Ditidaht
The Ditidaht (formerly also Nitinat ) are Canadian Indians and belong to the Nuu-chah-nulth , one of the Indian tribes or First Nations living on Vancouver Island on the Pacific coast . They belong to the southernmost group. They speak the southern Wakash , which is very close to the Makah language (in Washington ).
Their residential area is at the northern end of Nitinat Lake , around 50 km south of Port Alberni . In December 2018, 780 people were counted to the Ditidaht.
Today's Ditidaht Nation is an alliance of at least ten local groups, each claiming a specific area and gathering around a chief (chaabat ') and his family. Each of these groups named itself accordingly after a locality or after a chief.
history
According to oral tradition, the original people of the Ditidaht (da7uu7aa7tx) came from Nitinat Lake, but this was before the "Great Flood". This da7uu7aa7tx people later allied with the diitiid7aa7tx, the people who came from Tatoosh Island via the Juan de Fuca Strait and settled on the Jordan River (diitiida). The Ditidaht (anglicized) are the people of the Diitiida, the Jordan River. They are also occasionally referred to as Nitinaht, because in the more northern Nuu-chah-nulth dialects, the "D" becomes an "N". It is possible that some of the immigrants from the south side of the waterway were survivors of the disaster that destroyed Ozette around 1700 and wiped out the southernmost Nuu-chah-nulth tribe.
Early figures (from 1849) vary between a few hundred and a thousand people. In 1881 it is said that around 280 "nitinates" lived in four places. In 1889 it was estimated 220, in 1914 only 155. Today they are estimated at 350, of which 120 live in the Malachan Indian Reserve . According to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development , 718 people were recognized as members of the tribe, 172 of whom lived on the reservation, 60 on other reservations, the rest outside.
Oral tradition knows border disputes with neighboring tribes, which sometimes led to wars and war alliances. Since the underlying tribes were often decimated and the prisoners taken as slaves, amalgations occurred again and again, so that the tribal boundaries are not always clear today. Dr. Robert Brown toured the region in 1864 and remarked on the area of the Ditidaht: “You have - or had - many villages, from Pachena Bay to the west and Karleit (east of Bonilla Point) to the east, as well as three villages in Nettinaht Inlet, eleven fish places on Nettinaht River, three places at Cowichan Lake and one at Squitz (Skutz Falls) on the Cowitchan River itself. "
The tribe, which perhaps did not see itself as a unit before 1800, was made up of around ten groups of houses, each of which called itself “The People of ...” according to their village name. Around 250 names of places and places have now been identified.
WC Grant settled at Sooke in 1849 on behalf of James Douglas . He first heard of the "Patchana" (probably Pacheedaht ) and "Nittinat", the latter being said to have been more numerous.
In 1853, Governor James Douglas counted 250 "men with beards" in the "Netenet" around Port San Juan, 258 women, 29 boys and 2 girls, a total of 539 - although the small number of girls may indicate that the information is too low. This is also indicated by a letter from the two traders Peter Francis and WE Banfield ( Bamfield was named after him ) from 1855, who report about 800 “nettinets”. In the late 1850s, however, he was closer to 600, while Robert Brown reports over a thousand.
Harry Guillod, Indian Agent counted “90 nitin breaths ” in 1881 with a total population of only 280, which were distributed among four “rancheries between Cape Beale and Pacheena” (Port San Juan). In 1883 there were 271, in 1889 only 220. In 1914 there were only 155 and 40 families. The first strong decimation can probably be explained by the smallpox epidemic of 1862 , the second probably goes back in part to the hostile Indian policy of British Columbia.
It was not until 1890 that the Joint Indian Reserve Commission contacted them and negotiated 17 reserves, which included the villages (such as Malachan and Waayaa), but also places for canoeing or fishing that were normally uninhabited, or even a cemetery. Waayaa (also called Whyac) was also abandoned in the 1960s. In the 19th century, it was surrounded by a strong fence to prevent nighttime attacks. Clo-oose (tluu7uus), which became known as the excavation site, has only been inhabited in summer since the 1960s.
Some places were considered places of special ceremonies, such as that of the tluukwaali , known as the "Blackface Society" or wolf dance. They used to dance at ilhuu ( Il-clo Indian Reserve No. 12 ) on the west side of Lake Nitinat.
Although the Ditidaht joined the Nuu-chah-nulth Council in 1978, they do not negotiate jointly with the Canadian government. Instead, they entered into independent negotiations in December 1993, which the neighboring Pacheedaht joined in 1997 . The negotiations currently deal with parks and protected areas, game, migratory birds and fish.
With the establishment of the Pacific Rim National Park in 2001, the number of tourists has skyrocketed. The neighboring tribes, together with the park administration, have taken on the task of maintaining the West Coast Trail , one of the three sections of the park. To this end, the Quu'as partnership was founded, a corporate joint venture between Ditidaht, Pacheedaht and Huu-ay-aht and Parks Canada . In addition, the Ditidaht maintain their own Ditidaht First Nation Nitinat Lake Visitor Center .
In January 2003, Ditidaht and Pacheedaht signed a ten-year trading license for 300,000 cubic meters of wood, and the next month they received CAD 250,000 for a forestry training program. In February 2005, Ditidaht signed that they would sell an additional 173,500 cubic meters over 5 years for 1.6 million CAD.
In 2006 there were only eight speakers of the Ditidaht or Nitidaht . As of 2003, the Ditidaht Council decided to build a school for $ 4.2 million to teach students in their language. In 2005, the first high school graduate left school. Professor Michael Fortescue has now developed a dictionary of around 500 pages - since the language was only spoken before 2002, an alphabet with 53 characters was developed.
The main reserve is the Malachan Indian Reserve # 11 on the eastern edge of Nitinaht Lake. The total of 17 reserves cover 725.3 hectares .
In April 2010, 725 people were counted among the Ditidaht, of which 183 lived on the reservations in the Barclay District and around Renfrew, 490 outside the reservations, the remaining 62 were scattered on other reservations. In December 2018, 780 people were recognized as members of the tribe, of whom 172 lived in their own reservations, 66 in others and 542 outside the reservations. In June 2007 there were 690.
Even if the Ditidaht are proud of their linguistic peculiarities and very consciously set themselves apart from the "West Coast", the language of the middle and northern Nuu-chah-nulth groups, and also go their own political way, they share numerous cultural elements. Here, too, certain families have a right to untouchable places (tupaat). Tupaat is an inherited privilege or privilege that is often related to ceremonial privileges. To this day, Tupaat can consist of certain chants, dances, games, family stories , but also certain musical instruments, devices or objects that play a role in celebrations.
See also
literature
- William C. Sturtevant (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Volume 7: Wayne Suttles (Ed.): Northwest Coast . Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 1990, ISBN 0-87474-187-4 .
- Matthew Kwong: Standing by their words , can be found here: [1] .
- Nancy Turner, John Thomas, BF Carlson, RT Ogilvie: Ethnobotany of the Nitinaht Indians of Vancouver Island , Occasional Papers Series No. 24, British Columbia Provincial Museum, Victoria 1983.
Web links
- official website of the Ditidaht
- Page of the Ditidaht on their story
- House at the Nitinat Narrows (1866) on the Vancouver Island University site
Remarks
- ↑ This and the following according to the official website of Ditidaht ( archived copy ( memento of the original from February 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ).
- ↑ Ditidaht ( Memento of the original from January 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ According to the information from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development , First Nation Profiles: Archive link ( memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ According to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development , First Nation Profiles ( Ditidaht ( Memento of the original from January 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. )
- ^ Ditidaht , First Nation Profiles.
