The Katzie First Nation or Katzie Nation (

Hunquminum Halkomelem (; in the Upriver dialect, in the Island dialect, and in the Downriver dialect) is a language of various First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples of the British Columbia Coast. It is spoken in what is now British Columbia, r ...

: ) is a First Nation whose traditional territory lies in the Lower Fraser Valley of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada. According to their

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

, the Katzie people are the descendants of the Oe'lecten and Swaneset communities, two of five established by the Creator in present-day

Greater Vancouver Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term ''Greater Vancouver'' describes an area that is roughly coterminous with the r ...

Origins and etymology

According to their

, the Katzie people are descendants of the five communities established by the Creator in what is now known as

. The Creator assigned a chief to lead each community: Oe'lecten () at

Pitt Lake Pitt Lake is the second-largest lake in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. About in area, it is about long and about wide at its widest. It is one of the world's relatively few tidal lakes, and among the largest. In Pitt Lake, there is o ...

, Swaneset at Sheridan Hill (in

Pitt Meadows Pitt Meadows is a city within Metro Vancouver in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Incorporated in 1914, it currently has a land area of with an estimate population of 19,498 as of 2024. The city received its name from the Pitt River and ...

), Xwoe'pecten at

Port Hammond Port Hammond, commonly known as Hammond, is a community on the Fraser River within the city of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, near its border with the City of Pitt Meadows and just east of the Golden Ears Bridge. History The town's name de ...

(in Maple Ridge), C'simlenexw at

Point Grey Point Grey () is a headland marking the southern entrance to English Bay and Burrard Inlet in British Columbia, Canada. The headland is the site of Wreck Beach, Tower Beach, Point Grey Beach and most notably, since 1925, on its top is the Poin ...

(in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

), and Smakwec at

Point Roberts A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

(in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, US). The Katzie people are primarily the descendants of Oe'lecten and Swaneset, while the descendants of Xwoe'pecten, C'simlenexw, and Smakwec became the Kwantlen,

Musqueam The Musqueam Nation ( Hunquminum: ) is a First Nation whose traditional territory encompasses the western half of what is now Greater Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada. It is governed by a band council and is known officially as the Musq ...

, and Snokomish peoples, respectively. The Snokomish people were wiped out by a

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

epidemic in the 18th century. "Katzie" is an

anglicization Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English languag ...

of the Hunquminum name , which means "land of the moss". The Katzie people's oral tradition credits the name to Swaneset. It is said that Swaneset, at the behest of the Creator, shaped the land of his area so that it would be abundant in berry and root crops and thus suitable for human life. He then travelled to the sky and returned to Earth with a sky wife who instructed the people of the area to pile up moss to form the foundation for a village site. She later released

eulachon The eulachon ( (''Thaleichthys pacificus''), also spelled oolichan , ooligan , hooligan ), or the candlefish, is a small anadromous species of smelt that spawns in some of the major river systems along the Pacific coast of North America from no ...

into the

Fraser River The Fraser River () is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain (Canada), Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of V ...

() and taught the people how to catch and prepare the fish for consumption. Within Swaneset's lifetime, the Katzie community had grown to 12 separate villages. Swaneset is said to have secured an abundance of

sockeye salmon The sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''), also called red salmon, kokanee salmon, blueback salmon, or simply sockeye, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it. This species is a ...

for the Katzie people through his second marriage to the daughter of the chief of the "sockeye people".

Treaty process

The Katzie Nation are negotiating their land treaty independently, and are not part of either Sto:lo tribal councils (the Sto:lo Nation and the Stó:lō Tribal Council).

Golden Ears Bridge agreement

As the new

Golden Ears Bridge The Golden Ears Bridge is a six-lane extradosed bridge in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia. It spans the Fraser River, connecting Langley on the south side with Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge on the north side. The bridge opened to traffic on J ...

was in Katzie territory, the nation signed a Benefit Agreement with TransLink in September 2004 to establish the responsibilities of both parties.

Territory and governance

Traditional Katzie territory includes the entire Pitt watershed, including the

Alouette Alouette or alouettes may refer to: Music and literature * Alouette (song), "Alouette" (song), a French-language children's song * Alouette, a List of The King of Braves GaoGaiGar protagonists#Alouette, character in ''The King of Braves GaoGaiGar' ...

watershed, the Fraser River, lands adjacent to Point Roberts, and lands between the Fraser and

Boundary Bay Boundary Bay is a shallow bay situated on the Pacific coast of North America on the Canada–United States border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington. Geography Boundary Bay is bounded to the east ...

. There are approximately 592 members of the Katzie First Nation (their

Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' () is a Canadian Act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still in force with amendments, it is the primary document that defines how t ...

-mandated government), and 302 are currently living on their five reserves.

Reserves

The Katzie Nation manages the affairs of residents of five reserves assigned to the Katzie, focused on the area of

, where the band headquarters are located. Other reserves are on

Barnston Island Barnston Island is an unincorporated island located in the Greater Vancouver metropolitan area of British Columbia, Canada. Most of it is part of Metro Vancouver Electoral Area A; the remainder is Barnston Island Indian Reserve No. 3, which is ...

and at Yorkson Creek in

Langley, British Columbia The City of Langley, commonly referred to as Langley City, or just Langley, is a municipality in the Metro Vancouver Regional District in British Columbia, Canada. It lies directly east of Surrey, adjacent to the Cloverdale area, and is surroun ...

. These reserves are: *Katzie 1, one mile west of Port Hammond on right (north) bank of the Fraser River, 44.10 ha. *Katzie 2, opposite Port Hammond on the left (south) bank of the Fraser River, 23.10 ha. * Barnston Island 3, south shore of Barnston Island, 54.6 ha. *Pitt Lake 4, at south end of

, at outlet into

Pitt River The Pitt River in British Columbia, Canada is a large tributary of the Fraser River, entering it a few miles upstream from New Westminster and about 25 km ESE of Downtown Vancouver. The river, which begins in the Garibaldi Ranges of the Coa ...

, 218.50 ha. *Graveyard 5, one mile north of

, 0.40 ha.

Population

As of February 2024, the band's population was 563, of whom 310 live on-reserve.Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Registered Population

Language

həṅq̓əmín̓əḿ, the downriver dialect of

Halkomelem Halkomelem (; in the Upriver dialect, in the Island dialect, and in the Downriver dialect) is a language of various First Nations peoples of the British Columbia Coast. It is spoken in what is now British Columbia, ranging from southeastern ...

, is still spoken by Katzie peoples despite colonization attempts (including the Canadian Residential School System).

is one of the Coast Salish, or Salishan languages.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Katzie First Nation website

First Nations governments in the Lower Mainland Sto:lo governments Pitt Meadows