Semiahmoo
The Semiahmoo or Semiahmoo First Nation are one of the Canadian First Nations in the province of British Columbia . They live on the Pacific coast near White Rock on the border between the United States and Canada. They are more closely related to the Lummi and Samish in the USA and the Lekwammen and T'sou-ke than to the Stó: lō .
In August 2009, 49 of the 81 state-recognized tribesmen lived in the reservation. Overall, the number of reserve residents decreased from 200 to 131 between 1996 and 2001. A large proportion of them originally lived in United States territory, but most moved to Canada in the 1850s.
The name means "half moon".
history
Early history
The traditional tribal area included the east coast of Point Robert, Boundary Bay, South Surrey, the drainage areas of Dakota, California and Terrell Creek, Semiahmoo Bay, Drayton Harbor and Birch Bay. They were also occasionally called Birch Bay Indians after the latter location .
Tradition has it of a people who called themselves Hulwahluqs and who originally came from Vancouver Island. However, they and the neighboring Skalakans were assimilated by the Lummi who came from the San Juan Islands.
Europeans, smallpox and attacks from the north
Captain George Vancouver also landed on the shore of the Semiahmoo. But he only saw the ruins of a village at Point Roberts that seemed to him suitable for 400 to 500 residents. It is unclear whether the Spaniards who observed the coast at Point Robberts in 1791 had sighted Semiahmoo.
Permanent settlements were on the Semiahmoo and Birch Bay. The plank houses there served as winter quarters. In the spring, the tribesmen were divided into families within the traditional territory to live in places where mussels, roots or fish were used for food and supplies. Such summer camps were used at Cannery Point near Point Roberts to build additional network systems. Crescent Beach served more as a place to collect mussels, but also to catch salmon. However, the focus here was on the Nicomeki and Serpentine Rivers, as well as on the Little Campbell River in the former Snokomish area.
Even before 1850, these northern snokomish were almost wiped out by a smallpox epidemic. The few survivors joined the Semiahmoo, from which the traditional area at Boundary Bay was taken over. Crescent Beach later became one of their summer camps.
To defend against possible attacks by the Hudson's Bay Company in Fort Langley, they built defensive structures, such as B. on a hill in what is now Ocean Park . But they were at least as important in defending against the northern tribes who went on slave hunts. This was especially true of the southern Kwakwaka'wakw tribes, whom they called the Yukulta . The fur trade, which began at the end of the 18th century, gave them prestige and weapons. They had muskets by 1792 at the latest . Their forays took them all the way to Puget Sound and they even rowed a little up the Fraser River.
North of the confluence of the Dakota and California Creeks, in what is now Blaine, was one of these palisade-protected forts, which was probably built before 1830. It was on a cliff above Drayton Harbor and Semiahmoo Bay. A second fort with an area of around 2,000 m² was built on a rock overlooking Semiahmoo and Boundary Bay. The name Indian Fort Drive , which forms part of the west end of 20th Avenue in Surrey , is a reminder of this.
With the increasing British presence, the Indian Wars ended. By 1854 the number of Semiahmoo had fallen to around 250, Charles Wilkes had estimated their number at 300 by 1841. Compared to other First Nations , they had withstood smallpox and raids relatively well. They largely stayed away from the whites, and even the local George Gibbs knew little about them. The US-based Semiahmoo did not sign the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855, some lived on the Lummi Reservation for a while. The vast majority of them moved to Canada.
In 1857 the so-called British Royal Engineers set up a camp called Semiahmoo to monitor the border, and a path soon connected the area with Fort Langley. Shortly before the smallpox epidemic of 1862 , Catholic missionaries arrived at the Semiahmoo, and a little later men who were attracted by the gold rush came through the area.
In the abyss
In 1888, another smallpox epidemic killed numerous Indians after they had been relegated to their reservation the previous year.
At that time many lived as loggers or fishermen. But in 1892 Alaska Packers forced an end to their lucrative activities. In 1909 only 38 Semiahmoo lived in British Columbia and not a single one in the USA. By 1963 their number had fallen to 28, in 1971 four families even made up only 24 tribesmen. Since then, the little tribe has been recovering.
An important source of income has been and continues to be the lease the tribe received on land they had given to the Surrey community. However, this lease ended in 1998 and the tribe now leases to various organizations and to reserve residents.
reserve
The Semiahmoo own a reserve around one kilometer southeast of White Rock on the Canadian-American border in Semiahmoo Bay. It covers 129.1 hectares. In August 2009 there were exactly 49 tribesmen living in the reservation, 5 living in other reservations and 27 outside the reservations. A total of 81 people are registered as members of the Semiahmoo. In 2002, 46 were still registered in the reserve, 24 outside, a total of 70. There were also 56 non-tribesmen who lived on the reservation. The 65 buildings within the reserve were shared by 30 families.
Current situation
The Semiahmoo are opposed to the BC Treaty Process . So they are neither in contract negotiations with the province nor are they represented by a tribal council or tribal council.
The tribe maintains a campsite in the bay. Most of the reserve is leased. Chief is Willard Cook.
See also
- History of the Coastal Salish
- History of British Columbia
- First Nations history
- List of Indian tribes recognized in Canada
literature
- Robert H. Ruby / John A. Brown: A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest , University of Oklahoma Press 1992, pp. 187f.
- 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
- Entry in the Washington encyclopedia HistoryLink (English)
- Semiahmoo of the Strait Salish
- resulting homepage of the Semiahmoo First Nation
- First Nation detail
Remarks
- ↑ According to the information from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development , First Nation Profiles: Semiahmoo ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 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. .
