Mamalilikulla
The Mamalilikulla-Qwe'Qwa'Sot'Em or Mamalelequala are one of the First Nations on Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia . They belong to the group of Kwakwaka'wakw who speak Kwakwala. Their dialect is the Likwala. The name probably means "seen while swimming".
In September 2014 there were exactly 413 recognized Mamalelequala, but of them only four men and four women lived in the reservation, 54 lived in other reservations, and 351 in no reservation. Most live in Alert Bay , Campbell River, and Vancouver . The main reserve is on Compton Island , an island between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia.
In all negotiations, the tribe, along with nine other tribes, is represented by the Kwakiutl District Council . In addition to the Mamalilikulla, the contract group includes the First Nations of the Campbell River , Cape Mudge , Comox , Da'naxda'xw , Gwa'Sala-Nakwaxda'xw , Kwakiutl , Kwiakah , Quatsino and the Tlatlasikwala .
history
Creation legend
George Dawson told the legend of the creation of the tribe in 1885: “The Creator went from place to place to change the world and make it as we know it today. He was standing in a place called the Snake Container when he saw a man. The Creator watched this man and saw that he felt around him as if he were looking for something. He was blind. So the Creator spoke to him and asked him what he was doing there. The man replied that he was starving and was looking for something to eat.
The Creator replied, 'Dive into the deep water and stay down while you can.' And when the man obeyed his instruction, the Creator sang out loud, 'Mali, Mali, Mali.' When the man came back to the surface, the Creator stopped shouting and asked him if he could see. 'No,' said the man sadly. 'Well, dive again and stay underwater as long as you really can!' said the creator. And when the man dived very deep (dove!), The Creator sang again: 'Mali, Mali, Mali.' But the blind man did not stay under the water very long. And when he came to the surface, he told the Creator that he still couldn't see. But in fact he could see. The Creator's healing had worked, but the Creator did not know.
'Let us try again,' said the Creator. So the man dived a third time while the Creator sang, 'Mali, Mali, Mali.' And the man dived so deep and so long that he could even see the monsters in the deepest depths. When he came to the surface of the water, the Creator asked him if he could see our world. The man replied that he thought he could only see a very small light, although he could see very, very well. So he had to dive one more time, and the Creator shouted 'Mali' loudly while the man was underwater. And as soon as the man appeared, the Creator called out to him, 'Your name shall be Malilikala.'
So Malilikala built a house in a place called Two Heads (or two headed). He was the first of the Mamalilikala. "
Traditional residential area
The Mamaleleqala-Qwe`Qua`Sot`Enox Indian Band owned their traditional village on Village Island, which they called Mamalillikulla. This island is around 25 km from Alert Bay , at the entrance to Knight Inlet .
Establishment of the reserves
Commissioner Peter O'Reilly transferred the Mamalilikulla in 1886 according to their information, a reservation that consisted of four individual reservations. Like all tribes, he granted them exclusive fishing and hunting rights on this land. These reservations were approved by the McKenna-McBride Commission in 1914 , but 150 acres of Compton Island were added. Five reservations were expressly confirmed on August 14, 1914:
- “No.1-Mahmalillikullah, 434.25 acres;
- No.2 Meetup, 15.75 acres;
- No.3-Ahta, 17.50 acres;
- No. Kakweken, 10.00 acres, and
- No.-Dead Point, 97.00 acres "
In 1934, however, the Deadpoint Indian Reserve with its 97 acres was transferred to a neighboring tribe without any compensation.
Katherine O'Brien and Kate Dibben ran a small mission station on the island in the 1930s. In 1935, Hughina Harold came from Victoria to Village Island as a nurse . Letters to her mother date from this period and were broadcast three decades later on a radio station that the anthropologist and ethnologist Harry Wolcott heard. He contacted her and the two wrote a book called A Kwakiutl Village and School .
In the early 1970s, however, the tribe gave up their reservation because there was no schooling or other facilities under the direction of Indian Affairs . Until then, the few residents had been supplied with water by the 'Namgis .
