Hesquiaht
The Hesquiaht ( h ishkwii7at h ) are Canadian Indians who live on the west coast of Vancouver Island . The name means "the people of the sound that is made by eating herring eggs on eel grass". They speak English and Wakash and belong to the Nuu-chah-nulth , one of the groups of First Nations , as the Indians are called in Canada.
They are primarily represented vis-à-vis the government by the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council . Together with the Tla-o-qui-aht , the Ahousaht , the Toquaht and the Ucluelet , the Hesquiaht form the central region of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council . This central region is represented in the tribal council by a co-chairman . The hereditary chiefs are authorized to issue instructions to the elected representatives and councilors in matters of tradition.
The 680 recognized Hesquiaht (April 2010) are spread over five reserves with a total area of around 320 hectares. They are located in Clayoquot Sound , more precisely around Hesquiat Harbor and on the Hesquiat Peninsula in Hot Springs Cove (Refuge Cove). 506 Hesquiaht live outside the reserve, 146 in their own, another 26 in other reservations, 2 on crown land.
history
Early history
Archaeological finds show that Hesquiat was inhabited more than 2000 years ago. The Hesquiaht originally consisted of village groups, each with its own area. They must have specialized in catching sea otters , which had their places on the Perez and the Sunday Rocks. According to tradition, chief Ma-tla-ho-ah is one of the founding ancestors of the tribe.
First contacts with Europeans
The Hesquiaht are possibly the first Nuu-chah-nulth who made contact with Europeans, more precisely the Spaniard Juan Pérez Hernàndez (August 8, 1774). In the following decades, especially from 1784, the Hesquiaht changed their hunting methods in order to be able to sell or exchange more sea otter skins . The Sea Otter , which sailed along Vancouver Island in search of otter skins in 1785 , acquired (at least) 560 skins alone. Its price doubled between 1787 and 1792, and it doubled again by 1795. Between 1790 and 1799 alone, over a hundred thousand furs were sold. After a few decades, the sea otter population was practically wiped out. The last sea otter was shot near Kyuquot in 1929 .
Smallpox epidemic, emergence of a strain
Armed conflicts, but also epidemics, such as smallpox in 1852 and 1862 , ultimately brought about the union of the survivors into a band , as the emerging tribes were called in Canada, whose cultural basis was subject to radical change.
Father Brabant, a Catholic missionary, was with the Hesquiaht when the smallpox broke out in 1862. His diary noted in October 1862 that 15 "Mouetsats" had died of smallpox. The survivors wanted to kill just as many Hesquiaht as they saw the cause in them. On October 14th a canoe came from Nootka Sound , but the right to land was denied for fear. However, it was Tom, a missionary with his family. Brabant vaccinated him and his family against smallpox. Brabant also reports of panic, of screaming and howling, of medicine men who preached “superstitiously”.
The wife of the chief of the Hesquiaht was dead on October 16, Brabant tried to vaccinate the whole tribe, but three cases of smallpox occurred the next day after mass, two of them were dead on October 18. No one dared, she to bury. A “Cape Flattery man”, probably a Makah , and seven others finally helped. But the dead were only packed in a canoe and covered with a board because it was storming so violently. The chief's sister also fell ill and died on October 20th. Peter seemed to have smallpox too. It was reported by the Mowachaht that anyone who helped with the funeral would develop smallpox themselves. An Indian was displaced because he had previously been in Victoria , from where the epidemic had spread. All the Indians came to mass and sang “Sachale Taihe”, otherwise there was an overwhelming silence. Brabant just managed to throw the dead into the forest, as he reports. It was only on October 21st and 22nd the situation seemed to improve surprisingly, because Peter recovered.
The Hesquiaht made the next uneasy experience when in 1869 the John Bright off the coast, at Estevan Point, wrecked . The team was killed and the Crown charged the Hesquiahts with murdering the team. Apparently they only recovered the dead to prevent the fish from eating them, which were their livelihood.
