Kootenay

American  

[koot-n-ey, ˈkut-n-ee] / ˈkut nˌeɪ, -nˌi /

Or Kootenai,

noun

plural

Kootenays,

plural

Kootenay

1. a member of an Indigenous people of Montana, Idaho, and British Columbia.

2. the language of the Kootenay.

3. a river flowing from southwestern Canada through northwestern Montana and northern Idaho, swinging back into Canada to the Columbia River. 400 miles (645 km) long.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Kootenay or their language.

Kootenay British  

/ ˈkuːtəniː, ˈkuːtneɪ /

noun

1. a river in W North America, rising in SE British Columbia and flowing south into NW Montana, then north into Idaho before re-entering British Columbia, broadening into Kootenay Lake , then flowing to the Columbia River. Length: 655 km (407 miles)

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Etymology

Origin of Kootenay

First recorded in 1800–10; from Kootenay (a language isolate) Kútonâqa, a self-designation of some Canadian Kootenay; see isolate ( def. )

Example Sentences

Francois Masse, the Parks Canada Superintendent of the Lake Louise, Yoho, and Kootenay Field Unit, said the rockfall was an "extremely rare event" that was "neither predictable nor preventable".

From BBC • Jun. 20, 2025

Ainsworth Hot Springs is about a nine-hour drive from Seattle, set into the side of a mountain facing Kootenay Lake.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 23, 2024

“Over a century of mountaintop-removal mining has laid waste to the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa Nation, contaminating the Kootenay River and fish that depend on it,” the six governments of the tribal nation said.

From New York Times • Jul. 11, 2023

Judson Wright launched Kootenay Backcountry Guides out of Nelson, B.C., in 2016 and says business has only increased since then.

From Washington Post • Dec. 16, 2021

On the upper Kootenay, a valley eight to ten miles wide, ranching began a quarter of a century ago, during the gold excitement.

From On Canada's Frontier Sketches of History, Sport, and Adventure and of the Indians, Missionaries, Fur-traders, and Newer Settlers of Western Canada by Ralph, Julian