The Nation

The Confederated Salish
and Kootenai Tribes

The Mission Valley lies within the Flathead Indian Reservation, and the tribes are its government - the political body of the Séliš, Q̓lispé, and Ksanka peoples, seated in Pablo. This page is the short version of what that means, and who to ask for the long one.

The government

The confederation joins three peoples - the Séliš (Salish), Q̓lispé (Pend d'Oreille), and Ksanka (Kootenai) - whose homeland this valley is. The 1855 Hellgate Treaty confirmed the Flathead Reservation; today a ten-member Tribal Council governs from Pablo, and tribal departments run everything from natural resources and forestry to health, housing, and the valley's public transit.

That makes CSKT the valley's largest government and one of its largest employers - and it means much of the land, water, and wildlife a visitor comes for is under tribal management, from the Bison Range to the Mission Mountains front.

Seat: Pablo
Peoples: Séliš · Q̓lispé · Ksanka
Treaty: Hellgate, 1855
Council: Ten members
Contact: cskt.org · (406) 675-2700

Two kinds of tribal business

Both are part of the valley's economy, and both are in this directory.

Tribe-owned

Owned by the tribes as a government - the enterprises on this page. Their revenue funds tribal services and programs.

Member-owned

A business owned by an individual tribal member - a shop, a ranch, an outfitter. Their own businesses, found throughout the directory alongside every other listing.

The enterprises

Some of the valley's most significant employers are tribal enterprises.

S&K TechnologiesSt. IgnatiusProfessional services - aerospace, engineering, IT and cybersecurity. Thirteen subsidiaries, federal clients, headquartered on Old Highway 93.S&K ElectronicsRonanPrecision electronics contract manufacturing - circuit boards, wire harnesses, defense work. Forty years on Highway 93.

Energy KeepersPolsonThe tribes' hydropower company, operating the Séliš Ksanka Qlispé Project - 208 megawatts on the Flathead River.

Eagle BankPolsonTribally owned community bank on the south shore.

KwaTaqNuk Resort & CasinoPolsonLakeside resort, marina, and casino on Polson Bay, with S&K Gaming running the floor.S&K GamingPolsonThe tribes' gaming enterprise.Mission Valley PowerValley-wideThe electric utility serving the reservation, tribally operated.

Institutions & services

Salish Kootenai CollegePabloThe tribal college - degrees, workforce programs, and a public events calendar that serves the whole valley.Two Eagle River SchoolPabloThe tribes' alternative secondary school.Char-Koosta NewsPabloThe tribes' news publication - tribal government, community news, and the calendar of record.CSKT TransitValley-widePublic buses anyone can ride. Arlee to Elmo, $2 a trip, Missoula and Kalispell medical runs.Tribal Commodities StoreSt. IgnatiusFood distribution for income-eligible families on the reservation.

The tribes speak for themselves

This page is a visitor's sketch, not the source. These are the sources.

cskt.orgGovernment, departments, services Char-Koosta NewsNews and the calendar of record Three Chiefs Culture CenterCultural education, Pablo Salish Kootenai CollegeHigher education, Pablo

How this site approaches everything on this page is written down: the land acknowledgment.