Bitterroot Salish

Because this was a country famous for its hunting, it was also a famous battleground.

From the north came the terrible Blackfeet, from the south the Shoshones, or Snakes, the tribe of Sacagawea, from the east the Crows, famous for their expert thievery and their long hair, from the west the Flatheads, always friendly to the white men, and the Nez Percés.

The Nez Percés came over the mountains of the Bitterroot and through the valleys of the Rocky Mountains on hunting expeditions.

Lewis and Clark now wanted to meet friendly Indians.

This was because this party had been friendly to them, had given them presents, been kind to them, and had taken advantage of them in no way.

So also the Flathead Indians, who lived in the Flathead Valley and on the slopes of the Bitterroot Mountains and in the Bitterroot Valley, were friendly.

The Flatheads sold the Americans food, showed them the best trail over the Bitterroot Mountains, and were kind to them.

The Bitterroot Mountains were so called because of the bitter little root with pink flowers which grew all over those mountains.

The language was a curious mixture of grunts and cries.

Nevertheless, a kind and hospitable people were these light-skinned Utla shoots of the great Tushapa, or Flathead Nation.

They were rich in horses and generous with their roots and berries, and fearing that these strange white men, who rode without blankets, had been robbed, they threw about their guests' shoulders handsome bleached buffalo robes.

These Utla shoots, who were on their way eastward to hunt the buffalo, signed that the best trail for the big water beyond the mountains was the Pierced Nose Trail, northward still.

His four sons had left him several days back, but another son had appeared, and he asserted that they, too, would guide the white chiefs by the Pierced Nose Trail onward from the No Salmon River, and so to the Stinking Lake under the setting sun.

"What white men do we find at the Pacific Ocean, George?" asked Peter.

Both the Snakes and the Flatheads spoke of white men down the Columbia, which was known only as the Big River.

"Traders, Peter.

SBR's Lisa Lineberger went to talk to organizers and attendees.

[tribal singing] Students from the Salish School in Spokane are singing a song about Sasquatch.

They keep time with traditional drums and wear traditional dress.

It's the start of the first Indigenous Peoples' Day celebration in Riverfront Park.

That's Margo Hill Ferguson.

We don't need archeologists or anthropologists, uh, to tell us where we come from or how long we've been here.

Using a combination of English and Salish, she tells everyone the creation story that her great-grandmother used to tell her, the creation of the Spokane River.

[speaking Salish] And from those salmon, we got life, and there became the upper, the middle, and the lower Spokane.

This was because this party had been friendly to them, had given them presents, been kind to them, and had taken advantage of them in no way.

So also the Flathead Indians, who lived in the Flathead Valley and on the slopes of the Bitterroot Mountains and in the Bitterroot Valley, were friendly.

The Flatheads sold the Americans food, showed them the best trail over the Bitterroot Mountains, and were kind to them.

The Bitterroot Mountains were so called because of the bitter little root with pink flowers which grew all over those mountains.

Cox said, Mr. Clark, I have a letter from Farnham, who has been trading in the Flathead country.

He says he is now at the Coeur d'Alene River.

He has only a few furs now, but the Flathead Indians following him are loaded down with beaver skins.

They will not sell except for tobacco, and Farnham has no tobacco.

Because this was a country famous for its hunting, it was also a famous battleground.

From the north came the terrible Blackfeet, from the south the Shoshones, or Snakes, the tribe of Sacagawea, from the east the Crows, famous for their expert thievery and their long hair, from the west the Flatheads, always friendly to the white men, and the Nez Percés.

The Nez Percés came over the mountains of the Bitterroot and through the valleys of the Rocky Mountains on hunting expeditions.

Lewis and Clark now wanted to meet friendly Indians.

This was because this party had been friendly to them, had given them presents, been kind to them, and had taken advantage of them in no way.

So also the Flathead Indians, who lived in the Flathead Valley and on the slopes of the Bitterroot Mountains and in the Bitterroot Valley, were friendly.

The Flatheads sold the Americans food, showed them the best trail over the Bitterroot Mountains, and were kind to them.

The Bitterroot Mountains were so called because of the bitter little root with pink flowers which grew all over those mountains.