Homalco
The Homalco , Xwemalhkwu or Xoχmaɬku ( people along the turbulent or fast flowing water, i.e. the Homathko River ), today officially called the Homalco First Nation , also known as the Homalco Indian Band , linguistically and culturally belong to the Comox (K'omoks) tribal group the Salish language family , which today comprises a total of four separate First Nations within the Canadian province of British Columbia ; culturally and linguistically, the Comox with the closely related Sechelt and Pentlatch belong to the Northern Georgia Strait Coast Salish, the Northern Coast Salish along the Pacific coast in the northwest and thus belong to the cultural area of the Pacific northwest coast .
Comox / K'omoks tribal group
The tribal group was once divided into two major regional dialect groups that inhabited the northern coastal areas and islands of the Strait of Georgia , a waterway and strait that separates mainland Canada from Vancouver Island :
- the Island Comox (Island Comox) comprised the once largest and most powerful group, the Comox (K'omoks) , whose territory spanned the east of Vancouver Island from the Salmon River at Sayward in Kelsey Bay on Johnstone Strait in the north to the Englishman River in the The south comprised (including the areas of the Comox Valley with the cities of Courtenay and Comox ) as well as several islands between Vancouver Island and the mainland - including Maurelle Island, Read Island and Quadra Island (the latter the largest of the Discovery Islands with Tsa-Kwa-Luten as important meeting place), Denman Island and Hornby Island and the northwest of Texada Island (the latter the largest of the Northern Gulf Islands ), Sandy Island (also Tree Island) and Seal Islands (Seal Islets also Shack Island) as well as eastwards on Malaspina Peninsula and in Toba Inlet and some coastal areas on the mainland. Together with the Pentlatch (Puntletch / Puntledge) (which once ran along the east coast of Vancouver Island from Kye Bay along the Puntledge River, Tsolum River and Courtenay River in the north to south in the area of today's Parksville north of the Englishman River as well as on Denman Island and Hornby Iceland) they called themselves Sathloot . The Comox (K'omoks) themselves spoke Island Comox (Island Comox) or the Comox (Salhulhtxw / Saɬuɬtxʷ) dialect of Comox-Sliammon (Salhulhtxw-Ay-Ay-Ju-Thum), today this dialect is extinct - just like the Pentlatch or Puntletch / Puntledge (Pənƛ̕áč) called language (or dialect?) of the Pentlatch of the same name.
and those across from mainland British Columbia
- the Mainland Comox (Mainland Comox) once formed a single group called the Tla A'min ; Only the advance of the Europeans, weakened by several epidemics and raids by indigenous slave hunters and robbers (Laich-kwil-tach (Lekwiltok) and Haida from the north), shattered the uniform settlement area and the establishment of the reserves made this manifest:
- the Klahoose (ƛohos) lived at the northern end of the Strait of Georgia in Desolation Sound (from west to east: on Cortes Island , West Redonda Island and East Redonda Island , all paying to the Discovery Islands) to Toba Inlet, including the Pryce Channel and Homfray channel; however, since the conquests of the Laich-kwil-tach advancing southwards, Cortes Island has been claimed as a tribal territory to the Canadian government by the victorious Kwiakah First Nation (Kwiakah Band) , one of the four main groups of the Laich-kwil-tach. Today's Klahoose First Nation .
- the Sliammon (ɬəʔamɛn or Tla A'min) lived in the area around Stillwater and in the northern part of Texada Island, northward along the Malaspina Peninsula and Gifford Peninsula to the southern end of the Homfray Channel and parts of Cortes Island, including smaller islands such as Hernando, Savary and Harwood Island as well as on the mainland in the area of today's Powell River on the river of the same name and on Powell Lake, Goat Lake and Haslam Lake. Today's Tla A'min First Nation , formerly called Sliammon First Nation or Sliammon Indian Band .
- the Homalco (Xwemalhkwu) lived along the Southgate River and Homathko River as well as on Orford Bay in the Bute Inlet area and on the northern Sunshine Coast - they also inhabited the islands of Sonora Island and Stuart Island off the mainland (both counting among the Discovery Islands ). Presumably, in addition to the Homalco (Xwemalhkwu), the warlike Tsilhqot'in, who counted the Northern Athabascans, had also inhabited this area for centuries , as the latter appeared again and again to fish for salmon at Bute Inlet. Today's Homalco First Nation or Homalco (Xwemalhkwu) Indian Band .
In 1862 the Sathloot were subjugated by the powerful Laich-kwil-tach (Lekwiltok) of the Kwakwaka'wakw , who lived in the north, occupied their land and integrated them into their tribal alliance; the Pentlatch - already heavily decimated by attacks by the Haida - had already joined the more powerful Comox (K'omoks) (these came south as refugees and now took over the tribal areas of the Pentlach). Out of necessity, the Sathloot (Pentlatch and Comox (K'omoks)) accompanied the invaders on their raids to the south against other peoples of the coastal Salish (including against the Mainland Comox). Soon they gave up their dialects and adopted the culture as well as the Liq'wala dialect of the Kwak'wala of their masters (so that in some publications about the Kwakwaka'wakw they are grouped as Salish and in those about coastal Salish as Kwakwaka'wakw ). Today K'ómoks First Nation (Comox Indian Band) and Qualicum First Nation , many tribal members of the We Wai Kai Nation (Cape Mudge Indian Band) , the We Wai Kum (Campbell River Indian Band) and the Walitsima / Walitsum band of Salmon River of Laich-kwil-tach have Sathloot ancestors (the Walitsima / Walitsum band from Salmon River is sometimes claimed to be ethnic Comox / K'omoks who only adopted the culture and language of the Kwakwaka'wakw).
