Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
federally recognized tribe in Montana
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation (Montana Salish: Séliš u Ql̓ispé, Kutenai: k̓upawiȼq̓nuk) are a federally recognized tribe centered on the Flathead Indian Reservation in the U.S. state of Montana. The tribe includes Kutenai, Bitterroot Salish, and Upper Pend d'Oreilles people, the later two are Interior Salish peoples.
The Bitterroot Salish were referred to by Euro-American explorers as Flathead Indians. This name was originally applied to various Salish peoples after Europeans misinterpreted their identifying Coast Salish Sign Language sign to mean that they practiced artificial cranial deformation. This sign involved pressing both hands to the opposite sides of the head and meant, "We the people.”
The peoples of these tribes originally lived in the areas of Montana, parts of Idaho, British Columbia, and Wyoming. The original territory comprised about 22,000,000 acres (89,000 km2) at the time of the 1855 Hellgate treaty.
Demographics
The tribe has about 7,753 citizens members with approximately 5,000 tribal citizens living on the Flathead Reservation. Their predominant religion is Roman Catholicism. 1,100 Native Americans from other tribes and more than 10,000 non-Native Americans also live on the reservation.
Culture
The People's Center Museum opened in 1995 in Pablo, Montana.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes” as federally recognized tribe in Montana. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as federally recognized tribe in Montana. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q497587. The Library of Congress control number is n85000396. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1855 and 1995.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes primary sources, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes archive and Confederated research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.