HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Coeur d'Alene Tribe ( ; also Skitswish; ) are a
Native American tribe In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, Indigenous tribe, or Tribal nation may be any current or historical Tribe (Native American)#Other uses, tribe, band, or nation of Native Americans in ...
and one of five
federally recognized tribes This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes are legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United States.
in the state of
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...
. The Coeur d'Alene have sovereign control of their Coeur d'Alene Reservation, which includes a significant portion of
Lake Coeur d'Alene Coeur d'Alene Lake ( ), is a natural dam-controlled lake in North Idaho, located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. At its northern end is the city of Coeur d'Alene. It spans in length and ranges from 1 to wide with over ...
and its submerged lands. In '' Idaho v. United States'' (2001), 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 court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
ruled against the state's claim of the submerged lands of the lower third of Lake Coeur d'Alene and related waters of the St. Joe River. It said that the Coeur d'Alene were the traditional owners and that the Executive Branch and Congress had clearly included this area in their reservation, with compensation for ceded territory. This area was designated in 1983 by the Environmental Protection Agency as Bunker Hill Mine and Smelting Complex, the nation's second-largest
Superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...
site for cleanup. Concerned at the slow pace of progress, in 1991 the tribe filed suit against mining companies for damages and cleanup costs, joined in 1996 by the United States and in 2011 by the state of Idaho. Settlements were reached with major defendants in 2008 and 2011, providing funds to be used in removal of
hazardous waste Hazardous waste is waste that must be handled properly to avoid damaging human health or the environment. Waste can be hazardous because it is Toxicity, toxic, Chemical reaction, reacts violently with other chemicals, or is Corrosion, corrosive, ...
s and restoration of habitat and natural resources. Historically the Coeur d'Alene occupied a territory of 3.5 million acres in present-day northern Idaho,
eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the H ...
and western Montana. They lived in villages along the Coeur d'Alene, St. Joe, Clark Fork, and
Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...
rivers, as well as sites on the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene, Lake Pend Oreille, and Hayden Lake. Their native language is Snchitsu'umshtsn, an
Interior Salish 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 Interior Salish people encountered by Ameri ...
an language. They are one of the Salish language peoples, which tribes occupy areas of the inland plateau and the coastal areas of the
Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...
.


Name

The French name ''Cœur d'Alêne'' translates to "heart of an awl". The name is first recorded by the
Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...
(1805) and was later popularly said to have been given by French traders to one of the chiefs of the tribe noted for his stinginess. The alternative name ''Skitswish'' is recorded by Alexander Henry the younger in 1810 (as ''Skeetshue'') and by George Gibbs in '' Pacific Railroad Report'' vol. 1 (1853). This is an exonym used by the Sahaptin. The self-designation ''Schi̲tsu'umsh'' is reported from Coeur d'Alene phrasebooks since the 1970s. A modern speaker of Coeur d'Alene was reported as interpreting this name as "the discovered people". The federally recognized tribe was named the Coeur D'Alene Tribe of the Coeur D'Alene Reservation, but they shortened it to Coeur D'Alene Tribe.


Geography

Historically, the Coeur d'Alene lived in what would become the Panhandle region of Idaho and neighboring areas of what is today eastern Washington and western Montana, occupying an area of more than 3.5 million acres (14,164 km2) of grass-covered hills, camas-prairie, forested mountains, lakes, marshes, and river habitat. The territory extended from the southern end of Lake Pend Oreille in the north, running along the Bitterroot Range of Montana in the east, to the
Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of North Central Idaho, north central Idaho, southeastern Washington (part of eastern Washington), and by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. ...
and North Fork of the Clearwater River in the south, to Steptoe Butte and up to just east of Spokane Falls in the west. At the center of this region was Lake Coeur d'Alene. The abundant natural resources included
trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...
,
salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...
, and whitefish. The tribe supplemented hunting and gathering activities by fishing the St. Joe and Spokane rivers. They used gaff hooks, spears, nets, traps and angled for fish.