The tribe changed the name from Mamalillikulla to Mamalilikulla-Qwe'Qwa'Sot'Em in 1985 . During this time, the first studies of Culturally Modified Trees began on various islands, especially on Hanson Island. There were also orca studies along the Johnstone Strait, which is often visited by these marine mammals .
Current situation
In 1995 the tribe filed a lawsuit against the expropriation of their 1934 reservation. It was not until 2007 that the government agreed to pay compensation of $ 1,239,270. In addition, the legal costs should be reimbursed, which amounted to an additional $ 128,270. This money should be devoted to the acquisition of land which, if the conditions are met, will in turn be recognized as a reservation.
In 2003 the tribe signed the Hanson Island Management Agreement with the BC Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management together with the 'Namgis and the Tlowitsis First Nation . This was followed in 2004 by an agreement on an Economic Measure Agreement: Hanson Island Economic Infrastructure .
Marine Harvest , one of the largest salmon producers in western Canada (40 of the 80,000 t British Columbia salmon sold in 2006, 500 employees) signed aquaculture contracts with the tribein 2001 and 2006, respectively. Whether society is willing to do more than make commitments to research separate farms from wild salmon remains to be seen. In the meantime, it has also become clear to them that there is a connection between salmon farming open to the seaand the sharp decline in the salmon population, even if the cause analysis has not yet been completed.
In 2007 the Yukusam Heritage Society , to which the 'Namgis and the Tlowitsis belong in addition to the Mamalillikulla, agreed that the attitudes of tourists, who mainly enter their country as kayakers, should be researched and, if necessary, influenced by various means that they learn more about the culture and at the same time respect it. So far, 5,000 culturally modified trees have been discovered on Hanson Island alone .
The current chief is Robert Sewid.
Reservations
Today's reservations are Mamalilikulla 1 (175.2 hectares) on the west end of Village Island on Eliot Passage, Apsagayuh 1A (0.9 hectares) on Shoal Harbor on Gilford Island and Compton Island (56.3 hectares) between Harbledown and the Swanson Iceland.
See also
Remarks
- ↑ According to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada : First Nation Profiles, Mamalilikulla-Qwe'Qwa'Sot'Em .
- ↑ See Mamalilikala 'Mimkwamlis (Village Island), George M. Dawson, 1885, National Museum of Man, U'mista Cultural Society
- ↑ See Fed. Col., Vol. 11, Peter O'Reilly (Indian Reserve Commissioner), June 1885 - March 1889, File No. 29858, Vol. 5, File 20802, [Reg. No. B-64646], p. 266, O'Reilly Field Minutes, Village Island (Mamalelequala-Que'qua'sot'enox), October 26, 1886.
- ↑ See the tabular report of the commission v. 1914: Confirmations of Reserves 3 ( Memento of the original dated February 12, 2008 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. .
- ↑ See table New Reserves 1 ( Memento of the original dated February 12, 2008 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. .
- ↑ Cf. Mamalilikulla Qwe Qwa Sot Em First Nation - Deadpoint Indian Reserve Specific Claim ( Memento of the original from October 23, 2014 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. .
- ^ Vg. Pacific Salmon Forum .
- ↑ See page no longer available , search in web archives: Johnstone Strait Recreation Project .
- ↑ According to the indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada : First Natiion Profiles, Mamalilikulla-Qwe'Qwa'Sot'Em .
literature
- Hughina Harold and Harry Wolcott, A Kwakiutl Village and School, 1967
- Hughina Harold, Totem Poles and Tea, Heritage House 1996
- Douglas Cole: Captured Heritage. The Scramble for Northwest Coast Artifacts , Victoria 1995, ISBN 978-0-7748-0537-7 .
- Marie Mauze, Two Kwakwaka'wakw Museums: Heritage and Politics, in: Ethnohistory 50.3 (2003) 503-522