Couple Gives Back Land To Colvilles For Blanket

The Colville Confederated Tribes got 40 acres of reservation land back and a Spokane couple got a wool blanket in a gift exchange that pleased both parties.

“They were so happy, we knew we had done the right thing,” Spokane resident Anita Smith said of the decision to give the land back to the tribes.

She said she and her husband, Hugh, and another couple, Harry and Agnes Jones, acquired the property by chance as part of a land transaction in the 1970s. The two men were partners in a number of land ventures.

The Joneses moved from Spokane to Hot Springs, Ark., more than 10 years ago.

The reservation land, on a hillside about four miles west of Inchelium, Wash., is one of numerous parcels that were sold to non-Indians after tribal land was distributed to individuals around the turn of the century.

Although the property donated by the Smith and Jones families is valued at more than $30,000, the couples never used it or tried to sell it.

“It’s right in the middle of their reservation, and the best use for it would be for the tribes to have it,” Anita Smith said. “They said no one had ever given them anything before and they were very surprised.”

Tribal leaders gave the couples several gifts, including a Pendleton wool blanket, which is the traditional welcoming gift for visitors to the reservation.

“To have this parcel given back to us without compensation is a blessing and we are thankful to receive it,” said tribal Chairman Mathew Dick Jr.

, DataTimes