Mission station
On September 25, 1874, Father Auguste-Joseph Brabant reached Hesquiat and founded the first Roman Catholic mission under the Nuu-chah-nulth in Hesquiat. He was in a difficult position, especially in the face of smallpox that broke out again in 1875. Chief Matlahaw, who had received a Dominion of Canada medal the previous year for rescuing the crew of the barque Edwin , showed the first signs of illness. The treatment with Brabant's drugs did not work. Then Matlahaw took Brabant's rifle and shot him in the hand and in the right shoulder.
In 1877 Brabant had to admit that its missionary success was poor. But he founded a mission in Numukamis in Barkley Sound and in Ahousaht on Flores . He had converted a family in 1880 and his first marriage in 1882.
In 1881 the Hesquiaht had only 221 members, in 1891 even 210. Brabant founded the first industrial school in 1899 , the Christie Indian School near Tofino (see Residential Schools (Canada) ). He viewed with great suspicion and reluctance the advance of Methodist and Presbyterian missionaries among the Ahousaht and around Nitinaht Lake , among the Ditidaht . But he had earned a great reputation, mastered the Nuu-chah-nulth languages, and traveled constantly along the coast. After he had to go to Victoria in 1908 , he wanted to return to Hesquiat. But his work was largely destroyed by the catastrophic population development.
Reservations
The Hesquiaht, like all Indians in Canada, were forced to live on reservations. 147 people lived there in October 2009. By far the largest contiguous area is in the Hesquiat 1 reservation (167.1 hectares), but the densest population is found in Refuge Cove 6 , which covers only 9.8 hectares. There are a total of 40 houses in the reserve.
Attempt at forced assimilation
Like all First Nations , the Hesquiaht had to send all children between 7 and 15 to residential schools from 1920 , where most of them became alienated from their culture. They were not allowed to use their mother tongue there.
Incident at the lighthouse at Estevan Point
On June 20, 1942, a lighthouse, the Estevan Point Lighthouse , achieved worldwide fame when a Japanese submarine shot at it.
Tsunami and resettlement to Refuge Cove
In 1964 a tsunami destroyed Hesquiat and the Indians had to leave the place. Therefore, a large number of them now live in Port Alberni and Victoria. Some residents of the reservation fled to Refuge Cove , where most of the reservation residents still live today.
Biosphere reserve, return of the sea otters, energy supply
Refuge Cove is a candidate for biosphere reserve status . Between 1969 and 1972, 89 sea otters were brought from Amchitka Island and Prince William Sound in Alaska to the Chek: k'tles7et'h / Ka: ´yu: 'k't'h' area around the Bunsby Islands on the northwest coast settled by Vancouver Island. This population and possibly remaining remnants around Goose Island, as well as immigrants from Washington , increased again to around 2,500 animals by 1998. In 2004 they reached the Hesquiaht area again. Their number is growing by 17 to 20% annually, but will soon have reached their natural limit.
Similar efforts are being made in connection with the restoration of fish stocks, such as: B. at Yaakhsis Creek, at the Hesquiaht River or at Tukwashisht Creek.
Since 2000, the Tofino Botanical Gardens Foundation and the Boat Basin Foundation have maintained a house at the tip of Hesquiat Harbor for research in the temperate rainforest . The latter foundation is exclusively dedicated to the 117 hectare area, Cougar Annie's Garden .
BC Hydro , the largest energy supplier in British Columbia, offered the Hesquiaht to replace the electricity supply, which was previously ensured by a diesel generator, by connecting it to the company's network. For an evaluation, the tribal council turned to Ecotrust Canada , which agreed in 2007 and commissioned the Pembina Institute . This examines the potential for wind, wave and water energy. In March 2008, the tribe opened a new school building that is heated with geothermal energy .
Cultural recollection
When the Makah , the southernmost Nuu-chah-nulth group, wanted to enforce their right to whale hunting in 1999, Chief Simon Lucas defended this right, even against strong concerns of the organic movement.
