Kootenay

American  

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

Or Kootenai,

noun

• Kootenays,
  plural
• Kootenay
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Kootenay
  plural
• Kootenays
  plural

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

See Examples For:

Kootenay Kootenays

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

Now owned by the Lower Kootenay Band, the hot springs have been returned to the Ktunaxa people and they are sharing it with the community.

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

Then I was deputed, with gum-boots and shovel, to dig a hole through what was left of the false dam, and allow the Kootenay into the canal and the Columbia.

From Down the Columbia by Lewis R. (Lewis Ransome) Freeman

While most are remote and require long hikes, a section of the West Kootenays to the Canadian Rockies holds five of the most easily accessible ones.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 23, 2024

The shop boasts the biggest ski wall in the Kootenays — as well as the largest selection of technical clothing — so you’re sure to walk out with something.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 3, 2022

Vietnam resisters were first attracted to the West Kootenays because of the presence of Quakers, who fed and sheltered runaways.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 19, 2017

A tall blond Canadian of Dutch ancestry, he was born in 1978 in a log cabin built by his hippie parents and their friends in the West Kootenays, a mountain range in British Columbia.

From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2011

They could hardly have met and conversed with the Kootenays and Stonies without hearing about these attractions, which yearly drew Indian families to camp in the encircling mountains, while the men ranged afield to hunt.

From Pioneers of the Pacific Coast A Chronicle of Sea Rovers and Fur Hunters by Agnes C. (Agnes Christina) Laut