History

An
Interior Salish 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 Interior Salish people encountered by Ameri ...
peoples, the Coeur d'Alene people first encountered Europeans in 1793. Then their economy was based on fishing, hunting, and plant gathering, with seasonal migratory patterns and retreating to clustered semi-subterranean dwellings during the winter months. The precontact lifeways of Interior Salish peoples are not widely written about, but available evidence favors the possibility of a recent expansion from the coast to the interior, possibly related to an increase in coastal population about 600 to 900 years ago. The earliest written description of the Coeur d'Alene people comes from the journals of Alexander Henry the younger, a fur trader with the
North West Company The North West Company was a Fur trade in Canada, Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada a ...
. He and British explorer David Thompson traded and traveled in their lands from 1810 to 1814. He wrote about the Coeur d'Alene:
The Skeetshue kitsuishor Pointed Hearts oeur d'AleneIndians dwell further southward Kallispell or Pend d'Oreilles">Pend d'Oreille tribes">Kalispel people">Kallispell or Pend d'Oreilles">Pend d'Oreille tribes about Skeetshue oeur d'AleneLake and [Spokane] River; they are a distinct nation, and have a different language [Salish] from the Flathead Indians, Flat Heads. They are very numerous, and have a vast number of horses, as their country is open and admits of breeding them in great abundance.
Ross Cox, a clerk with the Pacific Fur Company and then the North West Company, spent considerable time at the trading post of Spokane House between 1812 and 1817:
The Pointed Hearts, or as the renchCanadians call them, les Coeurs d' Alênes (Hearts of Awls), are a small tribe inhabiting the shores of a lake about fifty miles to the eastward of Spokan House. Their country is tolerably well stocked with beaver, deer, wild-fowl, &c.; and its vegetable productions are similar to those of Spokan. Some of this tribe occasionally visited our fort at the latter place with furs to barter, and we made a few excursions to their lands. We found them uniformly honest in their traffic; but they did not evince the same warmth of friendship for us as the Spokans, and expressed no desire for the establishment of a trading post among them.
About twenty years before our arrival ence in the early 1790s the Spokans and Pointed Hearts were at war, caused by a kind of Trojan origin. A party of the former pokane Indianshad been on a hunting visit to the land of the latter oeur d'Alene and were hospitably received. One day, a young Spokan discovered the wife of a Pointed Heart alone, some distance from the village, and violated her. Although she might have born this in silence from one of her own tribe, she was not as equally forbearing with regard to a stranger, and immediately informed her husband of the outrage. He lost no time in seeking revenge, and shot the Spokan as he entered the village. The others fled to their own lands, and prepared for war. A succession of sanguinary conflicts followed, in the course of which the greatest warriors of both side were nearly destroyed. At the end of a year, however, hostilities ceased; since which period they have been at peace. The two nations now intermarry, and appear to be on the best terms of friendship.
Many of the tribe were converted to
Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
in 1842 by Fr. Pierre-Jean De Smet, a Belgian
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
missionary from
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
, who was active throughout the Northwest. The twin towns of De Smet and Tensed (originally Temsed), Idaho, are named for him. The United States acquired this territory in 1846 by treaty with Great Britain. European-American settlers and other immigrants began to move from the United States into parts of the territory in the 1840s. After the Indian defeat in the Skitswish War of May–September 1858, many more speculators were attracted after the discovery of silver in 1863 in the north Panhandle near the city of Coeur d'Alene. Mining and development revealed this to be an area of the second-largest silver deposits in the United States. In 1873 the Coeur d'Alene lands were reduced to approximately when President
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
established the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation by executive order. Chief Peter Moctelme traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with the President to discuss his disagreement of allotments. Upon ratification, Chief Peter Moctelme's land was reduced by 1/3 and sold to white settlers. The US agreement with the tribe "expressly included part of the St. Joe River (then called the St. Joseph), and all of Lake Coeur d'Alene except a sliver cut off by the northern boundary." As of 1885, Congress had neither ratified the 1873 agreement nor compensated the Tribe. This inaction prompted the Tribe to petition the Government again, to "make with us a proper treaty of peace and friendship ... by which your petitioners may be properly and fully compensated for such portion of their lands not now reserved to them; ndthat their present reserve may be confirmed to them." Successive government acts put a reservation boundary across Lake Coeur d'Alene, rather than following customary practice of using the high water line, and reduced the size of the reservation to near Plummer, south of the town of Coeur d'Alene.


