Kalispel

Pend d'Oreilles
Kalispel

Touch Her Dress, a Kalispel girl, ca. 1910
Total population
(over 400)
Regions with significant populations
United States ( Montana,  Washington)
Languages
Kalispel-Pend d’Oreille, English
Religion
traditional tribal religion
Related ethnic groups
Chewelah,Spokane

The Pend d’Oreilles, also known as the Kalispel, are Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau. Their traditional territory was around Lake Pend Oreille, as well as the Pend Oreille River, and Priest Lake. Today many of them live in Montana and eastern Washington. The primary tribal range from roughly Plains, Montana, westward along the Clark Fork River, Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho, and the Pend Oreille River in eastern Washington and into British Columbia (Canada) was given the name Kaniksu by the Kalispel peoples.

They are generally divided geographically and culturally in the Kullyspelm (Upper Kalispel "Pend d’Oreilles") and the Silkatkmlschi (Lower Kalispel "Pend d’Oreilles"). Upper Kalispel people are now enrolled in the federally recognized Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation in Montana. The Lower Kalispel people are now enrolled in the Kalispel Tribe of Indians in Washington.

Some Kalispel or "Pend d'Oreilles" are also enrolled in the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington.

The name Pend d’Oreille (French: [pɑ̃ dɔʁɛj], "hangs from ears") refers to the large shell earrings that these people wore. The name Kalispel comes from an anglicization of their name Ql̓ispé (IPA: [qəˀlispe], which means "Camas People.