In 2007 the so-called Culturally Modified Trees at Satchie Creek were officially recognized and an area of 25 km² was placed under protection. These are two remaining reserves of this type in the Hesquiaht Lake area. The trees are mainly representatives of the species Red Cedar , Balsam Fir , Western Hemlock , Douglas Fir and Sitka Spruce , with smaller stocks of Pacific Yew being added. So far, clusters have been found in four places.
In 2009 a new school opened its doors under the direction of Rebecca Atleo. The hot water is supplied by geothermal energy, the air conditioning by using wind power. A website for the tribe is being planned.
Chief of the Hesquiaht is Joseph Tom Jr., he is advised by six Councilors (council members).
In November 2009, the Hesquiaht, together with Ahousaht , Ehatteshaht , Mowachaht / Muchalaht and Tla-o-qui-aht , filed for admission to commercial fishing ( Ahousaht Indian Band And Nation v. Canada Attorney General, 2009 BCSC 1494 ).
See also
literature
- Kathryn Bernick: Basketry and Cordage from Hesquiat Harbor , Victoria 1998, ISBN 0-7718-9525-9 .
- Nancy Turner / Barbara Efrat: Ethnobotany of the Hesquiat Indians of Vancouver Island , British Columbia Provincial Museum, Cultural Recovery Paper No. 2, Victoria 1982.
- Barry M. Gough: Father Brabant and the Hesquiat Tribe of Vancouver Island , in: CCHA, Studies Session 50 (1983) 553-568, online ( PDF ).
- Marin Ripsam: Mapping Hesquiaht Harbor Fish Weir Stakes with Use of GIS: The Role of the University Researcher in Community Based Projects , Paper prepared in partial fulfillment of course requirements for ES 481A: Community-Based Research in Clayoquot Sound (Summer session 2005), School of Environmental Studies. University of Victoria, Victoria 2005 (as PDF (1.6 MB) online ; PDF; 1.6 MB)
- Wayne Suttles (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Volume 7: Northwest Coast. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 1990. ISBN 0-87474-187-4 .
Web links
- Hesquiaht ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .
- Culturally Significant Areas - Hesquiaht First Nation (PDF, 384 kB)
Remarks
- ↑ Hesquiaht ( Memento of the original from June 29, 2009 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. , Indian and Northern Affairs Canada .
- ↑ A hundred years later, Father Auguste-Joseph Brabant reports that a chief family still kept a song as their property, which celebrated this meeting with euphoria.
- ↑ James R. Gibson: Otter Skins, Boston Ships, and China Goods: The Maritime Fur Trade of the Northwest Coast, 1785-1841 , McGill-Queen's University Press: Montreal 1992.
- ^ Colonist , July 11, 1875, quoted from Leona Taylor and Dorothy Mindenhall: Index of Historical Victoria Newspapers , Victoria's Victoria, 2007.
- ↑ Hesquiaht ( Memento of the original from June 29, 2009 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. , Indian and Northern Affairs Canada .
- ↑ Then the lighthouses on the west coast were switched off. The incident was used as an argument by Prime Minister Mackenzie King in connection with the Conscription Crisis , compulsory military service.
- ↑ For details: Yaakhsis Creek Restoration , Hesquiaht First Nation & Northwest Ecosystem Institute
- ^ Homepage of the Boat Basin Foundation .
- ↑ Remote First Nation begins alternative energy planning , Ecotrust Canada ( Memento of the original from March 30, 2009 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.
- ↑ His letter to the Vancouver Sun can be found here: Hesquiaht Chief Defends Right to Hunt Whales ( Memento of the original of September 28, 2007 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. .
- ^ Anita Bedell: Opening the Door to Education and Opportunity , Indian and Northern Affairs Canada , April 2, 2009
- ↑ Ahousaht Indian Band And Nation v. Canada Attorney General, 2009 BCSC 1494 , Indigenous Peoples. Issues and Resources, November 13, 2009 .
