Description
The Kutenai also known as the Ktunaxa, Ksanka, Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern Idaho, and western Montana. Four bands form the Ktunaxa Nation in British Columbia. The Ktunaxa Nation was historically closely associated with the Shuswap Indian Band through tribal association and intermarriage. Two federally recognized tribes represent Kutenai people in the U.S.: the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana, a confederation also including Bitterroot Salish and Pend d'Oreilles bands.
Language
The Kutenai language is a language isolate, thus unrelated to the languages of neighboring peoples or any other known language.
Culture
The Kootenai harvested fish including several types of salmon, whitefish, and trout. Throughout the year they hunted Big Horn sheep, Rocky Mountain goat, grizzly, brown and black bear, moose, elk, deer, and woodland caribou. Birds were also hunted as the spruce grouse, ptarmigan, and several types of ducks and geese as part odf their diet. The spiritual aspects of hunting and fishing were undertaken only with the most thorough spiritual preparation. Visions and the seeking of visions played a fundamental role in the Kootenai religion. And those visions were quite often sought with the spiritual focus of the entire Kootenai religion.