The Coeur d'Alene Reservation is a
Native American reservation in northwestern
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
. It is home to the federally recognized
Coeur d'Alene, one of the five
federally recognized tribes
This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the Unite ...
in the state.
It is located in parts of
Benewah and
Kootenai counties. The land area is 523.76 sq mi (1,356.531 km
2) and it had a population of 6,551 residents at the
2000 census. The largest city entirely within the reservation is
Plummer, with a population of more than 1,000 in the 2010 census.
Part of the larger city of
St. Maries, the county seat of Benewah County, extends onto the reservation's eastern end. Some 734 of the city's 2,652 residents reside in this area of the reservation.
History and Origin
Considered as "where the old ones walked,"
the Coeur d'Alene Reservation came to fruition by the tribesmen using the surrounding resources to fish and hunt. The name, "Coeur d'Alene," meaning "Heart of the Awl," was given from a French trapper in the late 18th or early 19th century, recognizing the high trading skill the tribe displayed.
The Coeur d'Alene territory, acquired by the United States under an 1846 treaty with Great Britain,
saw numerous settlers from eastern United States move in the same decade. Following the defeat of the Indians in the
Skitswish War of May–September 1858, more people were attracted to the territory after the discovery of silver in 1863 in the northern
Idaho Panhandle
The Idaho Panhandle—locally known as North Idaho—is a salient region of the U.S. state of Idaho encompassing the state's 10 northernmost counties: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, and ...
region near the city of
Coeur d'Alene. People eventually discovered large amounts of silver through mining in this area.
Through executive order, President
Ulysses S. Grant established this reservation to be federally recognized in 1873. Ultimately, this move decreased the size of the lands to approximately 600,000 acres (940 sq. mi; 2,400 km
2), where disagreement was received from the current Chief Peter Mocetelme, including a meeting between the chief and President
Ulysses S. Grant. If the executive order was to be approved, 1/3 of the original Coeur d'Alene land was set to be sold to other white settlers.
The Tribe never saw a ratification of the executive order to be federally recognized or receive any compensation as of 1885. The Tribe made an effort to regain Congress' attention again in order to make an official peace treaty. Through several government actions, a boundary was put in place on the
Lake Coeur d'Alene, eventually decreasing the size of the lands to approximately 345,000 acres (539 sq. mi; 1,400 km
2).
Land disputes would still continue, and in 1997, the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. Federal tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...
case ''
Idaho v. Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Idaho'' held that the Coeur d'Alene tribe could not continue taking claim to
Lake Coeur d'Alene. Another similar case in 2001, ''
Idaho v. United States'', ruled in favor of the federal government.
Geography
Spanning over eastern Washington, north Idaho, and western Montana, also referred to as the
Panhandle region of Idaho, the Coeur d'Alene's and the neighboring tribes originally lived on over 3.5 million acres (7812 sq. mi; 20,234 km
2) of land. The region was diverse and contained numerous varied biomes, from forested mountains to marshes and lakes. The Coeur d'Alene tribe is located south of Bonner county, west of Shoshone county, and north of Benewah county. It borders Washington, being directly east of Spokane valley. At the center of the reservation was
Lake Coeur d'Alene.
The tribe hunted and gathered several fish including
cutthroat trout
The cutthroat trout is a fish species of the family Salmonidae native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean, Rocky Mountains, and Great Basin in North America. As a member of the genus ''Oncorhynchus'', it is one of the Pacific trout ...
, anadromous
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhync ...
, and
steelhead
Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and ...
. Cutthroat trout were originally harvested in the
St. Joe River and the
Coeur d'Alene Lake. Today, the trout only exists in the Coeur d'Alene Basin to be harvested.
Demographics
Consisting of over 2,190 current members, the
Coeur d'Alene people
The Coeur d'Alene (also ''Skitswish''; natively ''Schi̲tsu'umsh'') are a Native American nation and one of five federally recognized tribes in the state of Idaho.
The Coeur d'Alene have sovereign control of their Coeur d'Alene Reservation, ...
were established as non-nomadic.
Back from 1947 to current day, the Coeur d'Alene tribe has tribal leaders that oversee issues within the tribe. The council they presume consists of a chairman, vice-chairman, secretary-treasurer, and several council members. The chairman and vice-chairmen may interact with the federal government.
Economy/Trading
Trading was at the forefront of the Coeur d'Alene, being described by a past Frenchman fur trader as "the greatest traders in the world."
The land provided ample amounts of resources, allowing for the tribe to be stationary and non-nomadic while being able to establish farms and a "productive agriculture." Fish, quarry, waterfowl, nuts, and berries all derived from the bodies of water, mountains, grassy lands, and wetlands nearby.
The Coeur d'Alene tribe is allowed to earn money through corporate form, and all economic development and lease agreements must be approved. The tribe's primary economic development stems from agriculture and gaming. They employ around 1,000 people in both economic sectors. The tribe produces several crops on a 6,000 acre (9.38 sq. mi; 24.28 km
2) farm, but they also have farmland for turf farming and logging. For gaming, the tribe operates the Coeur d'Alene Casino, Resort, and Hotel, earning around $20 million in profit per year. Among other economic sectors, the Coeur d'Alene tribe also is involved in an automotive center, hardware center, food markets, and a medical center.
Communities
*
Conkling Park
*
DeSmet
*
Harrison (part, population 267 persons)
*
Parkline
*
Plummer
*
Rockford Bay
*
St. Maries (part, population 734 persons)
*
Tensed
*
Worley
Notable residents
*
Mildred Bailey
Mildred Bailey (born Mildred Rinker; February 27, 1907 – December 12, 1951) was a Native American jazz singer during the 1930s, known as "The Queen of Swing", "The Rockin' Chair Lady" and "Mrs. Swing". She recorded the songs " For Sentiment ...
References
{{authority control
Coeur d'Alene tribe
Regions of Idaho
American Indian reservations in Idaho
Geography of Benewah County, Idaho
Geography of Kootenai County, Idaho