THE KTUNAXA NATION
Ktunaxa elder at St Eugene Resort
Living Culture,
Living Traditions
For more than 10,000 years, the Ktunaxa people, also known as the Kootenai or
Kootenay, have occupied a traditional territory that spans what is now known as
southeastern British Columbia, Southwestern Alberta, and parts of Washington,
Idaho and Western Montana.
For hundreds of generations, the
Ktunaxa used the Elk Valley and the
Crowsnest Pass as a trade and travel
route through the Rocky Mountains.
Twice a year, bison hunts were
coordinated on the prairies east of the
Rockies until the bison population was
decimated in the mid-1800s.
The Elk Valley area was the primary
home of the easternmost branch of
the Ktunaxa people, who are closely
connected to families living at what
is now Tobacco Plains. The Michel
Prairie people, after whom the town
of Michel was named, used the area
near Sparwood to plant tobacco. Their
Ktunaxa name is k̓aqawakanmituqnik
and means “river running into and out
again” (the Michel Creek into the Elk
River).
8
Despite being subjected to 120 years
of living on Indian Reserves, and
decades of forced attendance at a
residential school at St. Eugene Mission
near Cranbrook, the Ktunaxa Nation
continues to be a strong and thriving
community. Visitors to the region
can learn more about the Ktunaxa
by visiting the St. Eugene Mission
Interpretive Centre and the Fernie
Museum. A pull-out near Michel Creek
at the former townsite of Michel offers
visitors further information about the
Michel Plains people.
The Ktunaxa Nation Council is located in
Cranbrook. To learn more about the living
culture and traditions of the Ktunaxa
Nation: ktunaxa.org | 250-489-2464