaper reporters and government clerks. The interpreters in the meetings had to struggle to explain white American cultural concepts of property and right and wrong. They were also challenged in trying to explain Salish and Kootenai values to the white officials. The documents in this volume present only part of the story. The written sources can contribute to understanding the views and goals of the Salish and Kootenai, but they need to be considered in conjunction with the oral traditions now being compiled by the Salish and Pend d'Oreille and Koo-tenai Culture Committees in St. Ignatius and Elmo, Montana. All historical sources must be used with care, but these letters and transcripts show the chiefs to have been competent and dedicated. Through their efforts the Salish and Kootenai tribes survive in the twenty-first century with new leaders to face new challenges and opportunities"-- Provided by publisher.

Salish & Kootenai Indian chiefs speak for their people & land, 1865-1909

English

January 24, 2024

Includes bibliographical references and index.