Introduction

The Gold Rush

Aboriginal Culture

Chief Isidore

Ktunaxa Groups

Chief Red Eagle (Ambrose Gravelle), Backtracking with Fernie & District Historical Society p. 110

The Ktunaxa is one big nation of people that is divided into 7 different groups called bands. The Ktunaxa nation had a main camp called "The Big Village" or "The-place-of-the-flying-head" where all the different bands would meet. "The Big Village" was right on the United States and Canadian border near Roosville.

The seven different bands of the Ktunaxa were divided into two major groups. These two groups were distinct because of the areas that the bands lived in:

The first group were the Lower Ktunaxa bands. These bands lived along the Kootenay River near present-day Bonners Ferry, Creston and Nelson.

The second group were the Upper Ktunaxa bands. These bands lived along the upper waters of the Kootenay River and stayed close to the western slopes of the Rockies. The Upper Ktunaxa bands lived mostly around the site that became Fort Steele and the Tobacco Plains, to the south. They also lived near present-day Jennings and Libby in Montana.

Aboriginal Culture		Travel