Kutenai People - Communities

Communities

There are 4 bands in south-eastern British Columbia, 1 band in northern Idaho, 1 band in north-western Montana, and there are also small populations in Washington.

Canada - British Columbia

Ktunaxa Nation Council (KNC) (until 2005 Ktunaxa/Kinbasket Tribal Council (K/KTC))

• Lower Kootenay First Nation (aka Lower Kootenay Indian Band - Ya·qannu·ki, Yaqan nuʔkiy or Yaqaón Nuñkiy - ‘where the rock stands’, are culturally Lower Kootenay, the Tribal Headquarters are located in Creston on the most populous reserve Creston #1 along the Kootenay River, ca. 6 km north of the US-Canadian border, reserves: Creston #1, Lower Kootenay #1A, #1B, #1C, #2, #3, #5, #4, St. Mary's #1A, ca. 26 km², Population: 214)
• St. Mary's First Nation (aka St. Mary's Band – ʔaq̓amniʔk or ʔaq̓am - ‘deep dense woods’, are culturally Lower Kootenay, live along the St. Mary's River near Cranbrook, the Tribal Headquarters are located on the most populous reserve Kootenay #1, reserves: Bummers Flat #6, Cassimayooks (Mayook) #5, Isidore's Ranch #4, Kootenay #1, St. Mary's #1A, ca. 79 km², Population: 357)
• Tobacco Plains First Nation (aka Tobacco Plains Indian Band – ʔa·kanuxunik, Akan'kunik, or ʔakink̓umⱡasnuqⱡiʔit - ‘People of the place of the flying head’, are culturally Lower Kootenay, live near Grasmere (see also Tobacco Plains), on the east shore of the Lake Koocanusa below the mouth of Elk River, ca. 15 km north of the British Columbia-Montana border, reserves: St. Mary's #1A, Tobacco Plains #2, ca. 44 km², Population: 165)
• ?Akisq'nuk First Nation (aka Columbia Lake Indian Band – A·kisq̓nuknik̓, ʔakisq̓nuk oder ?Akisq'nuk - ‘place of two lakes’, are culturally Upper Kootenay, the Tribal Headquarters are located in Akisqnuk direct south of Windermere, reserves: Columbia Lake #3, St. Mary's #1A, ca. 33 km², Population: 264)

Shuswap Nation Tribal Council, one of the two tribal councils of the Secwepemc

• Shuswap Indian Band (Kyaknuqⱡiʔit or Kisamni in Ktunaxa, are culturally Upper Kootenay, a Secwepemc group which called themselves Tsqwatstens-kucw ne Casliken - ‘People between two mountain ranges', this group of the Shuswap Indian Band, known as ‘Kinbasket Shuswap Band’, moved no later than the 18th Century in the Upper Columbia River Valley where they were allied to the Ktuanxa and Stoney, through intermarriages with Ktunaxa they became part of the tribe. The most populous reserve, Shuswap IR, is located in the Columbia Valley in the Rocky Mountain Trench along the left shore of the Upper Columbia River, east of the Selkirk Mountains, ca. 1,6 km north of Invermere, just northeast of Windermere Lake, reserves: St. Mary's #1A, Shuswap IR, ca. 12 km², Population: 244) - formerly members of the Ktunaxa Nation Council (KNC) (which was therefore known until 2005 as Ktunaxa/Kinbasket Tribal Council (K/KTC))

United States - Idaho

Kootenai Tribal Council

• Kootenai Tribe of Idaho (ʔaq̓anqmi or ʔa·kaq̓ⱡahaⱡxu, also called Idaho Ksanka, are culturally Lower Kootenay, live in the Kootenai Indian Reservation in Boundary County in NE Idaho near the county Seat Bonners Ferry, about 40 km south of the border, Population in 2000: 75)

United States - Montana

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation

• Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation (K̓upawi¢q̓nuk or Ksanka Band, also called Montana Ksanka, are culturally Lower Kootenay, live near Elmo on the Flathead Indian Reservation in West-Montana, between Kalispell and Missoula, the Ksanka Band form together with the Bitterroot Salish (also known as Flathead) and the Upper Pend d'Oreilles the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation, ca. 5.058 km², Population: about 6.800 live on the reservation, ca. 3.700 outside near the reservation)

United States - Washington

Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation

• Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (one group of culturally Lower Kootenay of the Arrow Lakes Area affiliated with the Senijextee (also known as Arrow Lakes Band or The Lakes), an Interior Salish people, after a war the greater part of the Lower Kootenay moved to Kootenay Lake in British Columbia, the remaining banded together with the Senijextee as one tribe and settled together with the other eleven historic tribes onto the Colville Indian Reservation in the Columbia Basin in northern Washington to form the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, ca. 2.100 km², Population: about 9.000)