Kutenai

Kutenai
/kooht"n ay', -n ee'/, n.
1. a member of a North American Indian people of British Columbia, Montana, and Idaho.
2. the language of the Kutenai Indians.
3. Kootenay.
Also, Kutenay.

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people
also spelled  Kootenay  
 North American Indian tribe that traditionally lived in what are now southeastern British Columbia, northern Idaho, and northwestern Montana. Their language is of uncertain classification, some authorities placing it in the Wakashan family and some classifying it independently. The tribe is thought to be descended from an ancient Blackfoot group that migrated westward from the Great Plains to the drainage of the Kootenai River, a tributary of the upper Columbia. Plentiful streams and lakes, adequate rainfall, and abundant game and fish made this area the most favourable part of the plateau between the Rockies and the Pacific Coast Ranges.

      Kutenai culture combines some traits of the Plains Indians (Plains Indian) with others of the Plateau Indians (Plateau Indian). After acquiring horses, they engaged in annual bison hunts beyond the Rockies and into the Plains. The advent of horse transport also increased the importance and frequency of military activities; formalized war honours became a means of social advancement, and increasing numbers of war captives (women and children, mostly Blackfoot) made slavery, adoption, and intermarriage more common. The Kutenai dressed in clothing made of antelope, deer, or buffalo hide (breechcloths for men, tunics for women), lived in conical tepees, and painted their garments, tents, and bodies much in the manner of the Plains tribes. Like other Plateau peoples, however, they engaged in communal fishing, built great bark and dugout canoes, and acknowledged a supreme chief only when undertaking special expeditions.

      Among the Kutenai there were no clans, classes, or secret societies; they were divided loosely into bands, each with a nominal leader and an informal council of elders. They deified the sun and, like most other indigenous North American peoples, practiced animism, the belief that a multitude of spirits pervades all things in nature. shamanism also had considerable influence within Kutenai culture.

      Early 21st-century population estimates indicated more than 5,000 individuals of Kutenai descent.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Kutenai — Die Kutenai (in den USA allgemein Kootenai, in Kanada aber als Kootenay bezeichnet) sind eine Gruppe von sieben nordamerikanischen Indianerstämmen, die an der Grenze zwischen den USA und Kanada leben, und zwar in den US Bundesstaaten Washington,… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Kutenai — or Kutenay [ko͞ot′ n ā΄] n. 1. a member of a North American Indian people living in the Rocky Mountains in Montana, Idaho, and British Columbia 2. the language of this people: no relationship with any other language has been clearly established …   English World dictionary

  • Kutenai — Ku•te•nai or Kootenay 1) [[t]ˈkut nˌeɪ, nˌi[/t]] n. pl. nais or nays, (esp. collectively) nai or nay. 1) peo a member of an American Indian people of S British Columbia, N Idaho, and W Montana 2) peo the language of the Kutenai …   From formal English to slang

  • Kutenai Indians — • An important tribe of south eastern British Columbia and the adjacent portions of Montana and Idaho Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Kutenai Indians     Kutenai Indians …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Kutenai (tribu) — Kootenai Tipis de los indios Kutenai (Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture) Población total 1984 Idioma Idio …   Wikipedia Español

  • Kutenai language — The Kutenai language (also Kootenai or Ktunaxa language) is named after and is spoken by some of the Kootenai Native American/First Nations people who are indigenous to the area of North America that is now Montana, Idaho, and British Columbia.… …   Wikipedia

  • Kutenai — variant of Kootenai …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Kutenai — noun /ˈkuːtəneɪ/ a) An indigenous people of North America. b) The language isolate spoken by this people …   Wiktionary

  • Kutenai — ISO 639 3 Code : kut ISO 639 2/B Code : kut ISO 639 2/T Code : kut ISO 639 1 Code : Scope : Individual Language Type : Living …   Names of Languages ISO 639-3

  • kutenai — ku·te·nai …   English syllables

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