Okanagon (Native Americans of the Plateau)

Okanagon,"seeing the top, or head," or Isonkva’ili, "Our People." They were the main tribe of a culturally related group of Indians also including the Senijextee (Lake), Colville, and Sanpoil Indians. They are occasionally known today as the Northern Okanagon (Canada) and the Sinkaietk (United States).

Location Okanagons traditionally lived in the Okanagon and Similkameen River Valleys, including Lake Okanagon, in Washington and British Columbia. Today, most Okanagons live on the Colville Reservation, on reserves in British Columbia, and in regional cities and towns.

Population The late-eighteenth-century Okanagon population was about 2,500. Today roughly 2,000-2,500 Okanagon Indians live mostly in Cana.

Language Okanagon Indians spoke a dialect of Interior Salish.

Historical Information

History Okanagons undertook a gradual northward expansion following their acquisition of horses in the mid-eighteenth century. They first encountered non-native traders in the early nineteenth century and Catholic Indians and missionaries shortly thereafter. The tribe was artificially divided when the international boundary was fixed in 1846. The Sinkaietks did not participate in the Yakima war (1855-1856), although some did join in fighting the United States later in that decade.

A gold strike on the Fraser River in 1858 brought an influx of miners and increased the general level of interracial conflict. Most U.S. Okanagons settled on the Colville Reservation in 1872. The Canadian Okanagon were assigned to several small reserves.


Religion Okanagons believed in a chief creator deity as well as the presence of spirits in all natural things, animate and inanimate. Guardian spirits could be acquired by adolescents through physical training, fasting, and seclusion. Shamans’ especially powerful spirits allowed them to cure illness and perform other particularly difficult tasks. Okanagon Indians celebrated a girls’ puberty ceremony, a first fruits ceremony, and a midwinter spirit festival and dances as well as war, scalp, marriage, and sun dances, some of which were acquired in the historical period.

Government Two geographical divisions, the Similkameen and the Okanagon proper, were each composed of between 5 and 10 autonomous bands. Each band was led by a (usually hereditary) chief with advisory powers. The true locus of authority was found in a council of older men. War, hunt, and dance chiefs were selected as needed.

Customs Corpses were wrapped in matting or robes and then buried in the ground or in rock slides. Sometimes canoes or carvings were placed over the grave site. Mourners cut their hair and wore old clothes. A pleasant land of the dead was recognized as existing to the south or west. Okanagons regularly intermarried with other Interior Salish people, especially Spokan and Thompson Indians. They practiced polygamy. They also very occasionally practiced a form of potlatch.

Dwellings Winter dwelling were of two types. One was a conical, semisubterranean, pole frame lodge covered with earth. This type was about 10-16 feet in diameter, and entrance was gained through the roof. The people also built rectangular, mat-covered, multifamily lodges. In summer they used conical, tule mats on pole frames and, later, skin tipis. Men and women used domed sweat houses for purification; the structures were also used as living quarters for youths in spirit training.

Diet Salmon was the main staple. Large and small game, including elk, bear, bighorn sheep, and marmot, was also important. Dogs sometimes assisted in the hunt, in which animals were often surrounded and/or driven over a cliff. Meat was roasted, boiled, or dried. Buffalo was always part of the diet but became more important when groups began using horses to hunt buffalo on the Great Plains. Important plant foods included camas, bitterroot, berries, and nuts.

Key Technology Men caught fish with dip nets, seine nets, traps, weirs, spears, and hook and line. Stone, bone, and antler provided the raw material for most tools. Women made cedar-bark or woven spruce root-baskets with geometric designs. Some baskets were woven tight enough to hold water. Women also specialized in making woven sacks. They sewed tule mats with Indian hemp.

Trade Trade fairs were held at Kettle Falls and at the mouth of the Fraser River. The level of trade increased with acquisition of horses.

Notable Arts Basketry and tanning were especially well developed. Rock painting had been practiced for thousands of years.

Transportation Water transportation methods included bark, especially birch-bark, canoes and rafts.

