Caj Matheson - Coeur d’Alene Tribe Department of Natural Resources
Feb 18, 2026
Government / Technical
[PDF page 1 of 3]
Good Afternoon,
Attached is the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s official comment for the City of Spokane’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of the PlanSpokane Periodic Update to the Comprehensive Plan. We appreciate the opportunity to provide comments on the document, and we look forward to hearing from you with feedback.
Thank you,
Caj Matheson, Director
Coeur d'Alene Tribe
Department of Natural Resources
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This email and any attached files are confidential and intended solely for the intended recipient(s). If you are not the named recipient(s), you should not read, distribute, copy or alter this message. Any views or opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not represent those of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. Warning: Although precautions have been taken to ensure no viruses are present, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage that may occur from the use of this email or attachments.
[Professional contact details omitted from the reading text.]
This is the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's official comment for the City of Spokane's Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of the PlanSpokane Periodic Update to the Comprehensive Plan.
February 18, 2026
To whom this may concern,
As you may know, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, or schitsu'umsh as we traditionally call ourselves, have current reservation boundaries located in the State of Idaho, less than 45 miles southeast of the City of Spokane, with various off-reservation tribally—owned properties, one of which is located within the southern city limits of Spokane. Before the current boundaries were established, we resided across our aboriginal territory, which spanned from western Montana, across northern Idaho, and over to eastern Washington. This includes the land now identified as the City of Spokane, documented by an 1887 Treaty with the United States which codified the 1873 Executive Order that first established the Reservation boundaries. Like other Tribes in the area, Coeur d'Alene people were not nomadic, but had villages established along the Coeur d'Alene, St. Joe, Clark Fork and Spokane Rivers, and numerous permanent sites on the shores of Coeur d'Alene Lake, Lake Pend Orielle, and Hayden Lake. Though our modern boundaries do not consider the longevity of schitsu'umsh presence in the State of Washington, we appreciate and acknowledge it as our homeland.
After reviewing the 614-page draft document, we were expecting to receive acknowledgement of our historical and current presence on the land but only saw mention of contributing to the planning of this statement. From our understanding after reading the document, this is referencing the email distributed to the 70+ contacts listed on Page ix about the notice of availability of the Draft EIS, which included the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. Our history of existence on the land that Spokane now resides on stretches over millennia, and we do not feel that this is accurately represented in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement that the City of Spokane has put out for review and comment. The Coeur d'Alene Tribe has a long-documented history of coexisting with the water, land, and other tribes of the Spokane region, whether that be inhabiting the land along the Spokane River, gathering at Spokane Falls to fish and meet with our neighbor tribes, or gathering traditionally significant plants in the surrounding prairies. The waterways of the region act as our provider of spiritual and physical livelihood and are at the heart of our landscape-based seasonal calendar that we live by which depicts seasonal indicators that have been critical to schitsu'umsh people in informing us of our interactions with our lands and waters, as well as our movements through our homeland. Our connection to the bodies of water in the area are emphasized in this calendar, with the Spokane River being one that remains central.
[PDF page 3 of 3]
We kindly request that in the Environmental Impact Statement the City of Spokane provide recognition of being on aboriginal territory of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, and include the acknowledgement of the land, water, and resources as being part of our historical and ongoing cultural identity. We are prepared to collaborate further on this effort to include our accurate representation of existence on the land, and we encourage you to consider our concerns with an intent to strengthen the relationship between the City of Spokane and the Coeur d'Alene Tribe.
We understand your long-lasting relationship with the Spokane Tribe of Indians, and we respect your coordination with them in ensuring that their identity is represented. In no way are any of these comments made to erase or undermine their acknowledgement and involvement with the City of Spokane. We only hope that we, too, can show the community of the Spokane region how significant the land they reside on is to the identity of the Coeur d'Alene people.
If you would like to further this discussion regarding our involvement in editing the mentions of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, we would be more than happy to take proper action to move this forward. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to comment. We look forward to hearing from you.
