Spokane, A name applied to several small bodies of Salish on and near Spokane River, north east Washington. According to Gibbs the name was originally employed by the Skitswish to designate a band at the forks of the river, called also Smahoomenaish.

The Upper Spokan came under the influence of the Jesuit Fathers De Smet, Point, and their successors, about 1841, whith the result that that portion of the tribe is Catholic. Throughout the Yakimá war of 1856-8 the Spokan remained quiet, chiefly through the effort of the Catholic missionaries. In 1872 those of Washington, consituting the larger body, were gathered with other cognate tribes upon the Colville reservation, North-eastern Washington, where they now reside.

Those in Idaho are associated with the Coeur d'Aléne and are all Catholic. At Colville the Lower band is Protestant, while the Upper band, somewhat smaller in numbers, is Catholic. From perhaps 1200 souls a century ago they have declined (1911) to 600, of whom 96 are on the Coeur d'Aléne reservation. The religious centre for those of Colville is the mission of St. Francis Regis, at Ward, Washington, under Jesuit management. The centre for Coeur d'Aléne is the Jesuit mission of the Sacred Heart, at De Smet, Idaho. In language, primitive custom, and characteristics the Spokan are virtually identical with the Coeur d'Aléne and Kalispel Indians.