The Lake (tribe)
The Lake, also known as Senijextee, was a branch of the Salishan language family, primarily residing along the Columbia, Kettle, and Kootenay rivers in Washington and the Arrow Lakes area of British Columbia, Canada. This tribe shared a dialect closely related to that of the Okanagan tribe and is believed to have migrated from regions in Montana and Idaho during prehistoric times. The Lake lived in various-sized villages organized into bands or family groups, primarily relying on hunting, fishing, and gathering for sustenance, with salmon being a staple food source. Their lifestyle required seasonal mobility to find food, which limited the development of larger political or social structures within their communities. The Lake people were skilled canoe builders, although challenging river conditions often necessitated travel on foot. The introduction of European diseases and changing economic circumstances significantly impacted their population, leading to a decline. By the 20th century, many surviving Lake individuals were located on the Colville Reservation in Washington, assigned to them in 1872. However, by the 1970s, the Lake were no longer recognized as a distinct group in Canada or the United States.
On this Page
The Lake (tribe)
Category: Tribe
Culture area: Plateau
Language group: Salishan
Primary location: Colville Reservation, Washington State
The Lake, also called Senijextee, was a branch of the Salishan language family. They lived along the Columbia, Kettle, and Kootenay rivers in Washington and in the Arrow Lakes area of British Columbia, Canada, which gave them their name. Their dialect was very similar to that of another Salishan tribe, the Okanagan. Evidence suggests they migrated to Washington from Montana and Idaho in prehistoric times. The Lake lived in villages of varying sizes, in bands or groups of families. They dressed in wool blankets and fur robes. Because they relied on hunting and fishing—salmon was a chief staple of their diet—as well as on gathering roots and berries, they were forced to move throughout the year to find food in different seasons. This prevented the villages from growing and developing as political or social centers. The Lake do not seem to have relied on agriculture. They were skilled in building canoes, but the rapids of the rivers along which they lived were so treacherous that most traveling was done on foot. The introduction of new diseases from Europe and changing economic conditions brought about a great decline in the numbers of surviving Lake. During the twentieth century, most of the remaining Lake Indians in the United States lived on the Colville Reservation in Washington, to which the Lake had been assigned in 1872. By the 1970s, there were no identified Lake in Canada or the United States.
