The Tsilhqotin or Chilcotin ("People of the river", ; also spelled ''Tsilhqutin, Tŝinlhqotin, Chilkhodin, Tsilkótin, Tsilkotin'') are a
North American tribal government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
of the
Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group that live in what is now known as
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. They are the most southern of the Athabaskan-speaking Indigenous peoples in British Columbia.
Their name, Tŝilhqotʼin, makes reference to the
Chilko River
The Chilko River is a river in the Chilcotin District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, flowing northeast from Chilko Lake to the Chilcotin River. Its main tributary is the Taseko River.
The Chilko is the Chilcotin River's ...
, which means "red ochre river," from ''tŝi(lh)'' "rock" + ''-qu'' "river" + ''-t'in'' "people".
[ Tsilhqot'in people also use another word to refer to themselves: ''Nenqayni'', from: ''nen'' "land" + ''-qay'' "surface" + ''-ni'' "person/people",][ and their ]country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
is called '' Tŝilhqotʼin Nen''.
For more information about the 2014 landmark court case that established Indigenous land title for the Tsilhqotʼin Nation and demanded that colonial provinces engage in meaningful and prior consultation before engaging in extractive industries on Tsilhqot'in lands, see Tsilhqotʼin Nation v British Columbia
''Tsilhqotʼin Nation v British Columbia'' is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that established Aboriginal land title in Canada, Aboriginal land title for the Tsilhqotʼin First Nation, with larger effects. As a result of the l ...
.
History
Pre-contact
The Tŝilhqotin Nation before contact with Europeans were a strong warrior nation with political influences from the Similkameen region in southern 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 ...
, the Pacific coast in the west, and the Rocky Mountains in the east. They were part of an extensive trade network centred around the control and distribution of obsidian
Obsidian ( ) is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Produced from felsic lava, obsidian is rich in the lighter element ...
, the material of choice for arrowhead
An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, or sometimes for special purposes such as signaling.
...
s and other stone tools.
European trade
The Tsilhqotin first encountered European trading goods in the 1780s and 1790s when British and American ships arrived along the northwest coast seeking sea otter
The sea otter (''Enhydra lutris'') is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between , making them the heaviest members of ...
pelts. By 1808, a fur-trading company from Montreal called the North West Company
The North West Company was a Fur trade in Canada, Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada a ...
had established posts in the Carrier (Dene) territory just north of the Tsilhqotin. They began trading directly and through Carrier intermediaries.
In 1821, what was then the Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
established a fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...
post at Fort Alexandria on 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 ...
, at the eastern limit of Tsilhqotin territory. This became the tribal people's major source for European goods.
Disease
Contact with Europeans and First Nations intermediaries led to the introduction of Eurasian diseases, which were endemic among the Europeans. As they had long been exposed, some had developed acquired immunity
The adaptive immune system (AIS), also known as the acquired immune system, or specific immune system is a subsystem of the immune system that is composed of specialized cells, organs, and processes that eliminate pathogens specifically. The ac ...
, but the First Nations peoples were devastated by epidemics of these new diseases.
Infectious disease outbreaks with high fatalities for Tsilhqotʼin populations:
* Whooping cough, 1845
* Measles, 1850
* Smallpox, 1855 (from infected blankets from the Thompson River
The Thompson River is the largest tributary of the Fraser River, flowing through the south-central portion of British Columbia, Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches, the South Thompson River and the North Thompson River. The river ...
area)
* Smallpox, 1862–1863 (reduced BC aboriginal population by 62% – completely destroyed six Secwepemc bands, a total of 850 people; 2/3 of the Secwepemc population died; half of the 14 Fraser River bands became extinct)
* Spanish flu
The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...
, 1919 – this epidemic affected European Canadians as well as First Nations, and millions of people died internationally
The geographically isolated position of the Tsilhqotin may have protected them from the first of the 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
An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...
s, which spread up from Mexico in the 1770s. They may have been spared the smallpox epidemic of 1800 and the measles
Measles (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...
of the 1840s. Furniss in ''The Burden of History'' states that "there is no direct evidence that these smallpox epidemics reached the central interior of British Columbia or the Secwepemc, Carrier, or Tsilhqotin". However, in the epidemic of 1836–38, the disease spread to Ootsa Lake and killed an entire Carrier band. Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from
people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...
of the bands has continued to recount the effects of the many deaths in these epidemics.
Gold rush and European settlement
By the 1860s, miners panned along the Fraser, Quesnel, and Horsefly rivers and their tributaries. Various business operators and merchants followed the miners and business was booming. Farmers and ranchers developed land to provision the mining towns that developed around the merchants. This led to competition for resources between the Chilcotin and Europeans, leading to a stream of events known as the Chilcotin War.
