Salish

Salish

Salish indigenous people of North America, also known as the Flathead, who in the early 19th cent. inhabited the Bitterroot River valley of W Montana. Their language belongs to the Salishan branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages ). These people never practiced head flattening, but the Columbia River tribes who shaped the front of the head to create a pointed appearance spoke of their neighbors, the Salish, as "flatheads" in contrast. After the introduction of the horse the Salish adopted a Plains culture, including the hunting of buffalo and the use of the tepee. They fought a series of wars with the Blackfoot over hunting land. The Jesuit missionary Pierre Jean De Smet , who in 1841 founded the mission of St. Mary in the Bitterroot valley among the Salish, persuaded the Blackfoot to make peace. By the Garfield Treaty (1872) the Salish agreed to move north to the valley of the Flathead lake and river. Many now live on the Flathead Reservation in Montana, which they share with a small group of Kootenai. In 1990 there were close to 5,000 Salish and over 2,000 people of mixed Salish and Kootenai descent in the United States.

There are several Coast Salish groups centered around Puget Sound. They numbered some 10,000 in 1990, including the Duwamish, Muckleshoot, Nisqually, Puyallup, Suquamish, Tulalip, and other groups. The city of Seattle is named after one of their great chiefs. The Native Americans of the Puget Sound area were traditionally part of the Northwest Coast cultural area (see under Natives, North American ), speaking Salishan languages, living in large wooden houses, and practicing wood carving. Their diet was based on an abundant supply of salmon, shellfish, berries, and game until they were moved onto reservations by the treaties of Medicine Creek, Point Elliott, and others in the 1850s. Since then they have waged a continual battle in federal courts over fishing and shellfish rights in the area, one of the most productive in the country.

Bibliography: See O. W. Johnson, Flathead and Kootenay (1969); J. G. Jorgensen, Salish Language and Culture (1969).

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Salish." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Salish." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Salish.html

"Salish." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Salish.html

Learn more about citation styles

Flathead Indians

Flathead Indians, name applied to several Northwestern tribes that practiced occipital flattening on their children, and even to such other tribes as the Nez Percé. The Salish of western Montana, the only tribe now known by the name, actually never employed this practice. The Flatheads figure in the Journals of Lewis and Clark, The Adventures of Captain Bonneville, and James Hall's The Wilderness and the War Path.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Flathead Indians." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Flathead Indians." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-FlatheadIndians.html

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Flathead Indians." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-FlatheadIndians.html

Learn more about citation styles

Salish

Salish Native North American tribe, formerly occupying an area in w Montana; they later moved to the Flathead Lake region. They gave their name to one of the major language families of the Native Americans. Today c.3,000 Salish occupy several reservations in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Salish." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Salish." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Salish.html

"Salish." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Salish.html

Learn more about citation styles

Salish

Salishblackish, brackish, quackish •Frankish, prankish •clerkish, darkish, sparkish •peckish • rakish •cliquish, freakish, weakish •sickish, thickish •pinkish •hawkish, mawkish •folkish • bookish • textbookish •puckish •monkish, punkish •quirkish, Turkish •establish, stablish •Spanglish •embellish, hellish, relish •palish, Salish •English • stylish •abolish, demolish, spit-and-polish •Gaulish, smallish, tallish •owlish • Polish •coolish, foolish, ghoulish, mulish •bullish • dullish • publish •accomplish • ticklish • purplish •devilish •churlish, girlish •famish • Amish • schoolmarmish •blemish, Flemish •Hamish • squeamish • dimmish •warmish • gnomish • Carchemish •skirmish

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Salish." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Salish." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Salish.html

"Salish." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Salish.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

The Salish People and the Lewis and Clark Expedition.(Book review)
Magazine article from: Oregon Historical Quarterly; 3/22/2006
B.C., Coast Salish Nations, Tribes Honour Salish Sea.
News Wire article from: M2 Presswire; 7/16/2010
Muckleshoot Indian Tribe Diversifies Holdings with Acquisition of the...
Business Wire; 10/3/2007

Facts and information from other sites

Salish images
Salish. Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)