20th century to present

Due to extensive mining and smelting operations in the Panhandle during the 19th and 20th centuries, there was hazardous waste in water discharges and pollution in air emissions. The mining industry "left several thousand acres of land and tributaries, connected to the Coeur d'Alene Basin, contaminated with heavy metals." These mining operations have contributed "an estimated 100 million tons of mine waste to the river system." In the early 21st century, the federally recognized Tribe has approximately 2,000 enrolled citizens. The Tribe manages the sovereign Coeur d'Alene Reservation, which includes the lower third of Lake Coeur d'Alene and the Saint Joe River, and their submerged lands. Members of the tribe reside in such area cities as DeSmet, Harrison, Parkline, Plummer, St. Maries (part on the reservation, population 734), Tensed, and Worley. In 1935, Ignace Garry was one of a group of chiefs who managed the tribe. In 1949 he was selected as the last traditional chief of the Coeur d'Alene; he served until his death in 1965. During this period the tribe worked to restore its government under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. It gained approval of a written constitution in 1949 and elected representatives to the Tribal Council. In the 1950s, the tribe was one of several that came under termination pressure by the United States Congress. It helped found the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, an organization to represent the Salish peoples in both Coastal and Plateau tribes, and resisted termination of its federal status. Within Idaho, in the late 20th century the Coeur d'Alene organized with the four other federally recognized tribes in the state to form the Five Tribes Council, including the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho,
Nez Perce The Nez Perce (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region h ...
, Shoshone-Bannock, and Shoshone-Paiute. The peoples work together for mutual benefit, for instance, in applying for grants or negotiating with the state government on Native American affairs.


Government

The tribe reorganized under a written constitution approved by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...
, United States Department of Interior, on September 2, 1949, and amended in 1961. The constitution provides for an elected Tribal Council to serve as the legislature and governing body of the Tribe. It defined all tribal members of voting age as the General Council. At the time, the Tribe was still governed by Ignace Garry, the last traditional chief. The seven members of the tribal council are elected by citizens of the tribe to 3-year terms; with staggered expiration years. The elected head of the tribe is the chairman. Since 2005, the chairman has been Chief James Allan ("Chief" is his given first name). Born in 1972 in
Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...
, Allan grew up in Idaho on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation and graduated from Eastern Washington University in Cheney. He served in administrative and elected positions in the tribe and with the
National Congress of American Indians The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is an Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American Indian and Alaska Natives, Alaska Native Indigenous rights, rights organization. It was founded in 1944 to represent the tribes and resist U.S. ...
in Washington, DC before being elected as chairman."Tribal Council: Chief Bio"
, Coeur d'Alene Tribe website
Joseph Garry, son of Chief Ignace, was the first Native American to be elected to the Idaho state legislature. He also served as chairman of the tribe for 10 years. In 1984 his niece, Jeanne Givens, was the first Native American woman to be elected to the Idaho state legislature, serving two terms.Maureen Dolan, "The last traditional chief"
''CDA Press,'' November 10, 2010; accessed May 30, 2016
The Coeur d'Alene Tribe operates a health care facilit

which opened as the Benewah Medical Center in 1998 and was later renamed Marimn Health. The center was described by the
Indian Health Service The Indian Health Service (IHS) is an operating division (OPDIV) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). IHS is responsible for providing direct medical and public health services to members of federally recognized Native ...
as a national model for Indian Health Care and rural health care. The clinic provides comprehensive primary care services including dental, mental health services, and community health outreach services to both the Native American population and general community.


Economy

Tribal businesses include the Coeur d'Alene Casino, Hotel, and Circling Raven Golf Club in southwestern Kootenai County, about northwest of Worley and south of the city of Coeur d'Alene, via U.S. Route 95. Tribal gaming employs about 500 and generates about $20 million in profits annually, funding programs, contributing to economic development. The tribe also operates the Benewah Automotive Center, the Benewah Market, the first three floors of the Coeur d'Alene Resort, and Ace Hardware, which are located a few miles south of Worley at Plummer, in northwestern Benewah County. The tribe has invested in two businesses, a manufacturing plant (BERG Integrated Systems), and a bakery (HearthBread Bakery), in both of which the tribe owns a majority share. The tribal farm covers about . It produces
wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
,
barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
,
pea Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name ''Pisum sativum' ...
s,
lentil The lentil (''Vicia lens'' or ''Lens culinaris'') is an annual plant, annual legume grown for its Lens (geometry), lens-shaped edible seeds or ''pulses'', also called ''lentils''. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in Legume, pods, usually w ...
s, and
canola file:CanolaBlooms.JPG, Close-up of canola blooms file:Canola Flower.jpg, Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both Edible oil, edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several ...
. It also harvests
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
among its natural resources.