People used snowshoes during winter travel. Horses were acquired in the mid-eighteenth century.

Dress Beginning in the eighteenth century, dressed skins provided the main clothing material. Men wore shirts and breechclouts, and women wore aprons. Both wore moccasins, leggings, sewn or woven caps, and goat wool or woven rabbit-fur blankets and robes.

War and Weapons War chiefs were selected on an ad hoc basis. Weapons included juniper bows and flint-tipped arrows. Okanagons were occasionally allied with Colville Indians against the Nez Perce and Yakima.

Contemporary Information

Government/Reservations The Colville Reservation (1872) is located in Ferry and Okanogan Counties, Washington. It covers 1,011,495 acres and had a 1990 Indian population of 3,782. An Indian Reorganization Act constitution approved in 1938 calls for a 14-member business council and various committees. The Confederated Tribes is a member of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians and other intertribal organizations.

Okanagon bands in Canada live on a number of different reserves. See "Daily Life" for profiles of some of these bands (all statistics are as of 1995).

Economy The reservation economy is built largely around stock raising, farming, logging (including a sawmill) and reforestation, and seasonal labor. There is some mining as well as a meat-packing plant, a log cabin sales business, and tourism-related businesses such as a trading post and gambling enterprises. There is potential for development of hydroelectric resources. The economies of the Canadian bands center on agriculture, farming, forestry, and small businesses.

Legal Status The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation is a federally recognized tribal entity. All of the bands described under "Daily Life" are federally and provincially recognized.

Daily Life Colville Indians are largely acculturated. Language preservation programs are hindered by the lack of a common aboriginal language. Recent efforts to reinvigorate disparate tribal cultures and religions include the presence of the Chief Joseph Band of Nez Perce Indians with their Seven Drum religion, the Indian Shaker Church, and the Native American Church. The reservation hosts an annual powwow and a circle celebration. There is also a program of reacquiring and consolidating the land base and a goal to increase the general levels of education. The Colville Business Council wields growing power in regional and statewide issues.

The Lower Similkameen Band controls 11 reserves on 15,276 hectares of land. The reserves were allotted in 1876. The population is 313, of whom 275 live in 64 houses on the reserves. Elections are by custom, and the band is affiliated with the Similkameen Administration. Children attend band and provincial schools. Important economic resources and activities include agriculture, farming, forestry, and small businesses. Facilities include offices and a church.

The Okanagon Band, composed of seven different communities, controls five reserves on 10,603 hectares of land. The reserves were allotted in 1877. The population is 1,367, of whom 676 live in 224 houses on the reserves. Elections are under the provisions of the Indian Act, and the band is currently unaffiliated. Children attend band and provincial schools. Important economic resources and activities include haying and small businesses. Facilities include offices, a community hall, a fire station, and a church.

The Osoyoos Band controls two reserves on 13,052 hectares of land. The reserves were allotted in 1877. The population is 316, of whom 223 live in 86 houses on the reserves. Elections are under the provisions of the Indian Act, and the band is currently unaffiliated. Children attend band and provincial schools. Important economic resources and activities include a vineyard, a campsite, farming, and land leases. Facilities include offices, a community hall, a church, and a garage.

The Penticton Band controls two reserves on 18,691 hectares of land. The population is 675, of whom 397 live in 120 houses on the reserves. Elections are by custom, and the band is currently unaffiliated. Children attend band and provincial schools. Important economic resources and activities include land leases, forestry, a gravel pit, a billiard hall, and individual hay ranches. Facilities include offices, a community hall, a heritage center, and a church.

The Upper Similkameen Band controls seven reserves on 2,602 hectares of land. The population is 41, all of whom live in 14 houses on the reserves. Elections are held under the provisions of the Indian Act, and the band is affiliated with the Similkameen Administration and the Okanagon Tribal Council. Children attend provincial schools. Important economic resources and activities include a campsite, ranching, and a hairdressing business.

Next post:

Previous post: