Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes
Séliš · Qḻispé · Ksanka
The Séliš (Salish) were the aboriginal people of the Bitterroot and Flathead valleys of western Montana. The Qḻispé (Pend d'Oreille) occupied the Flathead and northern Idaho lake country. The Ksanka (Kootenai) came from the Kootenai River valley of northwest Montana and southern British Columbia. The three were confederated onto a single reservation in 1855.
At a Glance
Key Facts
Reservation
Flathead Indian Reservation
~1,900 sq mi (1.3 million acres)
Seat
Pablo, Montana
Enrolled Members
~8,000 enrolled members
Established
1855 Hellgate Treaty
Their Name for Themselves
Séliš · Qḻispé · Ksanka
History
Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes: History
The full story — from traditional homelands through the treaty and reservation era to today.
At the 1855 Hellgate Treaty, negotiated by Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens, the Salish, Pend d'Oreille, and Kootenai agreed to share a single reservation in the lower Flathead Valley rather than separate reserves. Chief Victor (Séliš) signed under the understanding that the Bitterroot would remain Salish land — a promise the U.S. later broke.
In 1891, after decades of resistance led by Chief Charlot, the Bitterroot Salish were forcibly removed from their valley to the Flathead Reservation in what is known as the Bitterroot Removal — a defining event in Salish memory.
The CSKT today operate the most advanced tribal government in Montana. In 2015 the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Water Compact resolved the largest tribal water rights settlement in U.S. history, and in 2022 the National Bison Range — established on reservation land in 1908 without tribal consent — was restored to the tribes.
Culture & Language
Culture & Language
The living traditions, language, and ceremony that define this nation.
Two distinct language families: the Séliš and Qḻispé speak Salishan languages; the Kootenai language is a language isolate. The tribes run active language-immersion programs.
The bitterroot (séliš) dig and the first-roots ceremony remain central, along with camas digging. The Séliš-Qḻispé Culture Committee in Arlee, founded in 1976, is one of the oldest tribal cultural-preservation programs in the country.
Salish Kootenai College in Pablo is a four-year tribal college and the tribe's academic center.
Modern Community
Today
How this nation governs and sustains itself in the present day.
Timber (S&K Technologies, for example), agriculture, the former Kerr Dam hydropower (now tribal), forestry, gaming, and the National Bison Range — among the most economically diversified tribal governments in the U.S.
This page is an educational resource on the Indigenous nations whose homelands include present-day Montana. For the most accurate and current information on each nation, visit the tribe's official website or cultural department directly.