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Pacific Interior Region
Salish Language
The Pend Oreille and the Kalispel are quintessentially two clans of the same family. It would appear to me that at a time long ago, the original great grandfathers, Pend Oreille and Kalispel were likely two brothers of the same parents, who spoke not only the same language, but even the same dialect. Their parents both likely descended from the same ancestors, which were the sons of Hadoram through his son, Salish, who had at least two sons of his own.
It could even be said that when the sons of Salish departed company from each other to find their own homeland, one son choose the Pacific coast area for his homeland and the other son choose the Pacific interior area, the ancestors of the parents of Pend Oreille and Kalispel both chose to follow the path to the interior lands, and even made their choice of homelands to be located nearby to one another. Yes, both the clan of Pend Oreille and the clan of Kalispel moved to the Pacific interior region and this story is about that specific son of Salish who chose the path to the Pacific interior lands.
The Bridge from God
After the nation of Joktan and his sons arrived upon North American soil, each son was tasked with the decision to choose from himself and his family a location to call their own homeland. Soon after crossing over the
Bridge from God, it was Hadoram and his family who choose to stay in the vicinity of that bridge and make it their homeland. Much later, when the large lake Ta-Maschilamek Menuppek, which had previously filled the entire inland basin, but then drained outward to the Pacific Ocean, the Sons of Hadoram proceeded inland along the banks of this rapidly forming river. As they moved inland, they would camp along the river, a river which is now known as the Columbia River.
Those whose moved Inland along the Columbia River
The Pend Oreille are a Native American tribe, also known as the Kalispel, from the Columbia River basin region, with traditional lands that are found in the lands where the Columbia river flows. in areas what are now parts of Idaho, Montana, Washington, and British Columbia.
Traditionally, their homeland comprised the drainage systems of the Flathead River, Clark Fork, and Pend Oreille rivers. It extended from roughly present-day Plains, Montana, westward along the Clark Fork River, to Lake Pend Oreille and Priest Lake in Idaho, and the Pend Oreille River in eastern Washington, which is a tributary of the Columbia River in British Columbia.
They lived in many bands, originally, it was eleven different groups in their historic lands. Today, these indigenous people are generally divided geographically and culturally in two groupings:
1. The Upstream People, or Upper Kalispel (Upper Pend de′ Oreille) who are commonly referred to as the Pend d′Oreille. They were also known as Kullyspelm (the "Camas People"). They are now enrolled in the federally recognized Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation in Montana.
2. The Downstream People or Lower Kalispel (Lower Pend de′ Oreille) who are commonly referred to as the Kalispel. They were also known as Silkatkmlschi ("People Living along the Shore of the Broad Water"), because they lived by Flathead Lake ("Broad Water"). Today many are enrolled in the Kalispel Tribe of Indians in Washington. Some families are members of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe in Idaho.
Historically, they relied on gathering roots, fishing, and hunting in a semi-nomadic lifestyle, and traditionally lived in earth-covered or mat-covered lodges. Today, the federally recognized Kalispel Tribe of Indians is headquartered in Washington and engages in various economic ventures and community initiatives.
Pend Oreille Today
Prior to colonization by European-Americans, Chewelah was home to a band of the Lower Kalispel people. The band was known as the Slet?éw?si, meaning "valley people". The Chewelah Band of Indians is currently part of the Spokane Tribe of Indians of Washington.
The Kalispel Reservation, located in Usk in Pend Oreille County, Washington. It was founded in 1914 and is 4,557 acres (18.44 km2) large, with the tribe′s headquarters is in Cusic, Washington. In 1809, David Thompson opened a trading post for the North West Company of Montreal within their homeland. The Upper Kalispel were forced onto an Indian reservation in Montana, while the Lower Kalispel remained on their homelands in Washington.
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