Kootenay

Kootenay (predominant spelling in Canada), Kootenai (predominant spelling in the United States), is alternately spelled Kootanae or Kutenai. The name comes from the name of the Ktunaxa (Kootenai/Kutenai), a Native American/First Nations people in British Columbia, Idaho and Montana, and their Kutenai language, also known as Ktunaxan or Kitunahan. Most terms refer to the Kootenay River and the region around it. In Montana they are known as Ksanka. Ktunaxa is the term that these tribes call themselves, which is pronounced Ta-na-ha, with a barely perceptible ‘k’ sound at the beginning of the word. Traditionally these people have been known as Kootenay, which is an anglicism of the Blackfoot word used to refer to the Ktunaxa, so in some of their tribal organizations and activities, the Ktunaxa refer to themselves as Kootenay. There is a widely recognized cultural distinction between Upper Kootenay, those bands based around Invermere and Windermere, BC, and Lower Kootenay, those based around Creston, Grassmere, and Cranbrook, BC, Bonners Ferry, Idaho, and the Ksanka of Elmo, Montana.

It may refer to:

• ALBERTA
  • Kootenay Plains, a region in Alberta just east of the mountains on the North Saskatchewan River
• BRITISH COLUMBIA
  • In Canada, it is primarily used to refer to the Kootenays region comprising southeastern British Columbia, it sometimes is referred to in the singular form "the Kootenay". It includes the East Kootenay and West Kootenay which are separate regions from each other.
  • Kootanae House, a historical North West Company fur trade post near present-day Invermere, British Columbia,
  • Kootenay Lake, on the Kootenay River in British Columbia
  • Kootenay National Park, British Columbia national park, source of the Kootenay River
  • Regional District of East Kootenay, British Columbia
  • Regional District of Central Kootenay, British Columbia
  • Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, British Columbia
  • Kootenay (electoral districts) (disambiguation), several electoral districts in British Columbia
  • The Kootenay Ice, a junior ice hockey team based in Cranbrook, British Columbia
• US-CANADA
  • Kootenay River (or "Kootenai River" in the United States) of southeastern British Columbia in Canada and northern Idaho and western Montana in the United States, whose basin roughly defines the area known as the Kootenays
  • Lake Koocanusa (a blend of Kootenay-Canada-USA), a reservoir on the Kootena(y/i) River that crosses the Canada–U.S. border
  • Ktunaxa Kinbasket Tribal Council, the tribal council for Kutenai and Kinbasket peoples, including those in the United States. There is also a Kootenay Kinbasket Treaty Council with the same member bands.

• US
  • Kootenai, Idaho, a city
  • Kootenai County, Idaho
  • Kootenai National Forest in western Montana and northern Idaho
  • Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, Montana
  • Kootenai Valley Press (also Kootenai Valley Times) a newspaper in Bonners Ferry, Idaho
  • A proposed new state, formed from the union of the six northern-most counties of Idaho with the six western-most counties of Montana.

• THINGS
  • A piece of climbing equipment
  • HMCS Kootenay a warship in the Royal Canadian Navy.
  • Kootenay Energy, Inc., a Calgary-based oil and gas company