In 1846, the Oregon Treaty established the U.S.-Canadian border and divided the bands of the Okanagan between those who lived in the U.S. and those who lived in Canada. Okanagan bands are classified by their common language (Okanagan) and include Lakes, Methow, Nespelem, Sanpoil, and Colville bands. Lower Columbia basin bands relied more heavily on the fisheries than did the upper bands who supplemented their diets with hunting. In 1866, observers estimated that salmon comprised 5/8 of the diet of lower bands.
Kettle Falls became the principle fishery in a region filled with productive sites. Indians used J-shaped baskets at the falls to collect salmon. As with Celilo Falls on the mid-Columbia River, Indians semi-annually traveled to Kettle Falls to trade and socialize with other indigenous groups. In 1941, Grand Coulee Dam inundated Kettle Falls. Even though the dam cut salmon off from their spawning grounds in Canada, the Canadian government supported the project stating that it had no fisheries interest in the Canadian portion of the Columbia Basin. The government ignored the centuries-long tradition of aboriginal fishing in the upper basin as well as any rights Canadian First Nations had to Columbia River salmon.
