The Coeur
d'Alene Indian Reservation, located south of
the resort town of Coeur d'Alene in Idaho's
panhandle, occupies a fraction of the
tribe's original territories. An
arrowhead-shaped piece of land, the
reservation includes the edge of the western
Rockies, half of Lake Coeur d'Alene, and
portions of the fertile Palouse country.
French fur traders named the tribe Coeur
d'Alene--"heart of an awl"--saying they were
the finest traders in the world. The tribe's
trade involved year-long trips to the
Pacific coast as well as to the Great Plains
to exchange goods. They called themselves
Schee chu'umsch, which, in their native
Salish language, means "those who are found
here."
The Coeur d'Alene Indians lived in large
permanent villages along the Spokane and St.
Joe Rivers, near Lake Coeur d'Alene and
Hayden Lake and on parts of the large
prairie known today as the Palouse country,
an area of about 5 million acres. They
enjoyed a close relationship with the inland
tribes of Canada and the Northwest, sharing
a common language and fishing grounds,
intermarrying, and attending big trade
gatherings and celebrations. Silver was
discovered in the Idaho panhandle in the
1870s, setting off a frenzy of mining
activity. The Coeur d'Alene Indian
Reservation, established in 1873, originally
included all of Lake Coeur d'Alene. By a
series of treaty agreements, the reservation
was reduced to its present size.
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One of
the first Catholic missions in
the West, the
Cataldo Mission was
established on the St. Joe River
in the early 1840s. Because of
flooding, it was moved to a
bluff overlooking the Coeur
d'Alene River in 1848. A new
church and parish house were
erected there and still stand
today, both part of Old Mission
State Park. Every August 15, the
Coeur d'Alene Tribe sets up
tepees on the mission grounds to
celebrate the annual Feast of
the Assumption.
In
1850, the church was taken over
by Antonio Ravalli, who began
designing the new mission
building. He made sure that the
building was |
constructed by the Indians
themselves, so that they could
feel part of the church. It was
built using the wattle and daub
method, and was finished some
three years later, without using
a single nail.
In time, the mission became an
important stop for traders,
settlers, and miners taking on
the role as a hospitality and
supply station. It was also a
working port for boats heading
up the Coeur d'Alene River. |
Adjacent to the
Reservation is Steptoe Butte, the highest
point in the Palouse (towering more than
1,000 feet above the valley floor) and one
of the most important sacred sites of the
Coeur d'Alene. Its peak was a site of
meditation, prayer, and ceremony for
centuries. The butte, covered with downy
grass, is solid rock, 500 million years old.
*History taken from Native
Peoples of the Northwest, J. Halliday and G.
Chehak.
The Coeur d'Alene reservation is in Idaho,
and consists of 598,500 acres. The agency is
at Colville, Washington. The number of
Indians by the special census just taken is
422, males 206, females 216; number of
children of school age, 54; number of mixed
bloods, 39. Number of white employees, 2;
salaries amounting to $2,100. No Indians
employed. Deaths during the year, 28;
births, 29. Their religion is Catholic. They
have one church on the reservation. These
Indians: generally attend church, and are
self-sustaining; the only issues made by the
government are garden seeds. They nearly all
live in frame houses, which are painted and
tolerably well furnished, and generally they
dress like the whites. The number of acres
under cultivation is 7,500; under fence,
20,000. Number who can speak English, 39.
The morals of these Indians are fairly good.
Coeur d'Alene School, This school is
situated on the Coeur d'Alene reservation, 8
miles from the town of Farmington, and on
the railroad from Spokane Falls to
Huntington. It is under the auspices of the
Catholic Church, and is a contract school.
The buildings were erected at the expense of
the Catholic church, Their cost, including
stables and outhouses, was $30,000, which is
about the present value. The capacity of the
school is 225, with separate apartments for
the boys and girls. The pupils are from the
Coeur d'Alene, Nez Percé, and Umatilla
reservations. The trades taught the boys are
shoemaking and carpentering. There are 640
acres of fertile land belonging to the
school, and all necessary supplies are
raised in the greatest abundance. Ten
thousand bushels of grain, 2,000 bushels of
potatoes, and all the vegetables used by the
pupils were raised during the past year. The
diet of the pupils is meat three times a
clay, except Fridays, and all the
vegetables, milk, and fruit they want All
the boys are taught to labor on the farm and
in the garden. The girls are taught sewing,
washing, cooking, and general housework. The
school was not full October 21, but the
children were coming in. Order, neatness,
and care prevail. The average number of
children attending the school during the
fiscal year ended June 30, 1800, was about
85.*
*From
Idaho Indians in the 1890 Census
Through a series of Executive Orders of
1873, 1887 and 1889, the Coeur d'Alene
Reservation was established and the land
base of its people significantly reduced.
Much of their former territory was acquired
without remuneration for ceded lands. The
1887 agreement also resettled many Spokane
families onto the Coeur d'Alene Reservation.
In 1909, the Allotment Act was implemented
on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation, resulting
in a reduction in size of individual land
holdings, rendering most agricultural
practices infeasible, and an opening up of
"unused" reservation lands to white
ownership. Once successful farmers, by 1921
only four Coeur d'Alene families were able
to productively continue farming their
allotments.*
*Digital
Collections, Washington University Libraries |
