The Lil'wat First Nation ( lil, líl̓watǝmx), a.k.a. the Lil'wat Nation or the Mount Currie Indian Band, is a First Nation

band government In Canada, an Indian band or band (french: bande indienne, link=no), sometimes referred to as a First Nation band (french: bande de la Première Nation, link=no) or simply a First Nation, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subjec ...

located in the southern

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains (french: La chaîne Côtière) are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbi ...

region of the Interior of the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

. It is a member of the Lillooet Tribal Council, which is the largest grouping of band governments of the St'at'imc or Stl'atl'imx people (a.k.a. the Lillooet people). Other St'at'imc governments include the smaller

In-SHUCK-ch Nation The In-SHUCK-ch Nation, also known as Lower Lillooet people, are a small First Nations Tribal Council on the lower Lillooet River south of Pemberton- Mount Currie in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The communities of the In-SHUCK-ch a ...

on the lower Lillooet River to the southwest, and the independent N'quatqua First Nation at the near end of Anderson Lake from Mount Currie, which is the main reserve of the Lil'wat First Nation, and also one of the largest Indian reserves by population in Canada. The Lil'wat First Nation's offices are located at

Mount Currie, British Columbia Mount Currie is in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia. On BC Highway 99, the locality is by road about north of Vancouver, northeast of Whistler, and southwest of Lillooet. The Lillooet Tribal Council governs the ...

, about 5 miles east of

Pemberton, British Columbia Pemberton is a village municipality in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia. This Pemberton Valley community is on the southwest shore of the Lillooet River and northeast shore of Pemberton Creek. On BC Highway 99, the ...

, which is also located in the Lillooet River valley. Mount Currie is also about 20 miles "as the crow flies" from the luxury destination resort of

Whistler, British Columbia Whistler ( Lillooet/Ucwalmícwts: Cwitima, ; Squamish/Sḵwx̱wú7mesh: Sḵwiḵw, ) is a resort municipality in Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Moun ...

Lil'wat and Lillooet

"Lil'wat", which is the origin of the post-colonial name for all St'at'imc peoples (a.k.a. the Lillooet people), is from a St'at'imcets word referring to a variety of wild onion, one of the local indigenous food staples. The name became applied to the town that is today's Lillooet in 1860, when the population of the town petitioned the chiefs of what are now the Upper St'at'imc and the Lil'wat for the right to use the name, which was viewed as more harmonious that the town's former name of Cayoosh Flat. One reason for the choice of the new name is that the

Douglas Road The Douglas Road, a.k.a. the Lillooet Trail, Harrison Trail or Lakes Route, was a goldrush-era transportation route from the British Columbia Coast to the Interior (NB another route known as the Lillooet Trail was the Lillooet Cattle Trail, which ...

, also known as the Lillooet Trail as it traversed the Lil'wat country, ended at Cayoosh Flat. The Lil'wat and St'at'imc chiefs agreed to the proposal, with the result that the Lil'wat became also known as the Lower St'at'imc, and the former Upper St'at'imc (formerly just St'at'imc) became known as the Upper Lillooet. The name St'at'imc, according to ethnologist James Teit, was originally used only by outsiders to describe the St'at'imcets-speaking peoples west of the Fraser, who he says had no collective name for themselves despite a common language.

Indian Reserves

Indian Reserves under the administration of the Lil'wat Nation are: * Challetkohum Indian Reserve No. 5, 0.6 ha. on left bank of the Lillooet River one mile north of Baptiste Smith Indian Reserve No. 1B * Challetkohum Indian Reserve No. 9, 2 ha., on left bank of Lillooet River to the east of IR no. 5 * Lokla Indian Reserve No. 4, ha. on left bank of Birkenhead River 5 miles north of IR No. 1 * Mount Currie Indian Reserve No. 1, 76.3 ha., at confluence of Lillooet and Birkenhead Rivers, population in 2006: 114 * Mount Currie Indian Reserve No. 2, 42.5 ha., on island in the Lillooet River one mile west of IR No. 1. Population in 2006: 15 * Mount Currie Indian Reserve No. 6, 1618.8 ha., on the left bank of the Lillooet River north of Nesuch IR No. 3. This is the site of the main community and is what is usually meant by the term "Mount Currie Indian Reserve". Population in 2006: 800 (785 Aboriginal identity, 15 non-Aboriginal identity) * Mount Currie Indian Reserve No. 7, 129.5 ha., on the north side of I.R. No. 6 * Mount Currie Indian Reserve No. 8, 656.4 ha. on island in confluence of Lillooet and Birkenhead Rivers, Population in 2006, 72 * Mount Currie Indian Reserve No. 10, 30.1 ha., west of Creekside, Population in 2006: 180 * Nesuch Indian Reserve No. 3, 368.1 ha. on right bank of Lillooet River at north end of Lillooet Lake, Population in 2006: 115 (incl. 10 non-Aboriginal)