Culture

Tribal traditions include a respect and reverence for natural law, and for responsible environmental stewardship. The tribe is active in the protection, conservation and enhancement of fish and wildlife resources; as well as conservation issues that impact tribal land and water resources. Traditionally the tribe had a flexible kinship system with both paternal and maternal lines recognized within the extended family. People may claim ancestors on either side, and address all cousins the same. This enabled them to have a flexible society, as they would live in differently sized groups during different seasons, in order to adapt to the environment.


Environmental suit, land claim and compensation

In 1991, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe began the Coeur d'Alene Basin Restoration Project. That year tribal leaders, including Henry SiJohn, Lawrence Aripa, and Richard Mullen, decided to file a lawsuit against the mining companies, as they were concerned that cleanup progress by EPA and the state was too slow in the Basin and at the Bunker Hill Mine and Smelting Complex Superfund site. They filed suit against Hecla Mining Company, ASARCO and other companies for damages and recovery of cleanup costs of the site. In 1996 their suit was joined by the United States. In 2001 the United States and the Coeur d'Alene litigated a 78-day trial against Hecla and ASARCO over liability issues. In 2008, ASARCO LLC, reached a settlement of $452 million with the Coeur d'Alene Tribe and United States for the Bunker Hill siteBecky Kramer, "Hecla Mining Co. settles Superfund cleanup lawsuit"
''The Spokesman,'' June 14, 2011; accessed May 31, 2016
after emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy."Hecla Mining Company to Pay $263 Million in Settlement to Resolve Idaho Superfund Site Litigation and Foster Cooperation"
Press release, US Department of Justice, June 13, 2011; accessed May 31, 2016
In 2011 the government, the Coeur d'Alene, and the state of Idaho (which joined the suit that year) reached settlement with the Hecla Mining Company to resolve one of the largest cases ever filed under CERCLA, the Superfund statute. Hecla Mining Company will pay $263.4 million plus interest to the United States and other parties to "resolve claims stemming from releases of wastes from its mining operations. Settlement funds will be dedicated to restoration and remediation of natural resources in the Coeur d'Alene Basin." The trustees intend to restore habitat for fish, birds and other natural resources, for stewardship while working for economic progress in the region. This was one of the top 10 settlement cash awards in Superfund history. In a related case, at the turn of the 21st century, U.S. courts ruled in '' Idaho v. United States'' (2001) that the Coeur d'Alene tribe has legal jurisdiction over the submerged land of the lower third of
Lake Coeur d'Alene Coeur d'Alene Lake ( ), is a natural dam-controlled lake in North Idaho, located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. At its northern end is the city of Coeur d'Alene. It spans in length and ranges from 1 to wide with over ...
, which the US holds in trust for the tribe, as well as under a related of the St. Joe River.''Idaho v. United States'' 533 U.S. 262 (2001)
JUSTIA: US Supreme Court, accessed May 30, 2016
The case was initiated by the US government to "quiet title" with the state, and the Tribe entered to assert its interest. The State of Idaho had appealed a lower court decision but that was upheld by 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 court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
. The tribe has worked with the US Department of Justice in filing suit also against the
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...
over contamination of the lake and related lands.Dennis Zotigh, "Meet Native America: Paulette E. Jordan, Idaho House Representative"
Blog, National Museum of the American Indian, December 19, 2014; accessed May 30, 2016


Representation in other media

* ''Smoke Signals'' (1998) is an independent film that was set in the Coeur d'Alene Reservation. It was based on the short story, "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona", collected in the book ''
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven ''The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven'' is a 1993 collection of interconnected short story, short stories by Sherman Alexie. The characters and stories in the book, particularly "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona", provide ...
'' (1993) by Sherman Alexie (
Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...
-Coeur d'Alene). Alexie wrote the screenplay and served as film producer. The film focuses on a personal quest journey of two young men from the Coeur d'Alene Reservation. It was an all-Native American production.


