In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant issued an executive order establishing the Colville Reservation for the Salish-speaking Indian nations in north central Washington. These tribes had traditionally occupied the tributaries of the upper half of the Columbia River. The people spoke closely related Interior Salish languages, with the Lakes, Colvillles, Sanpoils, Nespelems, southern Okanogans, and Met-hows forming on dialect chain and the Chelans, Entiats, Peskwaws (Wenatchis), and Columbians forming a second dialect chain.
The name for the new reservation came from Fort Colville, a trading post established by the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) and named for Andrew Colville one of HBC’s London governors.
The Cashmere Museum in Cashmere, Washington has a series of exhibits about some of these tribes. Shown below is the exhibit on the Sanpoil and Wanapan Indians.
Shown above is a root digging stick.
More Plateau Indians
Indians 101: Entiat and Chelan Indians (museum exhibit)
Indians 101: Wenatchi Indians (museum exhibit)
Indians 101: Some Plateau Indian artifacts (museum exhibit)
Indians 101: Plateau Indian food gathering (museum exhibit)
Indians 101: A display of Colville Indian artifacts (museum tour)
Indians 101: Native American Salmon Fishing on the Columbia River (museum exhibit)
Indians 101: Historic photographs of Okanogan families (museum exhibition)
Indians 101: The Fowler Collection of American Indian artifacts (museum exhibit)
