Malahat

Traditional Malahat Territory and Main Reserve (orange)

The Malahat are one of the First Nations living on Vancouver Island on the Pacific coast of Canada . They belong to the Saanich living around Victoria , more precisely, together with the Pauquachin to the southern Saanich.

Thus they belong to the group of the North Straits Salish or Lekwungaynung speaking tribal group, to which the Saanich , the Songhees and the T'sou-ke First Nation belong. These in turn belong to the coastal Salish . The Malahat are members of the Te'Mexw Treaty Association , which conducts multi- tribal treaty negotiations with the governments of Canada and British Columbia . This also includes the members of the Beecher Bay , Nanoose , Songhees and T'sou-ke.

The houses of the 262 government-approved Malahat (August 2009) stand between Gordon Head and Cowichan Head. They are one of the five groups of houses or "families" of the Saanich, which, in addition to the two mentioned, include the Tsawout (on Saanichton Bay), the Tseycum (on Patricia Bay) and the Tsarlip (on Brentwood Bay).

Malahat means "the place where you can find bait", but this version is already the anglicized one.

history

→ Main article : History of the coastal salish

The Malahat live on the west side of Saanich Inlet. The 356 m high Malahat Mountain is named after them. At the summit is YOS, one of the most important sacred sites in the south of Vancouver Island. This is the home of the Thunderbird, so there is a totem pole with the Thunderbird and a bear on the summit .

Contract with the Hudson's Bay Company

In 1852, Governor James Douglas signed two of the 14 tribal treaties with the Saanich. One he concluded with the southern Saanich, i.e. with Pauquachin and Malahat, on February 6, 1852 - signed by Whut-say mullet and nine other people - the other on February 11 with the northern Saanich. Against several hundred blankets, this contract was the basis to take their land from them, similar to the neighboring Songhees in 1850 .

In 1911, large-scale explosions created the conditions for an asphalt road on Malahat Mountain, which is now used by over 20,000 vehicles per day. A cement factory existed between 1913 and 1980, and other companies changed the landscape so much that the Malahat see the foundations of the ritual and spiritual life of their community endangered, but also their economic methods. So there were always conflicts.

In 1913, Aleck Peter, as chief of the Malahat, insisted against the Department of Indian Affairs that he wanted to keep the country forever.

Reserves and recognized tribesmen

The Malahat First Nation lives on two reservations on the west bank of Saanich Inlet south of Mill Bay and in the Goldstream and Highland District at the southern end of the Finlayson Arm and at the mouth of the Goldstream River. In August 2009, they included exactly 262 people. 106 tribesmen lived in the Malahat reservation, 45 in other reservations, and a further 111 lived outside the reservations.

Current situation

In 1995 it was officially determined that the decades of conversion of the region around the Saanich Inlet had led to massive destruction. In 1997, a study into cultural development found something similar. These investigations were related to the Bamberton Town Development Project , right next to the Malahat area, a project with far-reaching ecological and thus also cultural effects.

Under the leadership of the Environmental Assessment Office , a project was developed that should take into account the demands of the six affected tribes, i.e. the Malahat, Tsartlip , Pauquachin , Tseycum and Tsawout bands, and the Cowichan Tribes. The report outlined the traditional and current uses of the land concerned. The experience gained from this led to the protection of various areas in the newly created city and in 1998 resulted in the participation of the Indians in the development of marine protected areas, such as B. Race Rocks .

Name reception

In 1967 the Canadian literary magazine , which still exists today, was named after them: The Malahat Review .

See also

• First Nations history
• History of the Coastal Salish
• History of the Saanich
• History of British Columbia
• List of Indian tribes recognized in Canada

Web links

• firstnations.de, contribution to YOS, the culturally significant summit of Malahat Mountain
• Saanich Classified Word List
• Saanich Archives (City Archives)
• Victoria to Courtenay (the Malahat) Railway

Remarks

1. ↑ According to the information from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development , First Nation Profiles: Malahat First Nation ( memento of the original from May 23, 2016 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.