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.
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.
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.