Chief and Councillors

Language

Treaty Process

History

The people of the Lil'wat Nation at one time also lived at Pemberton Meadows, about 20 miles northwest up the Lillooet River from Pemberton, but were encouraged by the

Oblate fathers In Christianity (especially in the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Methodist traditions), an oblate is a person who is specifically dedicated to God or to God's service. Oblates are individuals, either laypersons or clergy, normally li ...

to move to their mission at Owl Creek, a few miles up the Birkenhead River from the current reserve at Mount Currie, where the Lil'wat population relocated after the mission was closed. During the

Fraser Canyon Gold Rush The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, (also Fraser Gold Rush and Fraser River Gold Rush) began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River a few miles upstream from the Thompson's ...

of 1858, tens of thousands of miners and others poured up the Lillooet River system from

Harrison Lake Harrison Lake is the largest lake in the southern Coast Mountains of Canada, being about 250 square kilometres (95 mi²) in area. It is about 60 km (37 mi) in length and at its widest almost 9 km (5.6 mi) across. Its so ...

to get to the Fraser at what is now the town of Lillooet. The Lil'wat engaged themselves as canoemen and porters during the heyday of what was known as the

, a.k.a. the Lillooet Trail, but after the gold rush all non-native settlement disappeared from the valley until the late 1870s, when John Currie homesteaded on land adjacent to the Mount Currie reserve; the mountain overlooking the site was named for him, and the reserve and townsite that grew up around it were named for the mountain. Currie married the then-chief's daughter and with them helped with the construction of the

Lillooet Cattle Trail The Lillooet Cattle Trail, also known as the Lillooet-Burrard Cattle Trail and also as the Lillooet Trail, was an unusual and daring public works undertaking by the Province of British Columbia in the 1877, and was the largest 19th century public ...

, and also regularly hired Lil'wat men (his in-laws) to work on his ranch and also on a couple of (unsuccessful) cattle drives on the disastrous trail to saltwater at Squamish.

Demographics

The registered population of the Lil'wat Nation is 2,007 members. 1,348 of these live on an Indian Reserve under the band's administration (709 males, 639 females), while 78 live on reserves controlled by another band (40 males, 38 females). 581 band members live off-reserve (267 males, 314 females).Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Registered Population

Economic Development

A new subdivision on the hillside above the Birkenhead River has opened up housing for the hard-pressed Mount Currie community, where some family houses date back more than a century. The Lil'wat Nation is a partner with the

Squamish Nation The Squamish Nation, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw () in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Sníchim (Squamish language), is an Indian Act government originally imposed on the Squamish (''Sḵwx̱wú7mesh'') by the Federal Government of Canada in the late 19th c ...

in the Weetama Festival, a 2010 Olympics-oriented aboriginal cultural festival for tourist education located in

, which sits astride the overlapping territorial claims of the Lil'wat and Squamish.

Social, Educational and Cultural Programs and Facilities

In July 2008, the Lil'wat First Nation partnered with their neighbours the

to open the multimillion-dollar Squamish Lilwat Cultural Centre in Whistler. The two nations, whose territories traditionally overlapped around the Whistler area, had signed a Protocol Agreement in 2001 to work together on such opportunities. The centre features traditional art, cultural and historical displays, wood carvings, an 80-seat theatre,

longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often re ...

pithouse A pit-house (or ''pit house'', ''pithouse'') is a house built in the ground and used for shelter. Besides providing shelter from the most extreme of weather conditions, these structures may also be used to store food (just like a pantry, a larde ...

, outdoor forest walk, cafe and giftshop.

References

External links

Lil'Wat Nation Official SiteSquamish Lilwat Cultural Centre
{{St'at'imc First Nations St'at'imc governments Lillooet Country Sea-to-Sky Corridor