Reserves
Governor James Douglas supported a system of reserves and indoctrination to "civilized" practices such as subsistence agriculture
Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops on smallholdings to meet the needs of themselves and their families. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements. Planting decisions occu ...
up until his retirement in 1864.
Joseph Trutch, the chief commissioner of lands and works, abandoned the reserve policy, and set Indian policy as their having no rights to the land. By 1866, BC colonial rule required indigenous peoples to request permission from the governor to use lands. Newspapers supported the preempting of indigenous lands, seeing settlers ploughing indigenous burial grounds. Indigenous peoples who requested redress from a justice of the peace were refused.
Environmental problems
In the 1870s, the loss of hunting territories, and crashes of the salmon run
A salmon run is an annual fish migration event where many salmonid species, which are typically hatched in fresh water and live most of their adult life downstream in the ocean, swim back against the stream to the upper reaches of rivers to s ...
s placed more dependence on agricultural produce such as grains, hay, and vegetables. Activities migrated to cutting hay, constructing irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
ditches, and practicing animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, animal fiber, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising ...
. Settlers however assumed water rights, making agriculture ever more fragile. Indigenous peoples were huddled in on small acreages, such as in Canoe Creek, 20 acres for 150 indigenous people. Starvation became a threat.
Canadian government set to reallocate land back to natives
In contrast to the 160 to 640 acres per family set aside in other treaties at the time in the prairies, the federal government opted for 80 acres per indigenous family to be set aside in reserve, while the provincial government was keen on 10 acres per family.
Catholic missionaries and residential schools
Catholic Missionaries were sent to convert First Nations children to Christianity. By 1891, the first group of students were sent to receive a so-called "formal" education. The program continued for the next six decades until a point when Indigenous children were allowed into the public school system. Ninety years after the start of the residential school program, the mission school closed circa 1981. Throughout that period, Indian agents were empowered to remove children from homes to attend St. Joseph's Mission School in Williams Lake, British Columbia
Williams Lake is a city in the Central Interior of British Columbia, in the central part of a region known as the Cariboo. Williams Lake is one of the largest cites, by population of metropolitan area, in the Cariboo after neighbouring Quesnel ...
. This led some to attempt to hide their children by sneaking out to hunting grounds or fields. Children fled the schools, and within the first 30 years, three investigations on the physical abuse and malnutrition were conducted.
Disenfranchisement
Voting rights in Canadian federal elections were denied until 1960, and in provincial elections until 1949.
First Nations communities
Today, some 5,000 Tsilhqotʼin people live in Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
, north of Williams Lake, and in a string of five communities accessible from Williams Lake on Highway 20 (from east to west), and south from Highway 20 is the Nemiah Valley, and the Xeni-Gwetʼin.Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada - Indigenous peoples and communities - First Nation Profiles - Council Detail
/ref>
* Toosey First Nation (Tlʼesqox of the Tsilhqotʼin) (offices are located at Riske Creek; Tsilhqotʼin community: Tlʼesqox (Toosey); Tsilhqotʼin band name: Tlʼesqoxtʼin (Tlʼesqox Gwetʼin) = "People at/on Tlʼesqox"; registered population April, 2020: 377)
* Yunesitʼin First Nation (Stone First Nation) (offices at the town of Hanceville, B.C.; Tsilhqotʼin community: Yunesitʼin - "Stone/Stoney", original place-name: Gex Natsʼinilhtʼih; Tsilhqotʼin band name: Yunesitʼin (Yuneŝitʼin Gwetʼin); registered population April, 2020: 491)
* Tlʼetinqox-tʼin Government Office (Anaham Reserve First Nations) (offices east of the town of Alexis Creek; Tsilhqotʼin community: Tlʼetinqox - "the river flats"; Tsilhqotʼin band name: Tlʼetinqox-tʼin (Tlʼetinqox Gwetʼin) - "People of Tlʼetinqox"; registered population April, 2020: 1,631)
* Tŝideldel First Nation (Alexis Creek First Nation) (offices are at Redstone on the main Redstone Reserve; Tsilhqotʼin community: Tsi Del Del - "Red Stone"; Tsilhqotʼin band name: Tŝideldel (Tŝi Deldel Gwetʼin); registered population April, 2020: 703)
* Ulkatcho First Nation (offices at Anahim Lake; mixed Dakelh
The Dakelh (pronounced ) or Carrier are a First Nations in Canada, First Nations Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people living a large portion of the British Columbia Interior, Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The Dakel ...