Notable people

* Peter Moctelme (Chief, Coeur d'Alene Band 1907–1932) * Sherman Alexie (
Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...
-Coeur d'Alene), author and filmmaker * Lawrence Aripa, one of three leaders who brought the 1991 tribal lawsuit against mining companies for environmental cleanup; vice chairman 1990 to 1998"Lawrence Aripa, 72, CDA tribal elder"
''Lewiston Tribune,'' October 14, 1998; accessed May 31, 2016
*
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 Sentime ...
(1907–1951), popular jazz singer and recording artist of the 1930s and 1940s, performed with
Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American Jazz bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 193 ...
and
Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...
, became known as "Mrs. Swing". * Ignace Garry, last traditional chief of the Coeur d'Alene, serving with a group from 1935 to 1948, and as chief from 1949 until his death in 1965. Since then chairmen have been elected democratically. * Joseph Garry, son of Ignace, politician and the first Native American elected to the Idaho State House; also elected as Chairman of the Coeur d'Alene, serving for 10 years. * Jeanne Givens, politician; in 1984 she was the first Native American woman elected to the Idaho State House, where she served as representative for four years. She is granddaughter of Ignace Garry and niece of Joseph Garry. She was chair of the North Idaho College Board of Trustees; appointed by President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
to the Board of Directors of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M.,"Jeanne Givens Receives Presidential Appointment"
''The Spokesman-Review,'' November 21, 1997; accessed May 30, 2016
where she served as chair for several years; and served on Board of Directors of Americans for Indian Opportunity
official website
* Janet Campbell Hale, writer * Paulette Jordan, Democratic candidate for governor of Idaho in
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
and former member of the
Idaho House of Representatives The Idaho House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Idaho Legislature. It consists of 70 representatives elected to two-year terms. The state is divided into 35 districts, each of which elects two representatives to separate seats. ...
from 2014 to 2018; at her reelection in 2016, she was the only Democrat in state office north of Boise. * Richard Mullen, historian, one of three leaders who brought the 1991 tribal lawsuit against the mining companies for environmental cleanup; also on Tribal Council and served as vice chairman * Henry SiJohn, Tribal Council, one of three leaders who brought the 1991 tribal lawsuit against the mining companies for environmental cleanup; vice chairman from October 1998 to his death in February 1999AP, "Henry Sijohn, Coeur D'alene Leader"
''Seattle Times,'' February 16, 1999; accessed May 31, 2016
* Al Rinker, musician and younger brother of Mildred Bailey, grew up on the reservation. Member of the popular trio "The Rhythm Boys" with Bing Crosby and Harry Barris through 1931. * Charles Rinker, lyricist and younger brother of Mildred Bailey, grew up on the reservation. Active in Los Angeles.


See also

Neighboring tribes: * Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation * Kootenai-Salish (Flatheads) *
Nez Perce The Nez Perce (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest. This region h ...
*
Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...


Notes


Further reading


"Coeur d’Alene"
''Idaho Encyclopedia'' * Hale, Janet Campbell
''Bloodlines: Odyssey of a Native Daughter.''
New York: Random House, 1993. * Peterson, Jacqueline
''Sacred Encounters: Father DeSmet and the Indians of the Rocky Mountain West.''
Pullman: The DeSmet Project, Washington State University in association with the Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993. * Peltier, Jerome. ''Manners and Customs of the Coeur d'Alene Indians.'' Spokane: Peltier: Publications, 1975. * Peltier, Jerome. ''A Brief History of the Coeur d'Alene Indians: 1806–1909''. Fairfield, Washington: Ye Galleon Press, 1981. * Teit, James and Franz Boas. ''Folk-Tales of Salish and Sahaptin Tribes.'' Lancaster, Pennsylvania: American Folklore Society, 1917
Available online through the Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History collection


External links

* , official website
Coeur d’Alene Casino''Idaho v. US''

Coeur d’Alene Tribal School
by Rodney Frey, University of Washington Digital Collection
Coeur d’Alene Tribe
Northwest Portland Indian Health Board


Language


Hnqwa̱'qwe'elm language


{{authority control Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau Native American tribes in Idaho Native American tribes in Montana Native American tribes in Washington (state) Interior Salish Federally recognized tribes in the United States Exonyms