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How long have they been living here?
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Anthropologists cannot be sure how long the direct descendants
of the Spokane Tribe of Indians have lived in the
greater Spokane region. Most believe that the Salish speaking tribes
of the Columbia Plateau Culture,
which include the Spokanes,
have lived here a long time.
There is a backward time-limit. Much of the Columbia Plateau
was covered by glaciers until around 14,000
years ago. The climate was different then. There were
probably no salmon at that time.
As the glaciers slowly retreated, the climate changed as well.
Relatively moist and cool conditions supported large herds of mammals.
Ethnologists disagree about whether the Salish speaking tribes
arrived in this area from the East or from the West.
There are Salishan speaking tribes on the Pacific Coast and
in Puget Sound, and there are Salishan speaking tribes on the
Columbia plateau.
Did the Salish tribes come from the East and cross over
the Cascades to the coast, or did they first arrive on the
coast, and later crossed over into Eastern Washington?
The Salishan tribes, including the ancestors of the Spokanes,
may have come from the Coast, crossing over the
Cascades or travelling up the Columbia River.
Or they may have come from the North or East at some time.
This may have been very early, or perhaps they forced
from the Plains by the Blackfoot, after the latter had obtained guns.(1)
Some of them may then have crossed the Cascades to live by the coast.
(1) Terrell, John Upton,
American Indian Almanac, New York:1971, p. 354
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