The Kalispels are river people. Their homelands follow the Pend Oreille River and fishing is a prominent part of their traditional lifeways. Today, the fishery remains an important natural resource on the Kalispel Reservation. Each year, with the thaw of winter, began a seasonal cycle for local fishermen.  Springtime meant fishing the Pend Oreille River and its tributaries.  Individuals fished from waterway banks or canoe (ƛ̓ye) using hook and line or nets.

Some fished from spearing platforms, while others took advantage of fluctuating springtime river levels to corral fish.  The corralling process involved constructing small earthen dams or dikes, about 2 feet high, during times of low water.  When the water dropped following periods of high water, stranded fish could easily be gathered.

A more community-focused fishing technique involved the construction of fish weirs (sq̓ʷyox̣ʷ).  One fishing weir design involved constructing brush fencing at a narrow point in a stream or slough.  Away from the weir, some eight to ten Kalispel men would use a “log” built out of poles and roll it through the water, which pushed the fish toward the weir.  Fish that became trapped could be picked out by hand.  Fish weirs were important local gathering places, imbued with tradition and integral components of Kalispel community life.

During salmon (smłičn) runs, the Kalispel and other regional tribes often traveled to Kettle Falls (sx̣ʷnetkʷ) to take advantage of that remarkable fishery on the Columbia River (kʷtnetkʷ). Gathering there served as another important community event.  Camps caught up on news from distant friends and relatives, and extensive trade occurred among the various bands.  At the camp, the salmon was dried or smoked to preserve them for the upcoming winter.  Other times, the fish was eaten fresh or boiled.

When cold returned to the region, Kalispel fishermen turned to ice fishing as a means to ensure that the fishery resource provided for their people year-round. Much has changed for Kalispel fisheries over the past century.  The Grand Coulee Dam inundated Kettle Falls, and other dams have cut off anadromous fish runs.

But Kalispel Tribe biologists work to maintain “healthy subsistence and sport fisheries,” by means of the tribe’s fish hatchery, habitat restoration program, and a partnership with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and other regional tribes to monitor the anadromous fish populations along the Pend Oreille and Columbia Rivers.

Credits and Sources:

Andrefsky, William, Jr. and Kira M. Presler (Compilers). The Calispell Valley Archaeological Project Final Report, Volume 2: Historic and Ethnographic Background. Project Report Number 16, Center for Northwest Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, 2000.

Bamonte, Tony and Suzanne Schaeffer Bamonte. History of Pend Oreille County. Spokane, Wash.: Tornado Creek Publications, 1996.

Kalispel Tribe of Indians. Fisheries and Water Resources Division, http://kalispeltribe.com/kalispel-natural-resources-department/fisheries-and-water-resources-division.

Lahren, Jr., Sylvester L. “Kalispel.” In Handbook of North American Indians, Plateau, Vol. 12, ed. Deward E. Walker, Jr., and William C. Sturtevant, 283–296. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1998.

Smith, Allan H. Kalispel Ethnographic Notes. Unpublished Manuscript on file with the Kalispel Tribe of Indians. Usk, Washington, 1936–1938.

Photographs courtesy of Allan H. Smith, courtesy of the Allan Smith Collection, Lewis Clark State College Library Archives and the Kalispel Tribe Natural Resources Division.

Prepared by Historical Research Associates, with assistance from the Kalispel Tribe. Audio narration by J. R. Bluff of the Kalispel Tribe’s Cultural Program.