Caj Matheson - Coeur d’Alene Tribe Department of Natural Resources
Feb 18, 2026
Government / Technical
[PDF page 1 of 3]
Good Afternoon,
Attached is the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s official comment for the City of Spokane’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of the PlanSpokane Periodic Update to the Comprehensive Plan. We appreciate the opportunity to provide comments on the document, and we look forward to hearing from you with feedback.
Thank you,
Caj Matheson, Director
Coeur d'Alene Tribe
Department of Natural Resources
-----
This email and any attached files are confidential and intended solely for the intended recipient(s). If you are not the named recipient(s), you should not read, distribute, copy or alter this message. Any views or opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not represent those of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. Warning: Although precautions have been taken to ensure no viruses are present, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage that may occur from the use of this email or attachments.
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ATTACHMENT / ADDITIONAL PAGES
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[PDF page 2 of 3]
COEUR D'ALENE TRIBE
CHIEF J. ALLAN
CHAIRMAN
P.O. BOX 408
PLUMMER, IDAHO 83851
[Professional contact details omitted from the reading text.]
This is the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's official comment for the City of Spokane's Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of the PlanSpokane Periodic Update to the Comprehensive Plan.
February 18, 2026
To whom this may concern,
As you may know, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, or schitsu'umsh as we traditionally call ourselves, have current reservation boundaries located in the State of Idaho, less than 45 miles southeast of the City of Spokane, with various off-reservation tribally—owned properties, one of which is located within the southern city limits of Spokane. Before the current boundaries were established, we resided across our aboriginal territory, which spanned from western Montana, across northern Idaho, and over to eastern Washington. This includes the land now identified as the City of Spokane, documented by an 1887 Treaty with the United States which codified the 1873 Executive Order that first established the Reservation boundaries. Like other Tribes in the area, Coeur d'Alene people were not nomadic, but had villages established along the Coeur d'Alene, St. Joe, Clark Fork and Spokane Rivers, and numerous permanent sites on the shores of Coeur d'Alene Lake, Lake Pend Orielle, and Hayden Lake. Though our modern boundaries do not consider the longevity of schitsu'umsh presence in the State of Washington, we appreciate and acknowledge it as our homeland.
After reviewing the 614-page draft document, we were expecting to receive acknowledgement of our historical and current presence on the land but only saw mention of contributing to the planning of this statement. From our understanding after reading the document, this is referencing the email distributed to the 70+ contacts listed on Page ix about the notice of availability of the Draft EIS, which included the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. Our history of existence on the land that Spokane now resides on stretches over millennia, and we do not feel that this is accurately represented in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement that the City of Spokane has put out for review and comment. The Coeur d'Alene Tribe has a long-documented history of coexisting with the water, land, and other tribes of the Spokane region, whether that be inhabiting the land along the Spokane River, gathering at Spokane Falls to fish and meet with our neighbor tribes, or gathering traditionally significant plants in the surrounding prairies. The waterways of the region act as our provider of spiritual and physical livelihood and are at the heart of our landscape-based seasonal calendar that we live by which depicts seasonal indicators that have been critical to schitsu'umsh people in informing us of our interactions with our lands and waters, as well as our movements through our homeland. Our connection to the bodies of water in the area are emphasized in this calendar, with the Spokane River being one that remains central.
[PDF page 3 of 3]
We kindly request that in the Environmental Impact Statement the City of Spokane provide recognition of being on aboriginal territory of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, and include the acknowledgement of the land, water, and resources as being part of our historical and ongoing cultural identity. We are prepared to collaborate further on this effort to include our accurate representation of existence on the land, and we encourage you to consider our concerns with an intent to strengthen the relationship between the City of Spokane and the Coeur d'Alene Tribe.
We understand your long-lasting relationship with the Spokane Tribe of Indians, and we respect your coordination with them in ensuring that their identity is represented. In no way are any of these comments made to erase or undermine their acknowledgement and involvement with the City of Spokane. We only hope that we, too, can show the community of the Spokane region how significant the land they reside on is to the identity of the Coeur d'Alene people.
If you would like to further this discussion regarding our involvement in editing the mentions of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, we would be more than happy to take proper action to move this forward. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to comment. We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Chief J. Allan
Chairman, Coeur d'Alene Tribe