|
|
|
|
Our Owner - The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
|
|
 Indian encampment near St. Ignatius, Montana, 1906 Photo: D'Arcy McNickle Collection The Flathead Indian Reservation, located in northwestern Montana, is home to the Salish, Pend d’Oreille and Kootenai Tribes. Aboriginal territories of our Tribes spanned over 20 million acres of what is now known as western Montana, northern Idaho, and parts of south Canadian provinces. When outside pressures and settlement of the west by non-Indians became too great, Tribal leaders negotiated the 1855 Treaty of Hellgate. This established the Flathead Indian Reservation for the exclusive use and benefit of the Salish, Pend d’Oreille and Kootenai Tribes. Today, the Flathead Indian Reservation encompasses 1.314 million acres, of which just over 790,000 acres are proudly owned and managed by the Tribes and its members.
Today the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (Tribes)strive to preserve a rich cultural heritage, while also integrating new means to perpetuate a Tribal way of life, preserve natural resources, and provide economic well-being.
|
|
|
The traditional values that served the Tribes in the past are imbedded in the many ways they serve and invest in their people and communities, in the way they have regained and restored their homelands and natural resources, in the ways they have built a self-sufficient society and economy, in the ways they govern their Reservation and represent themselves to the rest of the world and in the ways they continue to preserve their right to determine their own destiny.
|
|
|
The Tribes’ mission is to adopt traditional principles and values into all facets of tribal operations and services. They invest in their people in a manner that ensures the Tribes’ ability to become a completely self-sufficient society and economy. And they have resolved to provide sound environmental stewardship to preserve, perpetuate, protect and enhance natural resources and ecosystems.
Today a new generation celebrates the traditional ways while shaping new opportunities for economic growth through the measured use of tribal resources. Tribal people—lawyers, nurses, farmers, professionals, homemakers, loggers, teachers and entrepreneurs—have developed a tribal way of life that is the foundation for many generations to come. Population - There are just over 7,000 enrolled members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Approximately 4,500 Tribal members reside on the Flathead Indian Reservation, and about 1,550 are under the age of 18 years. According to the 2000 Census Report, there are 26,172 people living within the boundaries of the Flathead Indian Reservation, and 26.7 percent of that population is American Indian.
Median Household Income - The median household income for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes is $28,116 in comparison to all other American Indian reservations in the United States, where the average is $23,070.
 SKT's annual report is presented to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Council in Pablo, Montana
Education - The Flathead Indian Reservation has six public high schools serving both Indian and non-Indian students, as well as a Bureau of Indian Affairs contracted school. The Tribes also developed and support Salish Kootenai College (www.skc.edu), that was established as one of the first tribal community colleges in the nation in 1977. The college offers a variety of associates, bachelors and professional degrees that both Indian and non-Indian students can choose to pursue for their higher education needs.
Economy - The most significant employer for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes comes from their Government functions, whereby about 2,200 people are employed. Tribal members fill about 73 percent of all Tribal jobs. In recent years, the Tribal operating budget has approached approximately $112 million. Historically, the Salish and Kootenai Tribes have enjoyed a robust timber industry; however, over the last decade the Tribes have diversified their investment portfolio and now own five independent enterprises. Other Tribal companies are engaged in technology and aerospace services, banking, tourism, manufacturing and fabrication, as well as a marina operation. It is estimated that in total the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes generate over $160 million in goods and services, directly impacting the regional economy of northwestern Montana.
To learn more, please visit the official website of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes (www.cskt.gov).
|
|
|