Colville (tribe)

The Colville Native Americans were originally located on the Colville River in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Washington, along the Columbia River in the area between Kettle Falls and Hunters. [cite web |url=http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/washington/ |title=Washington Indian Tribes |accessdate=2007-10-09 |work=accessgenealogy]

The original name of the tribe is unknown. The name "Colville" comes from association with Fort Colville, named after Andrew Colvile of the Hudson's Bay Company.

Ethnography

The tribe's history is tied with Kettle Falls, an important post of the Hudson's Bay Company which brought the advantages and disadvantages of White contact.

Mooney (1928) estimated the number of the Colville at 1,000 as of 1780, but Lewis and Clark placed it at 2,500, a figure also fixed upon by Teit (1930). In 1904 there were 321; in 1907, 334; and in 1937, 322.Fact|date=December 2007

The Colville tribe is now located on the Colville Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in eastern Washington, inhabited and managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, which is recognized by the federal government of the United States as an American Indian Tribe.

Language

The Colville belonged to the Interior Salishan linguistic stock and to that branch of the latter which included the Okanagan, Sanpoil, and Senijextee (Sinixt).

Notes