Kootenay River
 This article is about the river. For the tribe commonly called Kootenai see Ktunaxa. For other uses see Kootenay (disambiguation).The Kootenay (Kootenai in the U.S. and historically called the Flatbow) is a major river in southeastern British Columbia Canada and the northern part 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.