Snuneymuxw
The Snuneymuxw (also spelled Snunéymuxw) or Nanaimo are one of the Canadian First Nations in the province of British Columbia . They belong to the coastal Salish group and live in the southeast of Vancouver Island around Nanaimo . Of the 1,598 recognized tribesmen (March 2010), almost two thirds lived outside the four reservations around Nanaimo Harbor and on the Nanaimo River.
They speak a dialect of the coastal Salish , the Hul'qumi'num. Its traditional territory covers around 980 km², plus around 1,040 km² that overlap with the territories of other First Nations . The area extends from a point north of Neck Point in the north to Boat Harbor in the south. There are also Gabriola Island and a few smaller islands and areas on the Nanaimo River. The anglicised form of the tribal name gave the city of Nanaimo its name.
history
The Snunéymuxw lived in five villages around 1840. An investigation in 1987 identified ten shell middens, various cave burial sites and petroglyphs . At least seven other archaeological sites were found on Mudge Island . An archaeological dig was carried out in Departure Bay in 1992, and the oldest finds are around 2000 years old. They are related to the Marpole culture. The most important site was the False Narrows Site, discovered in 1962. In 1966 402 artefacts and 18 graves were found there, and another excavation was carried out in 1967. Together they resulted in the remains of 86 individuals and 2,194 artifacts. David Burley re-examined the finds in 1989 and was able to date the oldest to the 1st century BC ( False Narrows I , middle Marpole phase). The finds show a high degree of cultural continuity, and they also point to pronounced social differentiation. Since August 2007, 15 more graves have been discovered in Departure Bay.
Reservations, proselytizing, smallpox
The first trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company was established in what is now Nanaimo in the early 19th century. In 1849 Chief Ki-et-sa-kun reported to the company about coal deposits. In 1853 the HBC built a fort, the Nanaimo Bastion .
In 1850 and 1854, Governor James Douglas negotiated 14 contracts with the Indian tribes on Vancouver Island, the so-called Douglas Treaties . Nine of them were negotiated with tribes around Victoria , Metchosin and T'sou-ke in 1850 , two for the Ft. Rupert region, two the following year for the Saanich Peninsula . The last contract was with the Nanaimo. They contain provisions for about 3% of the area of the island. The Nanaimo had to exchange their land for 668 blankets. But in 1853 Douglas found that there was resistance to the land cession. The smallpox epidemic of 1862 , brought in from San Francisco , resulted in dramatic death rates, as in most western Canada.
At the beginning of the 1860s the Methodist Church proselytized here . It was so successful that 30 years later the prevailing opinion was that everyone among the Indians who was Methodist was also a member of the Snunéymuxw. In 1892 178 of them were still alive.
At the end of the 19th century, the number of Indians had decreased drastically. Most continued to live in their villages, with two to three families sharing a house. At least one man worked as a porter in one of the hotels in 1891.
Robert Dunsmuir , who owned the largest coal mines, also operated several coal mines in the former tribal area.
Indian policy until the middle of the 20th century
When the McKenna-McBride Commission visited the reservations from 1913, they suggested that the reservation of the “Nanaimo Tribe”, “No.1-Nanaimo City, 47.00 acres; No.2-Nanaimo River, 128.00 acres; No.3-Nanaimo River, 260.00 acres; No.4-Nanaimo River, 200.00 acres; No.5-Fishing Station, 2.5 acres; No.6-Burial Ground ”(this was a small island with a cemetery, the area of which was unknown to the Commission) was to remain. The Commission's proposals did not become legally binding until 1923.
As in all of Canada, the Snunéymuxw were also made compulsory, and they had to complete so-called residential schools , in which the compulsory language was English. So they tried to force integration into the 1970s.
Protection of culture, economic participation
After all, it was achieved in 1948 that the outstanding works of art of the Snunéymuxw and other tribes in the Petroglyph Provincial Park are protected. There you will find mainly sandstone works that were made by numerous tribes.
The Snuneymuxw First Nation is a member of the Naut'sa Mawt Tribal Council , which together includes the tribes of the Burrard , Chemainus First Nation, the Halalt , Homalco , the Klahoose First Nation, the Sliammon of the Nanoose , the Malahat and the T'sou- ke represents to the government. In 1993, the Snunéymuxw entered the contract process with the Canadian government and the provincial government. In 2003, an agreement-in-principle , a kind of agreement in principle , was concluded with the government . Thereafter, the Indians should receive 74.4 million CAD in cash, as well as land and a building in Nanaimo. The area would grow from 300 to 5,000 hectares. In addition, the band would no longer be subject to the Indian Act . In addition, there are exclusive rights to commercial fishing, logging and coal mining. On the other hand, the usual tax exemption would not apply.
In 2006, 43 tribes in British Columbia signed a contract with each other that stipulates six points as a prerequisite for further contract negotiations. These points must therefore be positively clarified before each new contract is signed: Reliability, the constitutional status of the contracting country, self-government, co-management of land and resources, taxes and duties as well as fishing rights.
In September 2007 the provincial government and the city of Nanaimo signed a contract with the Snunéymuxw for the joint management of the Newcastle Island Marine Provincial Park , which has been under protection for almost 50 years.
In March 2010, 1,598 people were registered as members of the tribe, of whom 567 lived on the reservation, 113 on other reservations and 917 outside.
literature
- Loraine Littlefield: The Snunéymuxw village at False Narrows , SHALE 1 (November 2000) 3-11.
- 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
Web links
- Site of the Snuneymuxw First Nation
- Snuneymuxw First Nation
- Map of the hunting area protected by the Douglas Treaty
- Texts of the Douglas Treaties ( Memento from June 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Snuneymuxw First Nation and the Environment
- Petroglyph Provincial Park
- Kelly White, Snuneymuxw Coast Salish.
Remarks
- ↑ David Burley: Senewélets: Culture History of the Nanaimo Coast Salish and the False Narrows Midden , in Royal British Columbia Museum Memoir 2 (1989).
- ↑ I am following the presentation on: [1] .
- ↑ This and the following according to: [2] .
- ↑ The published text: Minutes of Decision - Esquimalt Tribe, Nanaimo Trive and Nanose Tribe ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ More details on the tribes involved: [3] .
- ↑ The message can be found in a message from the City of Nanaimo: [4] ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the 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: Snuneymuxw First Nation ( Memento of the original from February 28, 2016 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.
