Question: Vera Manuel, was Secwepemc-Ktunaxa, daughter of cultural leader Marceline Paul and political leader George Manuel, Sr, the Ktunaxa, also known as Kutenai, and Kootenai,  are an indigenous people of North America, who historically occupied extensive territories in which region, present-day United States and British Columbia, Canada?

Context paragraphs:
Vera Manuel: Vera Manuel (1949–2010) was Secwepemc-Ktunaxa, daughter of cultural leader Marceline Paul and political leader George Manuel, Sr, born in 1949.  She grew up on the Neskonlith Reservation in the interior of British Columbia, and lived for many years in Vancouver, Canada, where she died in January 2010.  She worked as a playwright, poet, writer, healer and educator, in diverse communities across North America.  She wrote and produced numerous plays about cultural oppression and genocide,as an independent artist and through Storytellers Theatre, including The Strength of Indian Women and Every Warrior's Song.  Her poetry and short stories were published in journals and anthologies, and—like her plays—performed at a variety of venues across Canada and the US.

Big Bend Country: Big Bend Country is a term used in the Canadian province British Columbia to refer to the region around the northernmost bend of the Columbia River, where the river leaves its initial northwestward course along the Rocky Mountain Trench to curve around the northern end of the Selkirk Mountains to head southwest between that range and the Monashee Mountains, which lie to the west.  The term is the namesake of the gold rush and associated gold mining district that flourished there in the 19th century.  Long known to the indigenous peoples of the region, and in fact raided and at times occupied by the Blackfoot, the Big Bend is traditional territory of the Secwepemc (Shuswap) people, but also claimed by the Ktunaxa.  Boat Encampment, near the Big Bend of the Columbia's most northerly point, is the historic site of a long-established fur trading cache and campsite on the annual York Factory Express.

Kootenai Tribe of Idaho: The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho is a federally recognized tribe of Lower Kootenai people, sometimes called the Idaho Ksanka.  The Ktunaxa ( ; ] ), also known as Kutenai ( ), Kootenay (predominant spelling in Canada) and Kootenai (predominant spelling in the United States) are an Indigenous people of the Northwest Plateau.

Ktunaxa: The Ktunaxa ( ; ] ), also known as Kutenai ( ), Kootenay (predominant spelling in Canada) and Kootenai (predominant spelling in the United States), are an indigenous people of North America, who historically occupied extensive territories in the Pacific Northwest, present-day United States and British Columbia, Canada.

Shuswap Indian Reserve: The Shuswap Indian Reserve is an Indian Reserve in the Columbia Valley region of British Columbia, Canada, located on the left bank of the Columbia River one mile north of Invermere.  The reserve is the home reserve of the Shuswap Indian Band, a band government of the Secwepemc (Shuswap) people and a member government of the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council and also of the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Tribal Council in alliance with nearby bands of the Ktunaxa people.

Michael Posluns: Michael Posluns (1941-) is a journalist and researcher in Canada.  While a student at Carleton University, Posluns got involved in social justice issues, later joining the Company of Young Canadians.  He went to Akwesasne where he worked with Rarihokwats and Ernie Benedict on publishing "Akewsasne notes" a local newspaper that ran from 1969-1996.  He also became a self-trained court worker, assisting locals to navigate the legal system.  In the mid-1970s, he served as a parliamentary adviser to the National Indian Brotherhood (known today as the Assembly of First Nations), working with George Manual.  He also worked with the Dene Nation and others on governance, land claims, mercury poisoning and other issues.  Posluns completed a PhD at York University in 2002 and his dissertation is entitled "The Public Emergence of the Vocabulary of First Nations Self-Government."  He is the author of numerous other articles and books and he is co-author with George Manuel of 'The Fourth World: An Indian Reality' (1974) and with David Nahwegahbow and Douglas Sanders of 'The First Nations and the Crown: A Study in Trust Relationships' (1983).  Posluns is an important figure in raising the profile of indigenous rights in Canada.  He worked closely with George Manuel to advance self-government and indigenous political rights and their work had significant impact on the work of future political actors.  In speaking to the Globe and Mail in 2013 Posluns cited some of his early advocacy work in the 1970s involved changing the language the government used to refer to indigenous peoples.  For example members of Canadian parliament would refer to activist Kahnitenata Horn as a "Mohawk princess," demonstrating an ignorance of the democratic governance structures of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.  Posluns continues to advocate on issues related to governance and challenging myths and problematic language related to indigenous peoples of Canada.

Arthur Manuel: Arthur Manuel (1951 – January 11, 2017) was a First Nations political leader in Canada.  The son of Marceline Paul of the Ktunaxa Nation and political leader George Manuel of the Secwepemc Nation, he grew up on the Neskonlith Reserve in the interior of British Columbia.  He attended the Kamloops (Kamloops BC), St Eugene’s (Cranbrook BC) and St. Mary’s (Mission BC) residential schools, Concordia University (Montreal, Quebec) and Osgoode Hall Law School (Toronto, Ontario).  He is the father of five children.

Kutenai language: The Kutenai language ( ), also Kootenai, Kootenay and Ktunaxa, is named after and is spoken by some of the Kutenai people Native American/First Nations, indigenous to the area of North America that is now Montana and Idaho, United States, and British Columbia, Canada.  It is a language isolate, unrelated to the Salishan family of languages spoken by neighboring tribes on the coast and in the interior Plateau.  Alongside, they also speak "ʾa·qanⱡiⱡⱡitnam" 'Ktunaxa Sign Language'.

Kootenay River: The Kootenay (Kootenai in the U.S. and historically called the Flatbow) is a major river in southeastern British Columbia, Canada and northern parts of the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho.  It is one of the uppermost major tributaries of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean.  The Kootenay River runs 781 km from its headwaters in the Kootenay Ranges of the Canadian Rockies, flowing from British Columbia's East Kootenay region into northwestern Montana, thence into northernmost Idaho Panhandle and returning to British Columbia in the West Kootenay region, where it joins the Columbia at Castlegar.

Canada under British rule: Canada first came under British rule with the Treaty of Paris (1763) which ceded New France, of which Canada was a part, to the British Empire.  Gradually, other territories, colonies, and provinces that were part of British North America would be added to Canada.  The Royal Proclamation of 1763 enlarged the colony of Canada under the name of the Province of Quebec, which with the Constitutional Act 1791 became known as The Canadas.  With the Act of Union 1840 Upper and Lower Canada were joined to become the United Province of Canada.  Later, with Confederation in 1867, the British maritime colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were joined with the British colony of Canada to form the Dominion of Canada, which was subsequently divided into four provinces, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.  A number of other British colonies, such as Newfoundland and British Columbia, and large territories such as Rupert's Land initially remained outside of the newly formed federation.  Over time, the remaining colonies and territories within British North America came under the control of Canada until the current geographic extent of the country was reached when Newfoundland and Labrador joined Canada in 1949.  Although confederation in 1867 led to an enlarged Dominion with increased autonomy over domestic affairs, Canada still remained a colony within the British Empire and was thus subordinate to the British Parliament until the enactment of the Statute of Westminster in 1931.  This statute recognized Canada as an independent peer coequal with the United Kingdom, and thus provided the Parliament of Canada with legislative sovereignty over all federal matters except the power to change the constitutional laws of Canada which remained under the purview of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.  Canada's final vestige of legal dependence on the United Kingdom was terminated in 1982 with the enactment of the Canada Act, subsequently providing Canada with full legal sovereignty completely independent of the United Kingdom.

Supporting paragraphs: Vera Manuel Ktunaxa
Answer: Pacific Northwest,