Coeur d'Alene people
The Coeur d'Alene Tribe /kɜːrdəˈleɪn/ kur-də-LAYN[3] (also Skitswish and in the Coeur d'Alene language: Schi̲tsu'umsh) are a Native American tribe and one of five federally recognized tribes in the state of Idaho.[1]
The Coeur d'Alene have sovereign control of their Coeur d'Alene Reservation, which includes a significant portion of Lake Coeur d'Alene and its submerged lands.
In Idaho v. United States (2001), the United States Supreme Court ruled against the state's claim of the submerged lands of the lower third of Lake Coeur d'Alene and related waters of the St. Joe River. It said that the Coeur d'Alene were the traditional owners and that the Executive Branch and Congress had clearly included this area in their reservation, with compensation for ceded territory. This area was designated in 1983 by the Environmental Protection Agency as Bunker Hill Mine and Smelting Complex, the nation's second-largest Superfund site for cleanup.
Concerned at the slow pace of progress, in 1991 the tribe filed suit against mining companies for damages and cleanup costs, joined in 1996 by the United States and in 2011 by the state of Idaho. Settlements were reached with major defendants in 2008 and 2011, providing funds to be used in removal of hazardous wastes and restoration of habitat and natural resources.
Historically the Coeur d'Alene occupied a territory of 3.5 million acres in present-day northern Idaho, eastern Washington and western Montana. They lived in villages along the Coeur d'Alene, St. Joe, Clark Fork, and Spokane rivers, as well as sites on the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene, Lake Pend Oreille, and Hayden Lake. Their native language is Snchitsu'umshtsn, an Interior Salishan language. They are one of the Salish language peoples, which tribes occupy areas of the inland plateau and the coastal areas of the Pacific Northwest.
Name[edit]
The French name Cœur d'Alêne translates to "heart of an awl". The name is first recorded by the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1805) and was later popularly said to have been given by French traders to one of the chiefs of the tribe noted for his stinginess.[4]
The alternative name Skitswish is recorded by Alexander Henry the younger in 1810 (as Skeetshue) and by George Gibbs in Pacific Railroad Report vol. 1 (1853). This is an exonym used by the Sahaptin.[5]
The self-designation Schi̲tsu'umsh is reported from Coeur d'Alene phrasebooks since the 1970s.[6]
A modern speaker of Coeur d'Alene was reported as interpreting this name as "the discovered people".[7]
The federally recognized tribe was named the Coeur D'Alene Tribe of the Coeur D'Alene Reservation, but they shortened it to Coeur D'Alene Tribe.[1]
Geography[edit]
Historically, the Coeur d'Alene lived in what would become the Panhandle region of Idaho and neighboring areas of what is today eastern Washington and western Montana, occupying an area of more than 3.5 million acres (14,164 km2) of grass-covered hills, camas-prairie, forested mountains, lakes, marshes, and river habitat. The territory extended from the southern end of Lake Pend Oreille in the north, running along the Bitterroot Range of Montana in the east, to the Palouse and North Fork of the Clearwater River in the south, to Steptoe Butte and up to just east of Spokane Falls in the west. At the center of this region was Lake Coeur d'Alene. The abundant natural resources included trout, salmon, and whitefish. The tribe supplemented hunting and gathering activities by fishing the St. Joe and Spokane rivers. They used gaff hooks, spears, nets, traps and angled for fish.
Environmental suit, land claim and compensation[edit]
In 1991, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe began the Coeur d'Alene Basin Restoration Project.[12] That year tribal leaders, including Henry SiJohn, Lawrence Aripa, and Richard Mullen, decided to file a lawsuit against the mining companies, as they were concerned that cleanup progress by EPA and the state was too slow in the Basin and at the Bunker Hill Mine and Smelting Complex Superfund site. They filed suit against Hecla Mining Company, ASARCO and other companies for damages and recovery of cleanup costs of the site. In 1996 their suit was joined by the United States.[13]
In 2001 the United States and the Coeur d'Alene litigated a 78-day trial against Hecla and ASARCO over liability issues. In 2008, ASARCO LLC, reached a settlement of $452 million with the Coeur d'Alene Tribe and United States for the Bunker Hill site[17] after emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[13]
In 2011 the government, the Coeur d'Alene, and the state of Idaho (which joined the suit that year) reached settlement with the Hecla Mining Company to resolve one of the largest cases ever filed under CERCLA, the Superfund statute. Hecla Mining Company will pay $263.4 million plus interest to the United States and other parties to "resolve claims stemming from releases of wastes from its mining operations. Settlement funds will be dedicated to restoration and remediation of natural resources in the Coeur d'Alene Basin."[13] The trustees intend to restore habitat for fish, birds and other natural resources, for stewardship while working for economic progress in the region.[13] This was one of the top 10 settlement cash awards in Superfund history.[17]
In a related case, at the turn of the 21st century, U.S. courts ruled in Idaho v. United States (2001) that the Coeur d'Alene tribe has legal jurisdiction over the submerged land of the lower third of Lake Coeur d'Alene, which the US holds in trust for the tribe, as well as under a related 20 miles (32 km) of the St. Joe River.[12] The case was initiated by the US government to "quiet title" with the state, and the Tribe entered to assert its interest. The State of Idaho had appealed a lower court decision but that was upheld by the United States Supreme Court.[12]
The tribe has worked with the US Department of Justice in filing suit also against the Union Pacific Railroad over contamination of the lake and related lands.[11]
Neighboring tribes: