Open Letter to the Tribal Council

I am an Okanogan Indian and a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. I am so disappointed in your name choice; I must re-remind you of your history and that we are not 12 tribes; we are but 10 bands of one tribe.

The name change you have suggested sounds like you are glorifying the Grand Coulee Dam, not the falls that no longer exist, nor the river that is no more. Why would you think that we the Syilx People would consider that to be just or respectful? It is the fact that we are a Salmon People and not “Big Water” people.

The size and depth of our history has been felt for the last 10,000 and more years, and the others tribes arrived here 132 years ago. I have always held respect for the two tribes that were invited here, but their language is sahaptan and ours is NSyilxn, we are not of the same nation of people. Our history is as different as our language. We are not a river people or a lake people; we are not northern or southern people and are not separated by our tongue; we are one People.

I beg of you to reconsider the name change to water anything, and let our People decide their fate; you don’t seem to have a good grasp of your history. Too many of our children and their children are still using the white man’s name given to us. We must be given at least a choice of four names to choose from and a final vote on the two that have the greatest number. Then we can say it was OUR choice and not your idea.

I thank you for listening, and I want the People to have the final say in what we call ourselves for the next seven generations.

Wai, Lim Limt

Arnie Marchand