Spokane people

The Spokane (or Spokan) are a Native American people in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Washington. The Spokane Indian Reservation, at 47°55′42″N 118°02′45″W / 47.92833°N 118.04583°W / 47.92833; -118.04583, is located in eastern Washington, almost entirely in Stevens County, but includes two very small parcels of land (totaling 1.52 acres) and part of the Spokane River in northeastern Lincoln County.

The city of Spokane, Washington takes its name, which means "children of the sun" or "sun People", from them. Their language belongs to the Interior Salishan family. According to Lewis and Clark, in the early 19th century they lived in the vicinity of the Spokane River and numbered around 600. The 2000 census reported the resident population of the reservation at 2,004 persons, living on a land area of 615.168 km² (237.518 sq mi). They called themselves simply Sqeliz – “The People”. The Spokane Tribe comprises five bands: sntu/t/uliz, snzmeme/, scqesciOni, sl/otewsi, hu, sDmqeni.