The Coeur d'Alenes call themselves "Schitsu'umsh," which means "the discovered people" or "those who are found here." Early French fur traders apparently felt the tribe drove a hard bargain, and gave them their non-native name, which means "heart of an awl."
Originally the tribe roamed an area of over 4 million acres near of camas-prairie, mountain, lake and river habitat in north Idaho, eastern Washington and western Montana. That land base was cut to 598,500 acres in 1873 when President Grant established their reservation in 1873. Successive government acts diminished their land significantly, to 345,000 acres near Plummer, ID, just south of the resort town of Coeur d'Alene. A judge recently ruled that the tribe has jurisdiction over the lower third of Lake Coeur d'Alene, as well as 20 miles of the St. Joe River. The State of Idaho is appealing that decision.
Most of the tribe, which numbers around 1600, has converted to Catholicism, brought by Jesuits in the mid 1800's. A 7-member elected council governs the tribe, managing 17 departments. Although they were traditionally fishermen, tribal members became some of the best farmers in the Northwest. The tribe is now actively involved in economic development, with a health center, shopping center and casino. The tribe is also trying to buy back its native lands and has filed suit to obtain monetary damages from the mine waste they feel have polluted its ancestral territory.