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White sturgeon have a spiritual significance to the
Kootenai Tribe of Idaho
Taking care of his people
Tribal Chairman Gary Aitken's job is to help the Kootenais

By Morgan Winsor

Kootenai tribal elders have strived to pass on the history and spirituality of the tribe’s birth. They teach this first by reciting the Covenant they have with the Creator:
"I have created you Kootenai people to look after this beautiful land, to honor and guard and celebrate my creation here in this place. As long as you do that, this land will meet all your needs. Everything necessary for you and your children to live and be happy forever is here, as long as you keep this Covenant with me."
Those words were one thing that inspired Gary Aitken to become a Kootenai tribal leader.
As a youngster, Aitken’s had two favorite things – football and politics.
Once a week – after a high school football game or practice – the teenager raced home, change clothes and hurried to listen to Kootenai Tribal Council members make decisions.
"I always had a love for politics," said the Kootenai native. "I just liked to go to meetings and listen to what they said."
At 22, Aitken decided to run for Tribal Council. "And it was no surprise that I was elected," he recalls.
Nearly a decade-and-a-half later, Aitken, who is now serving his second term as Tribal Chairman, said he had one purpose in mind when running for Tribal Council as a youngster – to brainstorm solutions to bolster his tribe’s economy and "take care of my people."
One of his ideas was to build a hatchery to provide jobs for tribal members and restore the endangered sturgeon fish population in the Kootenai River.
Because of their armored, spiky skin, sturgeons can be described as fierce water-breathing dinosaurs. Weighing up to 500 pounds and known to grow up to 14 feet in length, the fish can look like fierce water predator.

Gary Aitken at the Tribe's sturgeon hatchery
"The fish are harmless to man," Aitken said. "At first, they just look scary."
Sturgeons are bottom feeders, have no teeth and rely solely on their sucking power to eat.
"I’ve always been enamored by these fish," Aitken said. "And it shocked me to learn that this fish could one day be extinct. I just wanted to save them."
After a few years of serving on the council, Aitken left his 15-acre homeland outside Bonners Ferry to attend the College of Southern Idaho, where he studied hatchery management.
"While attending school I kept bugging and bugging my teachers to teach me all I needed to know about how to create and run a hatchery," Aitken said.
After about four years of school, Aitken returned to the Kootenai Reservation and began working on blueprints toward building a sturgeon hatchery.

In 1989, Aitken’s brainchild became a reality when the Kootenai Tribe contracted with the Bonneville Power Administration to fund construction of a sturgeon hatchery program. Today, the hatchery has a 90 percent success rate of boosting the prehistoric sturgeon population in the Kootenai River.
"I thought, ‘one goal down and several to go,’" Aitken said.
With the hatchery program gaining success, Aitken decided to return to his political roots. After being reelected to serve on the Kootenai Tribal Council six years ago, Aitken sunk his teeth into another project. This time it was all about strengthening his tribe’s economy.
In 1996, Aitken guided the tribe into signing a pact with the state of Idaho to open the Kootenai Casino. Two small, circus-size rooms were built next to the 56-room Kootenai River Inn. The hotel – a branch of the Best Western hotel chain – sits on tribal land and overlooks the Kootenai River. "Sometimes, usually during the evening, we walk out on one of the hotel room balconies and watch for sturgeon. Not long ago we saw a huge one (adult sturgeon) rolling over and over, splashing on top of the water," Aitken said, pointing to a distant embankment.
The Kootenai River flows along the Tribes resort - the Kootenai River Inn.
Aside from being a key player in aiding the development of the casino and saving sturgeon, Aitken has played a vital role in establishing a school for tribal members.
Three years ago, the Kootenai Tribal School opened its doors. The three-classroom facility provides education for about three-dozen students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
"It’s really a lot of fun teaching here," said 22-year-old Carmen Barnes, who recently graduated from the University of New Mexico and returned to the reservation to spend time with her family and teach at the school. "Gary is great, the staff here is supportive and the students really appreciate the special attention they receive."
Because the tribe is small – about 160 members – the staff at the tribal school includes three teachers, a counselor, a teacher’s aide, a language teacher, a general assistant, a cultural teacher and an administrator.
Aitken said tribal elders often volunteer their time to teach the students the original Kootenai language.
The school provides academic training under the same guidelines as the Idaho State Board of Education, Aitken said.
"It’s been a great success," Aitken said.
With the sturgeon population rising, the casino raking in revenue and the tribal school educating youngsters, Aitken said there are many "future projects still up in the air."
"But that’s another story," he said.
As for now, Aitken said politics take up most of his time. If not trying to spend quality time with his wife, Linda, son Gary Jr., and daughter Amethyst, Aitken said "you’ll probably find me at tribal council headquarters."
As for retirement for Aitken: "Not anytime soon, but you can bet that when I do retire, I’ll be back taking care of our fish, maybe I’ll become a pond scrubber or something But for right now, my job is to help the tribe."
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