Kootenay,
Kootenai: A Note About Names
| Kootenay
- Ktunaxa Today
In 2001, there were approximately
1,200 registered members of
the Ktunaxa Nation residing
in Canada, with about 50% of
the population under the age
of 25. Modern-day Ktunaxa bands
are working to ensure the survival
of their language and culture
through special programming
in the local school system.
The Lower Kootenay Band of the
Ktunaxa Nation, situated near
Creston, British Columbia, holds
the annual Yaqan Nukiy
Traditional Pow Wow.
Ktunaxa economic activities
in the Columbia-Kootenay area
include housing developments,
golf courses, campgrounds, guiding
and outfitting operations, and
retail businesses. The recently-opened
Ktunaxa Interpretive
Centre and associated
cultural tourism attractions
near Cranbrook, British Columbia,
east of Kootenay Lake, are joint
projects of the Canadian bands
of the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Nation.
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Kootenay, Kootenai, Kutenai, or Ktunaxa?
There are many different spellings and terms
that are used to refer to the First Nations
cultural-linguistic group of the Columbia-Kootenay
region. In British Columbia, the term “Kootenay”
is frequently used, although several Canadian
history and ethnography texts have adopted
the “Kutenai” reference.
South of Kootenay Lake, near the town of
Creston, British Columbia, the Lower Kootenay
First Nation (part of the Ktunaxa
Nation, see below) is also associated
with the community name of Yaqan
Yukiy, translated as “the
place where the rock is standing.”
In the United States, the term “Kootenai”
is commonly used to refer to the First Nations
of Idaho and Montana. Some historical references
allude to the French term “Arez-à-plats”
(or “Flatbow” in English) for
tribes south of Kootenay Lake (possibly
derived from the shape of the lake), and
the name “Ksunka” or “Ksanka,”
meaning “people of the standing arrow.”
The Salish tribes to the east used the term
“Skalzi” to describe the Kootenay,
meaning “lake or water people.”
On a map drawn by western geographer-explorer
Alexander Mackenzie in 1801, the Kootenay
are designated as the “Cattanhowes.”
| Visit
the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Interpretive
Centre
A new museum-quality interpretive
centre housed in a former residential
school at the site of the St.
Eugene Mission near Cranbrook,
British Columbia (east of Kootenay
Lake) is transforming a dark
chapter in Kootenay First Nations
history into a rich source of
cultural pride and heritage.
The recently-opened Ktunaxa
Kinbasket Interpretive Centre,
providing an aboriginal perspective
on the history and people of
the Kootenay area, is housed
within the walls of the former
Kootenay Indian Residential
School. While the school, which
operated from 1912 to 1970,
symbolized the destruction of
Ktunaxa culture, the Interpretive
Centre is designed to celebrate
and promote its First Nations
heritage. When complete, the
Centre will include indoor and
outdoor exhibits, a “Teepee
Village” featuring demonstrations
of meat-drying, pit-cooking,
traditional fishing techniques,
singing, dancing and storytelling,
and arts and crafts co-operative,
and guided cultural excursions
to traditional Ktunaxa territories.
The Centre is adjacent to the
St. Eugene Golf Resort and the
Casino of the Rockies. Check
for opening hours and current
activities.
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Historically, the southernmost Kootenai
were closely associated with the Flatheads
and Kalispel Pend Oreilles through common
territory and intermarriage. They also traded
with many other tribes, including the Nez
Percés and the Utes.
Several meanings for the name “Kootenay”
or “Kutenai” have been proposed,
including “water people” and
“deer robes.” It has been suggested
that the origin of the name may actually
be derived from the language of the Kootenays’
traditional enemies, the Blackfoot, who
referred to them as the “Kutunáiua,”
or “slim people.” It may also
be derived from the term “Ktunaxa,”
a name which may have been adapted from
the “Tunaxa” people of the Plains,
and is now used to refer to the culturally-associated
First Nations that reside in the Columbia-Kootenay
region. These Nations include:
• huswap Band, north
of Invermere, British Columbia
• Columbia Lake Band,
south of Invermere, British Columbia
• St. Mary’s Band,
near Cranbrook, British Columbia,
• Lower Kootenay Band,
near Creston, British Columbia
• Tobacco Plains Band,
near Grasmere, British Columbia (Roosville
border crossing),
• Kootenay Tribe of Idaho,
at Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho
• Confederated Salish &
Kootenai Tribe, near Elmo, Montana.
The Shuswap Band, part of the Ktunaxa Nation,
is often referred to as the “Kinbasket”
people, named for a “Texqokallt,”
or North Thompson Band Shuswap family that
immigrated to the Ktunaxa territory almost
200 years ago. The primary language and
culture of the Shuswap Band is that of the
Secwepemc (Shuswap).
The Ktunaxa Kinbasket Tribal Council
(formerly the Kootenay Indian Area
Council) with headquarters in Cranbrook,
British Columbia, was established in the
early 1970’s to promote the political
goals and socio-cultural needs of the Ktunaxa
Nation and the Kinbasket people.
The Ktunaxa Nation distinguishes between
the sub-groups of the “Upper Kootenay”
and the “Lower Kootenay”, recognizing
that the Lower Kootenay have developed specialized
knowledge about water resources, fish and
waterfowl harvesting, and the use of plants.
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