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 | | Indian Tribes of Washington (1848) | |
George Gibbs describes the Spokanes in 1854
"The Spokehnish, or Spokanes, lie south of the Schwoyelpi, and
chiefly upon or near the Spokane river. The name applied by the
whites to a number of small bands, is that given by the Coeur
d'Alenes to the one living at the forks. They are also called
Sinkoman by the Kootenaies.
These bands are eight in number:
- the Sin-slik-hoo-isb, on the great plain above the crossings of the Coeur d'Alene river;
- the Sintootoolish, on the river above the forks;
- the Sma-hoo-men-a-ish, (Spokenish) at the forks;
- the Skai-schil-t'nish, at the old Chemakane mission;
- the Ske-chei-a-mouse, above them on the Colville trail;
- the Schu-el-stish;
- the Sin-poil-schne, and
- Sin-spee-lish, on the Columbia river.
The last-named band is nearly extinct. The
Sin-poil-schne (N'pochele, or Sans Puelles) have already been
included among the Okinakanes, though, as well as the
Sin-spee-lish below them, they are claimed by the Spokanes.
The three bands on the Columbia all speak a different language from
the rest.
Most of the Indians, at the time of our visit, were
absent on their hunt, and we had no opportunities of estimating
their number by inspection. Judging from those that we saw, and
the information received from various sources, they probably
amount, excluding those enumerated at Okinakane, to four hundred
and fifty.
They were a wilder-looking race than the tribes to the
westward. The men are generally spare, even when young, and
soon become withered.
Their principal chief is Spokane Garry, whose name was bestowed
upon him by Governor Sir George Simpson, by whom he was sent,
when about twelve years old, to the Red river for education,
where he spent five years. Garry is now about forty-two years
of age, is very intelligent, and speaks English fluently. He
bears an excellent character, and is what he claims to be, a
chief. Of petty chiefs there are, besides, an abundance, each
band having two or three.
Garry himself accompanied us to the forks of the Spokane, where
his band usually reside. A few lodges, chiefly old men and
women, were there at the time. His own, in neatness and
comfort, was far beyond any we had seen. His family were
dressed in the costume of the whites, which in fact now prevails
over their own. Many of the Spokanes, besides their intercourse
with the fort, visit the American settlements, where they earn
money by occasional work, most of which is spent in clothing,
blankets, &c. The chief offered us the hospitality of his house
with much cordiality - a cup of tea or coffee and bread. The
"Spokane House," which is a landmark upon all the maps of this
country, was an old Hudson's Bay fort, situated at his village,
but has long since been destroyed.
This tribe claim as their territory the country commencing on
the large plain at the head of the Slawntehus--the stream
entering the Columbia at Fort Colville; thence down the Spokane
to the Columbia, down the Columbia half-way to Fort Okinakane,
and up the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene, to some point between the
falls and the lake, on the latter.
There is in this direction a
question of boundary between them and the Coeur d'Alenes, which
appears to be as complicated as some of those between more civilized nations. No resort to
arms has, however, occurred, and the territory continues under
joint occupation. An additional source of coolness between them
arises from a difference in religion - the Spokanes being
Protestants, or of the "American religion," and the Coeur
d'Alenes Catholics. The latter taunt the former as heretics,
whose faith is worthless. Garry narrated to us the evils
arising from this state of feeling, with a forbearance and
Christian spirit of toleration which would have honored any one.
This tribe have at present no missionary among them, but they seem to have been consistent
to what they learned under the tuition of Messrs. Walker and
Eels, of the Chemakane mission.
The country of the Spokanes,
though in most respects unattractive to settlement by the
whites, is well suited to the pursuits of the Indian.
The high plain, which extends from the Spokane river to Lewis's
fork of the Columbia, and which belongs chiefly to them and the
Nez Perces, though bleak and exposed to violent winds, affords
grazing for their stock and an abundance of the roots used by
themselves for food, while their river supplies them with
salmon. They obtain buffalo hides for their lodges, and skins
of elk, carraboo, and deer, for their own clothing, in their
semi-annual hunts to the eastward.
Of the larger game there is but little in their own country. The
buffalo, it would seem, in former times penetrated at least
occasionally thus far to the westward, though now they never
come through the northern passes. We were informed by an old
Iroquois hunter, at Fort Colville, who has been some forty-eight
years in the company's service, that the last bull was killed
some twenty-five years ago in the Grand Coulee."
from George Gibbs, "Report of Mr. George Gibbs
to Captain Mc'Clellan, on the Indian
Tribes of the Territory of Washington.", US Report, Washington, 1854, p.20-21.
NOTE - in the interest of legibility, this document has
been reformatted from the original.
Last Updated
December 22, 2004
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