The Snokomish were a

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 ...

-speaking

Coast Salish The Coast Salish peoples are a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak on ...

people whose territory was primarily located across the

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 ...

area. The Snokomish were also known as the Derby people, as their territory included a portion of 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 ...

, near Derby, British Columbia.

Territory

Their territory surrounded the mouths of three rivers: the

Nicomekl River The Nicomekl River springs from the ground in Langley, British Columbia and travels west through the city to Surrey's Crescent Beach, where it empties into Mud Bay, the northernmost section of the Boundary Bay of the Strait of Georgia. It has a to ...

, Serpentine River and Campbell River. Closest to modern day

Point Roberts, Washington Point Roberts is a Enclave and exclave#"Practical" enclaves, exclaves and inaccessible districts, pene-exclave of the US state of Washington (state), Washington on the southernmost tip of the Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Tsawwassen peninsula, s ...

and Crescent, BC. The first two rivers empty into Mud Bay, the northeastern portion of

, north of today's Crescent Beach, whereas as the mouth of the Campbell River empties into

Semiahmoo Bay Semiahmoo Bay ( ) is the southeastern section of Boundary Bay on the Pacific coast of North America in British Columbia, Canada. The bay is named for the Semiahmoo First Nation, who originally occupied the area. The Semiahmoo Peninsula borders ...

(the eastern portion of Boundary Bay). The Campbell River lets out to the ocean at the

Semiahmoo First Nation Semiahmoo First Nation ( ) is the band government of the Semiahmoo people, a Coast Salish subgroup. The band's main community and offices are located on the Semiahmoo Indian Reserve which is sandwiched between the boundary of White Rock, Br ...

's reserve lands--very close to today's city of

White Rock, British Columbia White Rock is a city in British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It is bordered by Semiahmoo Bay to the south and is surrounded on three sides by Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey. To the south ...

Language

The Snokomish spoke Halkomelem. Their dialect was 'Downriver,' rather than 'Upriver,' or 'Island.' Their particular dialect was 'Nicomekl'.

History

The population was decimated by a smallpox epidemic in 1850, and thereafter some individuals were absorbed into the neighbouring Semiahmoo, whose territory was immediately to the south, and who absorbed the saltwater portion of Snokomish territory (the rest is now Kwantlen territory). Families with Snokomish heritage among the Semiahmoo retain hereditary rights to the mouths of the Nicomekl, Serpentine and Campbell Rivers. It is also thought that surviving individuals from the Snokomish First Nations were absorbed by other

speaking neighbors such as the

Tsawwassen First Nation The Tsawwassen First Nation (, ) is a First Nations government whose lands are located in the Greater Vancouver area of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada, close to the South Arm of the Fraser River and just north of the internationa ...

, Katzie First Nation and Kwantlen First Nation.''The Territory of the Semiahmoo'', Surrey History website, adapted from Wayne P. Suttles in ''Economic Life of the Coast Salish of Haro and Rosario Straits'', unpublished Ph.D dissertation, University of Washington, 1951
/ref>

References

{{authority control Coast Salish Lower Mainland First Nations in British Columbia