Description
Sinkiuse ("Sin ku yus), "between people," also known as Columbia, Isle de Pierre, and Moses Band. Location In late prehistoric times, the Sinkiuse lived mainly along the east bank of the Columbia River, although they ranged throughout the plateau south and east of the river. Today, their descendants live on the Colville Reservation, Ferry and Okanogan Counties, Washington, and in cities and towns around central Washington. Population The late-eighteenth-century Sinkiuse population was at least 800. In 1990, 3,782 Indians lived on the Colville Reservation, perhaps 10 percent of whom were Sinkiuse descendants.
Language
Interior Salish
Culture
Autonomous villages were each led by a chief and a subchief; these lifetime offices were hereditary in theory but were generally filled by people possessing the qualities of honesty, integrity, and diplomacy. The Sinkiuse were seminomadic for nine months a year; during the other three they lived in permanent winter villages. Winter was a time women made mats and baskets, and prepared meals. The men occasionally hunted or just slept, gambled, and socialized. In spring, groups of four or five families left the village for root-digging areas; those who had spent the winter away from the main village returned. Fish was a staple. Men caught four varieties of salmon as well as trout, sturgeon, and other fish.