The Lower Kootenai Tribe has lived in the area since prehistoric times, and is one of six bands of the Kootenai Nation, an area that later was drawn as North Idaho, northwest Montana and southeastern British Columbia. Their lifestyle was semi-nomadic, sustained through hunting, fishing and gathering. Anthropologists classify the Kootenai Tribe as belonging to the “basin culture.” The Kootenai were affiliated socially with the neighboring Flathead, Kalispel and Pend Oreilles. In the 1855 Hellgate Treaty, these Tribes ceded to the United States all the land they occupied or claimed in exchange for reservations. However, the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho was not represented at the Treaty and, so, they did not acquire any land.
Now known as the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, they were the original inhabitants of Boundary County. There are 120 enrolled members and about 75 of them live in a modern village at the 18-acre mission three miles northwest of Bonners Ferry. The Tribe gained international attention on Sept. 20, 1975 when it formally declared war on the United States. As a result, they gained the small reservation.

The Tribe strongly maintains its native language, religion and other cultural elements. However, they developed a plan to improve their economic situation. In 1986 the Tribe built the Kootenai River Inn, a 52-unit waterfront, luxury motel in Bonners Ferry. In 1993, they expanded the motel and added bingo and gaming machines. In 1991 the Tribe built the Kootenai Tribal Sturgeon Hatchery to help enhance the endangered population of this ancient fish that plays a large role in tribal heritage.