The Spokane Indians children of the sun examines the complex indigenous seasonal subsistence, shifting tribal diplomacy, and subsequent forced reservation confinement situated across the sprawling, semi-arid macro-geography of eastern Washington's Columbia Plateau. Ruby, Brown, and Bennett detail how the region's formidable interior topography—specifically the deeply incised, fast-flowing chasms of the Spokane River, the vast, sun-baked expanses of the bunchgrass steppe, and the vital, immense salmon fisheries at Spokane Falls—strictly dictated the margins of indigenous seasonal migrations, centralized trade networks, and later, aggressive Euro-American agricultural encroachment. By mapping the Spokane people's profound adaptation to this riverine and plateau environment—where the vital aquatic resources of the falls and the rich root-gathering grounds of the plains sustained a highly mobile, equestrian culture that was ultimately fractured by arbitrary colonial boundaries and the destruction of the river ecology—the narrative highlights how this specific riparian and arid geography anchored a profoundly resilient, river-centric indigenous society. Ultimately, this ethnohistorical record serves as a localized spatial history, demonstrating how the vital hydrological focal points, expansive arid plateau, and severe ecological transformations of this inland Pacific Northwest landscape fundamentally shaped the highly adaptable, culturally enduring character of the Spokane people.

History, Indians of North America Washington, Spokan Indians, Spokane Conditions sociales, Spokane Histoire, Spokane Indians, Spokane Indians Government relations, Spokane Indians History, Spokane Indians Social conditions, Spokane Relations avec l'État, United States, Washington Native races

1. Ashes to ashes
2. Skins for the Sama
3. Decade of dedication
4. Gospel or gunpowder?
5. Fire on the prairie
6. Children of two fathers
7. No more out
8. White man's image
9. Civilizing agent
10. Between two streams
11. Civilization : fruits and frustations
12. Whither the children?