Lower Kalispel

Kalispel Indian Community
of the Kalispel Reservation

Lake Pend Oreille, traditional Kalispel homeland
Total population
over 400 enrolled members
Regions with significant populations
United States ( Washington)
Languages
Kalispel language, English
Religion
traditional tribal religion
Related ethnic groups
other Kalispel/Pend d'Oreilles peoples,Chewelah people

The Kalispel Indian Community of the Kalispel Reservation is a federally recognized tribes of Lower Kalispel people, located in Washington. They are an Indigenous people of the Northwest Plateau.

The Kalispel Reservation, located in Usk in Pend Oreille County, Washington. It was founded in 1914 and is 4,557 acres (18.44 km²) large.

The tribe's headquarters is in Cusick, Washington. The tribe is governed by a democratically elected, five-member tribal council. The current administration is as follows:

Traditionally, Kalispel people spoke the Kalispel language, an Interior Salish language.

Kalispel people are thought to have come from British Columbia. In the 18th century, Blackfeet people pushed them from the Great Plains to Pend d'Oreille River and Lake Pend Oreille. The town of Kalispell, Montana is named after the tribe.

In 1809, the North West Company opened a trading post in their territory. A Roman Catholic mission was founded in the 1840s. The Upper Kalispel were forced onto an Indian reservation in Montana, while the Lower Kalispel remained on their homelands in Washington.

The tribe refused to sign a treaty proposed by the US government in 1872. In 1875, there were only 395 Lower Kalispel. Non-Natives claimed reservation lands under the Homestead Act, and economic opportunities for tribal members were minimal. In 1965, the average tribal member's income was $1,400, and there was only one telephone for the entire tribe.