Colville Indian Reservation

The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation is a sovereign nation, recognized by the United States of America as an American Indian Tribe.

The Confederated Tribes have 8,700 descendants from 12 aboriginal tribes. The tribes are known in English as: the Colville, the Nespelem, the San Poil, the Lake, the Palus, the Wenatchi, the Chelan, the Entiat, the Methow, the southern Okanogan, the Moses Columbia and the Nez Perce of Chief Joseph's Band.

The people of the Confederated Tribes were nomadic, occupying no particular place and migrating by the season. They moved throughout North America, over what is now Canada and the United States, particularly around the Columbia River. They knew of no boundaries until Europeans brought with their invasion their belief of property and boundaries.

Their ancestors were very spiritual and traditional people, they had great gatherings of food harvesting, feasting, trading, and celebrations with other aboriginal people of the area. They did not farm in a modern sense; their farming provided subsistence on a very limited basis. There were no permanently established communities until 1807 when the first trading post of the Columbia River was established by the Hudson Bay Company in what is now Kettle Falls.

In the mid-1800's, when the settlers, sqautter and trespassers began competing for trade with the indigenous native people, the tribes began to migrate westward. Trading became a bigger part of their lives.

Finally the ownership wars began between Canada and the U.S. over Oregon. Both claimed the territory until a treaty of 1846 established American ownership; many of the indigenous people living in those territories were not considered citizens and were not regarded as entitled to the lands. However, according to the religion of the indigenous people, this territory had been their home land since the time of creation.

President Fillmore signed a bill creating the Washington Territory, and a Commissioner of Indian Affairs (Major Isaac Stevens of the United States Army Corps of Engineers) was appointed to meet with the "Indians" along his exploration for railroad routes. Stevens wrote a report recommending the creation of "reservations" for the people in the Washington Territory; stating "contrary to natural rights and usage," the United States should grant lands that would become reservations to the Indians without purchasing from them.

In 1854 "negotiations" were conducted, "particularly in the vicinity of white settlements, toward extinguishment of the Indian claims to the lands and the concentration of the tribes and fragments of tribes on a few reservations naturally suited to the requirement of the Indians, and located, so far as practicable, so as not to interfere with the settlement of the country."

During this time, continued settlement resulted in the Yakama War, which was fought from 1856 to 1859. Negotiations were unsuccessful until 1865, at which time Superintendent McKenny commented:

"From this report, the necessity of trading with these Indians can scarcely fail to be obvious. They now occupy the best agricultural lands in the whole country and they claim an undisputed right to these lands. White squatters are constantly making claims in their territory and not infrequently invading the actual improvements of the Indians. The state of things cannot but prove disastrous to the peace of the country unless forestalled by a treaty fixing the rights of the Indians and limiting the aggressions of the white man. The fact that a portion of the Indians refused all gratuitous presents shows a determination to hold possession of the country here until the government makes satisfactory overtures to open the way of actual purchase."

President Grant issued an Executive Order on April 9, 1872, to create an "Indian Reservation" consisting of several million acres of land, containing rivers, streams, timbered forests, grass lands, minerals, plants and animals. Not only the Colville tribe was asked to live on this reservation, but scattered tribes of the Methow, Okanagan, San Poil, Lakes, Colvilles, Kalispels, Spokane, Coeur d'Alene, among others, were also confined to this place.

The Presidential Executive Order issued on July 2, 1872 moved the Colville Indian Reservation west of the Columbia River, and reduced the size from several million to 2,852,000 acres (11,540 km²). Ironically, the tribes' native lands of the Okanogan River, Methow Valley, and other large areas of the Columbia and Pend d'Orielle Rivers, along with the Colville Valley, were excluded. The areas removed from the reservation were some of the richest.

Twenty years later Congress ceded the north half of the reservation. The government paid only $1.00 an acre ($247/km²). Later (October 10, 1900) 1,449,268 acres (5,865 km²) were opened to homesteading. Finally, in 1914, the south half of the Reservation was ceded.

As of 2005, the reservation encompasses 1.4 million acres (5,700 km²). Today the lands of the Colville are owned in trusts. Individual members own all but 200,000 acres (800 km²), thousands of those acres are used for agricultural production by individuals who are not members of the Colville tribes.

In 1997 and 1998, the Colville Confederation celebrated its 125th year.

External links

• Official site (http://www.colvilletribes.com/)