Nuxalk carrier route
The Nuxalk Carrier Route , also known as the Alexander MacKenzie Heritage Trail or Blackwater Trail , is a trail in the Canadian province of British Columbia that was a frequently used trade route between Quesnel and Bella Coola . Of the numerous paths known as grease trails , it is one of the longest that linked the coast and the interior of the province, separated by steep mountain ranges.
The path was already used by the Nuxalk and the Dakelh in pre-colonial times, especially for the trade in the buttery fat of the candle fish ( Thaleichthys pacificus ), which was a sought-after commodity throughout Northwest America. A large number of obsidian points indicate that the path was in use for several millennia and also served as a transport route for other goods.
Like other fur traders, Alexander MacKenzie , who traveled to the Pacific from Montreal , used the trails when a canoe route was not available. On July 20, 1793, he reached the ocean. A stone in Sir Alexander Mackenzie Provincial Park marks the westernmost point of his journey, the first crossing of North America north of Mexico by whites. In 1987 the path was elevated to the status of a heritage trail by the Heritage Conservation Act , i.e. a historical path. This designation has met with criticism from anthropologists, as MacKenzie only walked part of the path - and only once - while it was an important trade route for centuries. On the other hand, this obscures the fact that the path can only be understood as part of a much wider network of trade paths.
The path begins on the West Road River , also Blackwater River, between Quesnel and Prince George , passes the Kluskus and Eliguk lakes , crosses the Tweedsmuir Provincial Park , then follows the Bella Coola River to a fjord-like bay, the North Bentinck Arm . The difficult path should have taken two to four weeks.
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Remarks
- ↑ 1998 Nancy J. Turner, Dawn C. Loewen: The Original "Free Trade": Exchange of Botanical Products and Associated Plant Knowledge in Northwestern North America , in: Anthropologica 1998, pp. 49-70, here: p. 67 , Note 7 with reference to Sage Birchwater: Ulkatcho: Stories of the Grease Trail . Spartan Printing, Quesnel 1993.