Who Are the Spokane?
The Spokane (Spokan) are an indigenous people of the Inland Northwest, with approximately 2,900 enrolled members in the Spokane Tribe of Indians (federally recognized). Their name, Sqélixʷ, means "People of the Sun" or "Children of the Sun"—a reference to how sunlight reflects off the Spokane River. They speak Spokane-Kalispel, an Interior Salish language with approximately 50 fluent speakers remaining. Traditional Spokane territory centered on the Spokane River and its tributaries in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, including Spokane Falls—a major salmon fishing site that gave its name to Washington's second-largest city.
Spokane Falls
Spokane Falls—dramatic cataracts on the Spokane River—was a major salmon fishing site and intertribal gathering place. Salmon migrated up the Columbia and Spokane rivers; at the falls, fish could be speared or netted as they leaped. The falls also served as a trading center where Spokane met Coeur d'Alene, Kalispel, and other peoples. Villages lined the river; root gathering in camas prairies and hunting in surrounding mountains supplemented fish. Grand Coulee Dam (1942), built without tribal consent, blocked salmon from the upper Columbia basin entirely—ending millennia of salmon culture. The Spokane Tribe never received compensation for this loss.
Uranium Legacy
The Spokane Reservation contains the Midnight Mine and Dawn Mine—uranium mines that operated during the Cold War without environmental controls. Mining contaminated water, soil, and air; tailings piles still leach radioactive material. Cancer rates among Spokane people are elevated. Cleanup, decades delayed, remains incomplete. This toxic legacy exemplifies how extractive industries operated on tribal lands with devastating health consequences. The Spokane Tribe has fought for full remediation and compensation, achieving some progress but facing ongoing contamination. Environmental justice remains central to tribal advocacy.
Contemporary Spokane
Modern Spokane balance cultural preservation with economic development. The tribe operates Two Rivers Casino, a hotel, and various enterprises on the 159,000-acre reservation. Language programs work to transmit Spokane-Kalispel to new generations; immersion efforts have produced young speakers. The Spokane River and Spokane Falls, though developed, remain culturally significant. The tribe participates in Columbia Basin salmon restoration efforts, seeking to restore fish above Grand Coulee Dam. Sherman Alexie, acclaimed author of "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," is Spokane. How the Spokane address uranium contamination, restore salmon, and maintain cultural identity shapes this sun-named people's future.
References
- Ruby, R. H. & Brown, J. A. (1970). The Spokane Indians: Children of the Sun
- Frey, R. (2001). Landscape Traveled by Coyote and Crane: The World of the Schitsu'umsh (Coeur d'Alene Indians)
- Alexie, S. (2007). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian