Sinkiuse-Columbia

The Sinkiuse-Columbia were a Native American tribe so-called because of their former prominent association with the Columbia River. They called themselves .tskowa'xtsEnux, or .skowa'xtsEnEx (meaning has something to do with "main valley"), or Sinkiuse. They applied the name also to other neighboring Interior Salish peoples. The name may have belonged originally to a band which once inhabited the Umatilla Valley.

Other names the Sinkiuse-Columbia Indians were known by included:

• Bo'tcaced, by the Nez Percé, probably, meaning "arrows" or "arrow people."
• Papspê'lu, another Nez Perce name, meaning "firs," or "fir-tree people."
• Isle-de-Pierre, name conferred by the French Canadian employees of the fur companies, meaning "rock island", perhaps for a band of the tribe.
• Middle Columbia Salish, so called by Teit (1928) and Spier (1930 b).
• Sa'ladebc, probably the Snohomish name.
• Suwa'dabc, Snohomish name for all interior Indians, meaning "inland people," or "interior people."
• swa'dab.c, Twana name for all interior Indians, meaning "inland people."
• swa'namc, Nooksack name for all interior Indians, meaning "inland people."
• Ti'attluxa, Wasco Chinook name.