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On the Salish Language
NOTE - the following article talks about the Shalish language
common to many Native Tribes of the Interior Northwest,
including the Spokane Tribe. It is taken from
from The American Indian Almanac ,
by John Upton Terrell.
Of all the numerous tribes in the Northern Mountain and Plateau Region
which belong to the inner division of the large Salishan linguistic
family the best known are the people erroneously called Flatheads. Their
proper name is Salish, and it means simply "people." It is popularly
thought that they were given the name Flatheads by other Indians because
they followed the practice of deforming the heads of infants. The opposite
is true. They were called Flatheads because, unlike some of their
congenitors who lived farther to the west, they left their heads in
a normal condition, that is, flat on top, instead of deforming them
by pressure to slope toward the crown.
In attempting to write about the prehistoric Salish the historian is
left in a quandary. Their earliest known homeland about which there
seems to be no dispute was in the mountains of western Montana, extending
into western Idaho, southward to some of the headwaters of the Missouri,
and centering in the vicinity of Flathead Lake. Their name was originally
applied by ethnologists and linguists to the Indians inhabiting this area,
but was later extended to include all people speaking dialects of the same
language. Therefore, the Salishan family includes tribes spread all the
way from the Montana mountains to Puget Sound, southern British Columbia,
and the coast of Oregon.
In the region under consideration in this part, besides the Salish proper,
there were nine other tribes of some importance in prehistoric times who
spoke the Salishan tongue. The culture and economy of all these people,
except the Flatheads, were virtually identical. They lived by fishing,
hunting, and gathering wild foods, especially the camas and other roots.
The main difference between them and the Salish proper of western Montana
was that the latter were both mountain and plains Indians, and regularly
traveled east of the mountains to hunt buffalo. For them this was a
perilous, and sometimes tragic journey, for they were attacked by the
Crows, Blackfoot, and other tribes who looked upon them as intruders on
their respective hunting domains.
About Pend d'Oreille and Priest lakes and on the lower Clark's Fork
were the Kalispel. They hunted as far north as Canada and in the
Salmon River Country, and may have ranged even farther in remote
times. Their name is believed to mean "camas." The first fur traders
to meet them, apparently French-Canadians, called them Pend
d'Oreilles because nearly all of them wore large shell earrings.
The Skitswish lived on the upper Spokane River, about Lake Coeur
d'Alene, and on the Clearwater River. They still live in the same
country. The meaning of their name is unknown, and they have no
tradition that might throw light on their origins or early
migrations.
The Indian name of the Chelan has never been discovered. They
dwelt about the lake that bears the same name. Nothing more is
known about them, except that they spoke the same Salishan dialect
as the so-called Wenatchee people and may have once been a part of
that tribe.
The Sinkiuse lived on the east side of the upper Columbia River
from Fort Olranogan to Point Eaten in Washington. Their name is
believed to have belonged at one time to people who inhabited the
Umatilla Valley. The Net Perce called them "arrow people." One of
their noted leaders was named Moses, and his followers were known
as the Moses Band, but his christening undoubtedly took place after
the arrival of white men. As some of their most important bands
lived along the Columbia, they came to be known to fur traders
as the Sinkiuse-Columbia tribe.
The Methow, whose Indian name is unknown, lived on the Methow River,
and were closely associated with the Moses Columbia band.
The name of the Okanogan is believed to be derived from some
landmark on the Okanogan River near Okanogan Falls. They hunted
northward into Canada, where it is thought they fought and drove
out people of Athapascan stock. When the international boundary
was established they were living on both sides of it.
Although it may appear to be French, Sanspoil is a native Salishan
word, but its significance has never been learned. The Sanspoil
lived on Sanspoil Creek and the Columbia River below Big Bend. Their
dialect places them in close connection with the easternmost tribes
of the Salishan family.
Spokan may mean "sun people," but this translation is doubtful.
Some ethnologists think the Spokan may be composed of several
distinct tribes that became fused over a long period of time,
but this, too, remains uncertain. They lived on the streams now
spelled Spokane and Little Spokane, and no one knows how that
occurred, either, unless it happened that early white men
couldn't spell the name correctly or arbitrarily decided it
looked better with the appended letter.
Regarding the origins of the Salish proper, or Flatheads,
prominent ethnologists are locked--and always have been--
in what apparently is hopeless disagreement. Hedge wrote
that physically and culturally "the coast and interior
Salish belong to different groups, the former being affiliated
to some extent with the other coast people to the north, and
the interior Salish resembling interior stocks in their own
neighborhood." This suggests that both the coast and interior
Salish had dwelt in their respective areas for a very long time.
A quote from Swanton, who cites several other authorities,
points up the controversy: "According to Teit the Salish
once extended farther to the east, and there were related
tribes in that region which he calls Sematuse and Tunahe.
As Turney-High has pointed out, however, the Tunahe were
evidently a Kutenai division; and the Sematuse, if not mythical,
seem to have been an alien people in possession of this country
before the Salish entered it.
"Teit states that these Salish were driven westward out of the
Plains by the Blackfoot, particularly after that tribe obtained
guns. TurneyHigh, on the other hand, regards the Salish as rather
late intruders into the Plains from the west.... Just how far the
Salish retired westward [clear to the Pacific?] may be a matter
of argument, nor does it affect the theory of an earlier eastward
migration if such a movement can be substantiated on other grounds."
I shall proffer a suggestion that
I think is safe. It is that the Salish
came originally from Siberia. However,
I should not be surprised if some scholar
would counter my idea with the postulation
that they sprang from several other tribes
and originated in western North America.
from American Indian Almanac
, John Upton Terrell, NY, © 1971
Last Updated
December 21, 2004
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