First Catholic mission in Idaho, built on the St. Joe River

Description: 

Catholic mission at ni'lukhwalqw.This was the first sqheliłkhw (log building) that was built after the move from Cataldo. It was built to be a temporary building until they built the church in the present day location of DeSmet. c.1877

Description: 

This was the first sqheliłkhw (log building) that was built after the move from Cataldo. It was built to be a temporary building until they built the church at DeSmet, ID. It is not known why it was moved to "the hill."

Information mentioned about ni'lukhwalqw: a(w eschint khwe'pÅ‚ hndesn, pintch epÅ‚ schint [a lot of Indians had campsites, the Indians always went there].

Cultural Narrative: 

Missions

Families had built homes, learned farming and had stock near the St. Joseph Mission, the first mission of the Coeur d’Alenes.

“The St. Joseph’s Mission was abandoned in 1845 because of lowland flooding.  It was moved by Father Joseph Joset to a place overlooking the Coeur d’Alene River, referred to as “Sq’wt’u.”  This site was called the Coeur d’Alene Mission, the Old Mission, and later the Cataldo Mission.”  (Kowrach and Connolly, 1990, p307)

Due to increasing amount of settlers coming into the area and problems with Colonel Wright setting fires, Father Joset suggested the move to another location in the Palouse Valley where the fertile soil would be abundant for their farms.  ni’lukhwalqw was selected as the new site for the Mission.

The Mission location was moved again for the fourth and final time to DeSmet.  It currently resides there. Kim Matheson

Traditional Knowledge: 

Place Names

The picture is of the Catholic mission at ni'lukhwalqw.  This was the third location of the mission (St. Joe area, Cataldo, then ni’lukhwalqw).  It was later moved for the fourth and final time to the town of DeSmet, where it presently resides.

“ni'lukhwalqw means ‘Hole in the Woods’, which was important long before non-Indians arrived in this country…The Coeur d’Alenes met at ni’lukhwalqw every summer to camp, dig camas, play stick games and race horses.  The site was flat and sheltered from the wind by the curved ridge on the southwest.  Water was available from the creek, and from the several springs in the area.” (Palmer, Nicodemus, Felsman 1987, p25)

There was also a spring gathering at ni’lukhwalqw before families headed out to dig camas in other locations (Palmer, Nicodemus, Felsman 1987, p124).

Grammars

s-qhel-iÅ‚khw  means log building.  The language is a descriptive language full of what Linguists call stems (or root words), and then an abundance of affixes (prefix, suffix, and infixes) that all work together to provide specific meaning.  Below you can see an example of a simple combination.

  • s- [makes word a noun] + qhel 'lay evenly (as lumber)' + -iÅ‚khw 'house'

ni'lukhwalqw [ni’-lukhw-alqw] “Hole in the Woods” is a regular place name.  It has a prefix, a root and a suffix.  Ni’- means “in, amidst”, as amidst a grove of trees.  The root is the same as in the word ’l’lkhwi’lus only here it is spelled lukhw instead of lekhw or ’l’lkhw.  This is because it is followed by “qw” (in          -alqw), which is a low, round sound.  The sound “qw” makes the vowels in front of it low and round, too.  The “u” here actually sounds like the Coeur d’Alene “o”.  The suffix is –alqw “log, tree”.  Thus “Cut in the Woods” (Palmer, Nicodemus, Felsman 1987, p25).”

  • ni’- ‘in, admist’ + lukhw 'perforate, be hole’ + -alqw 'log, tree'

Linguists

The language is a descriptive language full of what Linguists call stems (or root words), and then an abundance of affixes (prefix, suffix, and infixes) that all work together to provide specific meaning.  Read the Grammars section to see examples of terms related to this picture. Kim Matheson