Two Spokane Chiefs Sign a Reservation Agreement After Years of Refusal
Enoch and Louis, leaders of the Upper and Middle Spokane, agree to move to reservations set by the 1887 treaty after years of living in the canyons.
Spokane, Feb. 15.—Enoch and Louis, chiefs of the Upper and Middle Spokane Indians, have at last signed an agreement to go on the reservations specified in the treaty of 1887. For years they had refused to accept comfortable houses and government aid, preferring to live around the canyons of Spokane, where they picked up a precarious living.
“For years they had refused to accept comfortable houses and government aid, preferring to live around the canyons of Spokane.”
The item presents 'agreement' as a simple ending, but the treaty and reservation system were imposed on Spokane people and remain central to tribal sovereignty today. The chiefs' long refusal is a reminder that Indigenous communities resisted removal and assimilation on their own terms.
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