Due to the historical background described above, the descendants of the Sathloot (Pentlatch and Comox (K'omoks)) are organized as K'ómoks First Nation (Comox Indian Band) together with the Kwakwaka'wakw-First Nations in the Kwakiutl District Council , whereas all of them three First Nations of the Tla A'min (Klahoose First Nation, Tla A'min First Nation and Homalco First Nation) are represented in the Naut'sa mawt Tribal Council (which comprises several Salish-speaking FNs).
Since 2009 the official name of the Juan de Fuca Strait , the Strait of Georgia and the Puget Sound (which form an arm of the Pacific and separate Vancouver Island from the mainland) has been due to the coastal waters that dominated these waters before the appearance of Europeans. Salish in the USA as well as Salish Sea in Canada .
history
Gold rush, road construction and Chilcotin War
From 1861 onwards, numerous men drove north on the way to the Cariboo gold fields . Alfred Waddington therefore had a road built from Bute Inlet through Waddington Canyon in 1862, on which the men who had come from Vancouver by steamboat could move on to the gold fields. The Homalco, and especially the Tsilhqot'in ( Chilcotin ), resisted road construction, and in 1863 several of his men were killed at the Murderer's Bar. Further clashes resulted in the so-called Chilcotin War . Precipitation and strong temperature fluctuations ensured that the road slipped and is only partially visible today.
The trigger for the open hostility was probably the fact that the whites threatened the Indians with smallpox, whereupon the warriors led by Klatsassin ( Chinook : “We don't know his name”) from the Xeni Gwet'in from the Nemaia Valley near Chilko Lake , rebelled and killed Waddington's men. Only three men escaped, 14 died. In addition, some died at Anahim Lake, plus a settler at Puntzi Lake, a total of 19 men.
Troops from Victoria and volunteers, a total of over 100 men, waged the Chilcotin War of 1864. Telloot, Klatsassin, Tah-pitt, Piele and Chessus were captured on August 11, 1864 along with six other warriors. Klatsassin surrendered on the condition of an amnesty because he had waged a war. But he was betrayed and executed as a murderer in Quesnellemouthe, today's Quesnel , on October 26th, as was his son Pierre. Five men were executed and the remaining six sentenced to life in prison. It remains to be seen whether this war, which represented the most massive Indian resistance to direct colonization in British Columbia, or the extremely problematic route prevented the construction of roads through the region to the Chilcotin Plateau.
Todays situation
The Homalco have 12 reserves with a total of around 745 hectares, of which Homalco 1 and Orford Bay 4 are the largest (282.7 and 271.7 hectares, respectively). This is followed by Aupe 6a with 66.3 hectares and Homalco 9 with the administrative headquarters Campbell River on the river of the same name on the east coast of Vancouver Island, which is also the most populous, with 66.8 hectares. The other eight reserves together cover just under 60 hectares. Most of them are around Bute Inlet, the Homathko, Bear and Orford Rivers, and Sonora Island.
The Homalco First Nation counts today (as of December 2015) 471 tribal members, 230 of whom live in its own reservation, 11 in other reservations and the remaining 230 tribal members outside. Darren Blaney was chief from 2005 to 2008, and Richard Harry since then. Mary Ann Enevoldsen has currently held the position of chief since October 26, 2014.
The rivers in the Homalco area are still extremely rich in salmon. The Homalco have been operating a salmon farm since 1991 , the Taggares-Homalco Hatchery . A grizzly bear population of around 35 animals on the lower Orford River alone also benefits from the abundance of salmon . Grizzly tours are an important source of income, because even in British Columbia such dense grizzly populations are very rare.
In the Homalco Indian Band vs. British Columbia ( Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries ) (BCJ No. 401), the presiding judge ruled that the province and Marine Harvest Canada had failed to meet their consultation obligations. The provincial government had allowed the company to raise Pacific salmon in the vicinity of the Homalco salmon farm without consultation. The judge prohibited further imports, but the fish that had already been imported were allowed to remain.
The Tatlayoko Lake, the Homathko River and the adjacent Niut Mountains were to be merged to form the Niut Wilderness Park at the end of the 1980s , but so far only a part has been placed under protection.
In 2006, the Homalco concluded a land use plan with Canada. A 17,575 hectare reserve, the Homathko River-Tatlayoko Protected Area, serves to conserve the Homathko River Valley and the west bank of Tatlayoko Lake .
Remarks
- ↑ According to the information from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development , First Nation Profiles: Homalco ( Memento of the original of September 8, 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. .
- ↑ According to the information from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, First Nation Profiles: Homalco ( Memento of the original of September 8, 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.
- ↑ These tours are offered by Homalco Wildlife Tours Ltd. by.
literature
- Tina Loo: The Road From Bute Inlet: Crime and Colonial Identity in British Columbia. Essays in the History of Canadian Law . Jim Phillips, Tina Loo, and Susan Lethwaite (eds.), Toronto: Osgoode Society 1994, 112-142
- Wayne Suttles (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Volume 7: Northwest Coast. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 1990. ISBN 0-87474-187-4
See also
- History of the Coastal Salish
- History of British Columbia
- First Nations history
- List of Indian tribes recognized in Canada