Bitterroot Salish

Tribal elders say that the tribes started to break into smaller groups as the population became too big to sustain its needs in just one central location.

Centuries following the dispersion, the separated groups of Salishan peoples became increasingly distinct which resulted in variations on the language.

[7] The tribes' oral history tells of having been placed in their Indigenous homelands, which is now present-day Montana, from when Coyote killed the nałisqelixw, which literally translates into people-eaters.

Stories that include "the extension of glaciers down what is now Flathead Lake, the flooding of western Montana beneath a great lake, the final retreat of the bitter cold weather as the ice age came to an end, the disappearance of large animals like giant beaver and their replacement by the present-day smaller versions of those creatures".

Archaeologists have been able to document a continuous occupancy within some sites as far back as 12,600 years ago during the final retreat of the glaciers.

The people adapted, practicing a seasonal round and traveling across the continental divide once or twice each year to hunt buffalo.

[9] Sometime before Lewis and Clark reached the Bitterroot in 1805, Xalíqs (Shining Shirt), a Salish prophet, foretold that fair-skinned men dressed in black robes would arrive in the valley to teach the people new morals and a new way to pray.

These men, who wore crosses and did not take wives, would bring peace, but their coming would be the beginning of the end of all native people.

Remembering Xalíqs's prophecy, the Salish sent delegations in 1831, 1835, 1837, and 1839 to St. Louis asking for Black Robes to come to the valley.

About 350 chose to be baptized, including several leaders: Tjolzhitsay (Big Face), Walking Bear, and Victor ( Xweɫxƛ̣ ̓cín or Many Horses).

DeSmet traveled back east to get funding for a mission, returning to the Bitterroot in September 1841 with five more Jesuit priests.

Many Salish people chose to adopt elements of Catholicism that were complementary to their own beliefs, including ideas of "generosity, community, obedience, and respect for family.

The Jesuits tried to stamp out Salish traditions that contradicted Catholic teachings; they gathered the medicine men and insisted they throw away their sacred bundles into a hole near the church.

In the meantime, Stevens ordered only a cursory survey of the valley, instructing R. H. Lansdale to ride around the two proposed reservations.

Stevens instructed Lansdale, "weight must be given to the fact that a large number of Indians prefer the Flathead River reservation."

White settlers and Montana's territorial delegate saw this transition of leadership as an opportunity to force the Salish onto the Flathead reservation.

With food scarce, the people suffered and finally began to consider the U.S. government's offer of land on the Flathead Reservation.

[20] In October 1889, retired general Henry B. Carrington arrived in the Bitterroot to negotiate with the Salish and convince them to move to the Flathead once and for all.

[22] The Salish were forced to accept removal to the Flathead, making the painful decision to give up their homeland in order to preserve their people and culture.

In 1953, when the U.S. government targeted the tribes for termination, the CSKT cultivated support from Montana politicians and successfully defended against the attack.

In the later half of the twentieth century, Salish people completed academic degrees and expanded their political influence.