The Sinkiuse-Columbia are a Native American tribe so-called because of their former prominent association with the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

. They belong to the inland division of the Salishan group, with their nearest relatives being the

Wenatchi The Wenatchi people or Šnp̍əšqʷáw̉šəxʷi / Np̓əšqʷáw̓səxʷ ("People in the between") are Native Americans who originally lived near the confluence of the Columbia and Wenatchee Rivers in Central Washington state. They spoke Interio ...

s and Methows. The Sinkiuses call themselves , or (meaning has something to do with "main valley"), or ''Sinkiuse.'' They apply the name to other neighboring

Interior Salish peoples The Interior Salish languages are one of the two main branches of the Salishan language family, the other being Coast Salish. It can be further divided into Northern and Southern subbranches. The first Salishan people encountered by American exp ...

, potentially originating from a band that once inhabited the Umatilla Valley. Other names the Sinkiuse-Columbia Indians were known by include: * , by the Nez Percé, probably, meaning "arrows" or "arrow people." * , another Nez Perce name, meaning "firs," or "fir-tree people." * , name conferred by the

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

employees of the fur companies, meaning "rock island", perhaps for a band of the tribe. * ''Middle Columbia Salish'', so called by Teit (1928) and Spier (1930 b). * , probably the Snohomish name. * , Snohomish name for all interior Indians, meaning "inland people," or "interior people." * ,

Twana Twana is the collective name for a group of nine Coast Salish peoples in the northern-mid Puget Sound region, most of whom are extinct or are now subsumed into other groups and organized tribes. The Skokomish are the main surviving group and se ...

name for all interior Indians, meaning "inland people." * , Nooksack name for all interior Indians, meaning "inland people." * , Wasco Chinook name.

Ethnography

The homeland of the Sinkiuse was based on the Columbia River from

Crab Creek Crab Creek is a stream in the U.S. state of Washington. Named for the presence of crayfish, it is one of the few perennial streams in the Columbia Basin of central Washington, flowing from the northeastern Columbia River Plateau, roughly east o ...

upstream to the

Wenatchee River The Wenatchee River is a river in the U.S. state of Washington, originating at Lake Wenatchee and flowing southeast for , emptying into the Columbia River immediately north of Wenatchee, Washington. On its way it passes the towns of Plain, Leave ...

and centered on

Moses Coulee Moses Coulee is a canyon in the Waterville plateau region of Douglas County, Washington. Moses Coulee is the second-largest and westernmost canyon of the Channeled Scablands, located about to the west of the larger Grand Coulee. This water channe ...

. In 1870, Winans placed them "on the east and south sides of the Columbia River from the Grand Coulee down to Priest's Rapids." Hale classified the Sinkiuse as a division of the Pisquows with population 355 in 1905, 299 in 1908, 540 (with others?) in 1990. Mooney (1928) estimates the Sinkiuse to have numbered 800 in 1780, but they may have been more numerous as Teit (1927) estimated that this tribe and the Pisquow together totaled approximately 10,000 before smallpox reached them. Subdivisions or Bands (According to Teit, 1930) * or (Umatilla Valley). * , around White Bluffs on the Columbia River. * or , also called ''Moses-Columbia'' or ''Moses Band'' after

Chief Moses Chief Moses (born ''Kwiltalahun'', later called ''Sulk-stalk-scosum'' - "The Sun Chief") (c. 1829 – March 25, 1899) was a Native American chief of the Sinkiuse-Columbia, in what is now Washington state. The territory of his tribe extended a ...

. * Curtis (1907-9) gives the following: "Near the mouth of the sink of Crab Creek were the Sinkumkunatkuh, and above them the SinkolkolumInuh. Then came in succession the Stapi'sknuh, the Skukulat'kuh, the Skoáhchnuh, the Skihlkintnuh, and, finally, the Skultagchi'mh, a little above the mouth of Wenatchee River." * Spier (1927) adds that the Sinkowarsin met by Thompson in 1811 might have been a band of this tribe. During the beginning of the reservation era, the Sinkiuses were located at the

Columbia Reservation Chief Moses (born ''Kwiltalahun'', later called ''Sulk-stalk-scosum'' - "The Sun Chief") (c. 1829 – March 25, 1899) was a Native American chief of the Sinkiuse-Columbia, in what is now Washington state. The territory of his tribe extended a ...

. After its closure, they were placed under the jurisdiction of Colville Agency and one band, the Moses-Columbia Band, is in the southern part of

Colville Indian Reservation The Colville Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in the northwest United States, in north central Washington, inhabited and managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, which is federally recognized. Established in ...

Language

The Sinkiuse-Columbia historically spoke an

Interior Salish The Interior Salish languages are one of the two main branches of the Salishan languages, Salishan language family, the other being Coast Salish languages, Coast Salish. It can be further divided into Northern and Southern subbranches. The first S ...

Southern dialect, Columbia-Moses. Other Interior Salish Southern dialects, were spoken by Pisquow, Wenatchi, and Methow.

Notes

External links

Sinkiuse/Sinkyone Indian Tribe History

{{authority control Native American tribes in Washington (state) Interior Salish

Ethnography

Language

Notes

Further reading

External links