Through their stories, the Schitsu’umsh share how for thousands of years, they resided along their lakes and waterways that provided their sustenance, their system of transportation, and their spiritual foundation.,, Their landscape encompassed of what is now North Idaho, eastern Washington and western Montana, with Coeur d’Alene Lake at its center.. The lake was not a backdrop to their lives, it was the organizing center of cultural, spiritual, and material existence. They fished, gathered, harvested, and lived in relationship with this watershed across seasons and generations, practicing reciprocity in their care of lands and waters, with the responsibility they carried for future generations. .
Since time immemorial, the Schitsu'umsh held, and still hold, this lake and the surrounding lands as sacred. As the Tribe has written: "We held, and still hold, the lake and surrounding lands as sacred, as the source of spiritual as well as physical sustenance."
That relationship has been tested. The arrival of settlers, a century of industrial mining and timber harvest, and federal land policies all reshaped the lake and the lives of the people who had always called it home. And still, the schitsu'umsh remained.
Uniting artists, scientists, and communities around the health and future of Coeur d'Alene Lake and its watershed"
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The Coeur d'Alene Arts & Culture Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to enrich the community by connecting people through the arts in North Idaho.
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