Photo: Mike Graeme
We've Always Been here
Our territory includes the drainage area of the Columbia River, the Arrow, Slocan, Trout and Kootenay Lakes; the Columbia, Lardeaux, Duncan, Slocan, and lower Kootenay Rivers; the Monashee, Selkirk and Purcell mountains. It extends south across the International boundary along the Columbia/Kettle River basins into present-day Washington State, ending at Kettle Falls, Washington. The entire Kettle River region is Sinixt traditional territory.
We have gratitude for the memory of the Salmon Fishery at Sounding Water/Noisy Water, also called the historic Kettle Falls, Washington. At the southernmost point of our territory, these falls provided abundant food for tribes throughout the Inland Northwest. We shared the responsibility of this fishery with our close friends, the Skoyelpi tribe. As Salmon (Chinook, coho, sockeye and steelhead trout species) traveled upstream, they entered the rapids and waterfalls of our territory. Their biological value increased as hundreds of thousands spawned in our waters, filling our mountain territory with their sacred life cycle.
Today, the Grand Coulee Dam blocks those salmon from their timeless journey. We intend to bring them home.
