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at Kerr Dam.
When Kerr Dam was constructed on the Flathead River in 1938, it brought sudden and dramatic change to a place not only of great natural beauty and power, but also of deep cultural importance to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The dam flooded the falls of the Flathead River, a sacred place known from time immemorial in the Kootenai language as 'a·kniⱡ ka’nuk — narrow pass between cliffs — and in the Salish language as stipmétk͏ʷ — falling waters. The dam destroyed one kind of power in order to produce a very different kind — electricity for an industrial economy that was in many ways the antithesis of the tribal way of life. But in coming years, the tribes will have the opportunity to take direct control of the dam and its considerable revenue.
When Kerr Dam was constructed on the Flathead River in 1938, it brought sudden and dramatic change to a place not only of great natural beauty and power, but also of deep cultural importance to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The dam flooded the falls of the Flathead River, a sacred place known from time immemorial in the Kootenai language as 'a·kniⱡ ka’nuk — narrow pass between cliffs — and in the Salish language as stipmétk͏ʷ — falling waters. The dam destroyed one kind of power in order to produce a very different kind — electricity for an industrial economy that was in many ways the antithesis of the tribal way of life. But in coming years, the tribes will have the opportunity to take direct control of the dam and its considerable revenue.
Jul 22 2025