-Tŝilhqotʼin community, mostly of the Ulkatchotʼen Dakelh subgroup with intermarried Nagwentlʼun-Tsilhqotʼin-subgroup and some Nuxalk
The Nuxalk people (Nuxalk language, Nuxalk: ''Nuxalkmc''; pronounced )'','' also referred to as the Bella Coola, Bellacoola or Bilchula, are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous First Nations in Canada, First Nation ...
mc; registered population April, 2020: 1,065)
* ʔEsdilagh First Nation (Alexandria First Nation) (historic Tsilhqotʼin band name: ʔElhdaqox-tʼin - "People of the Sturgeon River; i.e. Fraser River"; Tsilhqotʼin community: ʔEsdilagh - "where the land meets the water." or "Peninsula"; Tsilhqotʼin band name: ʔEsdilagh-tʼin (ʔEsdinlagh Gwetʼin) - "People of the Peninsula"; registered population April, 2020: 256)
* Xeni Gwetʼin First Nation (offices at the wilderness community and reserve in Nemaia Valley; Tsilhqotʼin community: Xeni Gwet; Tsilhqotʼin band name: Xeni Gwetʼin – "People of Xeni Village"; registered population April, 2020: 454)
Aside from the indigenous communities, there are only two small unincorporated towns in the whole region: Alexis Creek and Anahim Lake, the largest, with 522 people. Numerically, at least, the Tsilhqotʼin still dominate the Chilcotin plateau.
Tsilhqotʼin First Nations belong to two tribal council
A tribal council is an association of First Nations bands in Canada, generally along regional, ethnic or linguistic lines.
An Indian band, usually consisting of one main community, is the fundamental unit of government for First Nations in Can ...
s:
Carrier-Chilcotin Tribal Council (two Carrier/Dakelh bands, one Tsilhqotʼin band, and one mixed Carrier/Dakelh-Tsilhqotʼin band)
* Kluskus First Nation
*Red Bluff First Nation
The Red Bluff First Nation is a Dakelh First Nations in Canada, First Nations government located in the northern Fraser Canyon region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is a member of the Carrier-Chilcotin Tribal Council, which inc ...
* Toosey First Nation (Tlʼesqox of the Tsilhqotʼin)
* Ulkatcho First Nation
Tsilhqotʼin National Government (all Tsilhqotʼin bands without the mixed Carrier/Dakelh-Tsilhqotʼin band)
*ʔEsdilagh First Nation (Alexandria First Nation)
*Tŝideldel First Nation (Alexis Creek First Nation)
*Yunesitʼin First Nation (Stone First Nation)
*Tlʼetinqox-tʼin Government Office (Anaham Reserve First Nations)
*Xeni Gwetʼin First Nation
*Toosey First Nation (Tlʼesqox of the Tsilhqotʼin)
Despite its small population and isolation, the region has produced an impressive collection of literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
mixing naturalism with Indigenous and settler cultures. The area is accessed by Highway 20, which runs from the City of Williams Lake to the port town of Bella Coola. Highway 20 westbound from Williams Lake crosses 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 ...
at Sheep Creek - thereby entering Tsilhqotʼin traditional territory. The highway passes over the Chilcotin Plateau
The Chilcotin Plateau is part of the Fraser Plateau, a major subdivision of the Interior Plateau of British Columbia. The Chilcotin Plateau is physically near-identical with the region of the same name, i.e. "the Chilcotin", which lies between ...
, characterized by undulating grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...
s, expansive forests of lodgepole pine
''Pinus contorta'', with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpin ...
and Douglas fir
The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...
, a scattering of lakes, rivers, creeks and ponds, volcanic and glaciated landforms, and a magnificent backdrop of snow-covered peaks.
See also
* Tsilhqotʼin language
(lit. "the Native way"), also Chilcotin, Tŝilhqotʼin, Tsilhqotʼin, Tsilhqútʼin, is a Northern Athabaskan language spoken in British Columbia by the Tsilhqotʼin people.
The name ''Chilcotin'' is derived from the Chilcotin name for themse ...
* Chilcotin War
* Carrier Chilcotin Tribal Council
* Tsilhqotʼin Tribal Council
* Tsilhqotʼin Nation v. British Columbia
References
Bibliography
* ''Nemiah: The Unconquered Country'' by Terry Glavin
* ''Chilcotin Cowboy'' by Paul St. Pierre
* ''Smith and Other Events'' by Paul St. Pierre
* ''Crusoe of Lonesome Lake'' by Ralph Edwards (conservationist)
Ralph Edwards, ( – July 3, 1977) was a pioneering British Columbian homestead principle, homesteader, amateur pilot and leading conservation movement, conservationist of the trumpeter swan. He received the Order of Canada in 1972 for his cons ...
* ''Chiwid'' by Sage Birchwater
* ''The Chilcotin War'' by Mel Rothenburger
''High Slack: Waddington's Gold Road and the Bute Inlet Massacre of 1864''
by Judith Williams
External links
Tŝilhqot'in National Government
Tŝilhqot'in Language
{{Authority control
Athabaskan peoples
Chilcotin Country