At the time the Coeur d'Alene Reservation was opened to homesteaders, the area of Plummer was heavily forested. Many settlers who claimed their sections in the new townsite, rather than as farmland, sold the tall trees on their claims for income as they established themselves in Coeur d'Alene country. As you walk among the features of this plaza and travel the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, read the echoes of the traditional knowledge and family stories that comprise the oral history of this land.
A.
sqigwts (water potatoes) or Sagittaria latifolia were the last plant foods gathered in the late fall, along the shores of the lake.
B.
In the early spring parties of hunters drove herds of deer to the lake. Before the eras of horses and guns, success depended upon the coordinated skills of leaders who knew deer habits and habitat, canoeists waiting in ambush, and women who processed the kill on shore for the coming seasons.
C.
In the high mountains in the late summer, youngsters accompanied their grandmothers to gatherst'shastq(huckleberries) or Vaccinium membranaceum. Packed down the mountains on horses, they could be sold by the gallon to passengers on the trains. It was a source of income from which the children could look forward to buy new clothes for school.
D.
khwe te'l hnqwe'lipn, 'from the baking pit' was an expression used to refer to the busy activities of preparing foods for the winter. Grandmothers directed the construction of earth ovens, beginning with the gathering of mosses and plants that flavored and preserved the vegetables and roots, and the rocks that held the heat of the slow smoldering fires.
E.
From the beginning of the Reservation era, Coeur d'Alenes established a work ethic that demanded responsibility. Whether engaged in farming or the seasonal occupations, the old-timers insisted, ne' ku ku'u'l'l eshi't ne' ku hnchi'łus, 'If you're working, the first thing, you pay your bills.'
F.
Despite widespread acceptance of the Jesuits' teachings, and conversion to Catholicism, there were some Coeur d'Alenes who maintained their confidence and faith in the medicine men and women and their practices. ts'ap'q'm, 'They stuck with them.'
G.
Even after the Jesuit Mission moved from near St. Maries to Cataldo, and later to DeSmet, some families remembered their ties to the original (1842) site. They said,te'l tsi' khwe tech hngwa'ruset, 'That's where our roots began.'
H.
khwa k'wa'y chn chchene' chn miyu'lmkhw, 'From when I was still little, I learned about my land.' Family camping was not merely recreational. In addition to gathering foods and medicines, youngsters learned about Coeur d'Alenes' occupation of this area: where they were from, who their neighbors were, and the family histories of their ancestors.
I.
The communication between the animals and the Coeur d'Alenes is reflected in the language. Some of today's elders heard from their parents,sya'me'y'mi'y'm khwe guł tt'mikhw, 'Animals were reporters.' A gathering of eagles announced the presence of spawning fish, for example, and meadowlark told the community gossip.
J.
słaq(service berry) Amelanchier alnifolia from Coeur d'Alene country could be dried and stored in small sacks. Along the trails and at the trade centers of Kettle Falls and Celilo Falls (in Washington state) they could be traded for blankets, beadwork, and dried salmon.
K.
chenqhiłłt khwe 'alotmnts 'We got broken up by allotments,' in the words of the old-timers. The Coeur d'Alene Reservation was allotted in 1909 under the federal Dawes Act, a program by which individual Indians were assigned farm subsections, and the reservation was opened. Homesteaders filed on lands claimed through a public lottery, and the US Government sold other forested and waterfront sections. The national legislation effectively ruined family farming enterprises among the tribe, already known in the latter 19th Century as the most successful farmers in the region.
L
The lake provided fish and plant foods, was the means for travel across large distances by canoe, modified the temperature extremes for summer and winter camps, and was a source of spiritual power.hnkhwlkhwltsutnet, 'It was our way of life.' In the coldest months of the winter, Stanislas Aripa, a Coeur d'Alene farmer, cut blocks of ice from the lake. He kept them packed in sawdust until August and September, when he could use them during the harvest, putting ice in the tea for his workers.
M.
From the storytelling,mi'ymi'yshit'wes, many generations of Coeur d'Alenes grew up with tales about dwarfs, or "Stick Indians," who hung upside down in trees, or were especially active in the forests at night, or during fog. They were and are the area's bogeymen, creating mischief and even danger, to be feared by small children and avoided by all others.
N.
During the Second World War enlistees boarded troop trains near here. Women took over most of the farm labor and tribal children in the boarding schools went on a schedule of six day weeks, in order to finish the school year early and help out on the family farms. Forested lands were rapidly cleared, as timber was needed to build the naval training station at Farragut (now a state park), and additional farmland was needed to grow wheat and grains for the war effort;ch'nshits, 'They helped them,' was how they spoke of their contribution to the Lend-Lease Program.
O.
słoq'wa'yalqw, or May in the Coeur d'Alene calendar, is when 'Bark Is Loose on the Trees.' It reminds us of times when women peeled strips of bark of varying sizes, from a variety of trees, to construct the baskets they used to hold berries, roots, and water. Their harvests are sometimes evident, now, in the tall trees.
Near here Ts'aa'l'ma, Mary Teresa Leo, fished on the ice. She called the place,sqwe'mu'lmkhw. "I'm used to this place. I'm familiar with this place, and I'm always going there." She and other tribal women from the Benewah or Moctelme valleys would ride on horseback from their ranches to Elpu'sn, in the Lovell Valley. They put their animals up in barns there, boarded trains to the lake for a day of ice-fishing, then returned to the valley, where they often spent the night with relatives before riding home. Or they took their camping outfits, for longer stays when the fish were plentiful.
T''nt''nmi, was one of the last Coeur d'Alenes to leave permanent residence along the lake, after tribal members were assigned farm homes under the Allotment Act. Athnpetptqwe'nhe hosted regular gatherings and celebrations, where guests participated in races toward the lake, on foot or on horseback.
Tribal members, in return for allowing the railroads to be built in their territory, were guests on trains. Many traveled in this manner back to the lake for food gathering, recreation or work. Women were notably present during ice-fishing season. During the winter some Indian farmers loaded their horses onto boxcars and traveled to the landings, where they cut cordwood for the steamboats.
Coeur d'Alene women, who rode the trains after the turn of the twentieth century, conversing in their native language, impressed their non-Indian neighbors. These women often traveled to the lake to fish year around. In the winter they carried gunnysacks, or canvas bags. Caught fish would be placed in the bags, dipped in the water, then hung in the cold air; frozen for the trip home, and storage. Near here, at a stopping place,hntsaqaqn, riders from the south and west could transfer to the steamboat landing, where Coeur d'Alene men worked skidding logs for the boats and trains. At this point of embarkation, young Coeur d'Alene men and women, and other members of the reservation community, boarded troop trains that carried them to service in World War II.
hndarepwas a regular canoe landing for those Coeur d'Alenes traveling across the lake. There were family ties,sqigwts(water potatoes), bitterroots, and trade destinations on the west side. To the east were huckleberries, mountain game, and the headwaters of the lake. Everywhere there were places of uncommon beauty and spiritual power, and neighbors and relatives who shared a common language and homeland.
