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The Kutenai (ˈkuːtəneɪ,_-niː ), also known as the Ktunaxa (tʌˈnɑːhɑː ; ktunʌ́χɑ̝), Ksanka (kəˈsɑːnkɑː ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern Idaho, and western Montana. The Kutenai language is a language isolate, thus unrelated to the languages of neighboring peoples or any other known language. Four bands form the Ktunaxa Nation in British Columbia. The Ktunaxa Nation was historically closely associated with the Shuswap Indian Band through tribal association and intermarriage. Two federally recognized tribes represent Kutenai people in the U.S.: the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana, a confederation also including Bitterroot Salish and Pend d'Oreilles bands. Around 40 variants of the name Kutenai have been attested since 1820; two others are also in current use. Kootenay is the common spelling in British Columbia, including in the name of the Lower Kootenay First Nation. Kootenai is used in Montana and Idaho, including in the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. These two spellings have been used for various placenames on their respective sides of the Canadian-U.S. border, notably the Kootenay River, called the Kootenai River in the United States. Kutenai is the common form in the literature about the people, and has been adopted by Kutenai in both countries as an international spelling when discussing the people as a whole. The name evidently derives from the Blackfoot word for the people, Kotonáwa, which itself may derive from the Kutenai term Ktunaxa. There are two words in the Kutenai language for the people and their language: Ktunaxa and Ksanka. Ktunaxa is the primary form for the British Columbia groups. Two etymologies have been suggested, tying the name to a verb for "to go out into the open", or to a verb for "to eat lean meat". In their own native language, they called themselves "Upnuckanick.

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Related concepts (13)

Kutenai

Kootenay River

The Kootenay River or Kootenai River is a major river of the Northwest Plateau in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and northern Montana and Idaho in the United States. It is one of the uppermost major tributaries of the Columbia River, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Kootenay River runs from its headwaters in the Kootenay Ranges of the Canadian Rockies, flowing from British Columbia's East Kootenay region into northwestern Montana, then west into the northernmost Idaho Panhandle and returning to British Columbia in the West Kootenay region, where it joins the Columbia at Castlegar.

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation (Montana Salish: Séliš u Ql̓ispé, Kutenai: k̓upawiȼq̓nuk) are a federally recognized tribe in the U.S. state of Montana. The government includes members of several Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai and Pend d'Oreilles tribes and is centered on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The peoples of this area were named Flathead Indians by Europeans who came to the area.