Stó: lō
The Stó: lō (sometimes also Stó: lô or Staulo ) are one of the First Nations on the Fraser River in British Columbia . They belong to 19 different groups, with a total of around 4,800 members (August 2009). They speak Halkomelem , a language that the coastal Salish speak. The name Sto: lo means "people from the (Fraser) river".
history
The Frasertal has been inhabited for a very long time. Sites such as the Milliken Site at Yale and the Glenrose Cannery at the mouth of the river indicate a hunter-gatherer population. Traditionally, the Sto: lo assume that they have always lived there. Permanent dwellings can be found from around 3,000 BC. Prove. The mounds , which have been stabilized with the help of wooden elements, are unusual .
Like most of the tribes on the northwest coast, there was also a dominant group among the Sto: lo, the Sí: yá: m , who were often equated with the nobility because they shared some characteristics with this class, as well as simple tribal members and slaves . The Síyá: m , however, was rather the most respected and powerful, often also the richest member of a family. You could also gain reputation through hunting success and thus become a Tewit , the best hunter. He was the leader of the hunting party during that season. Similar to the Nuu-chah-nulth , who at times had a kind of chief, the Tyee , this was also the case with the Sto: lo. Here, however, his name was Yewal Síyá: m .
Like the other coastal peoples, the Sto: lo participated in long-distance trade, but they did not build the necessary canoes themselves, but purchased them from other tribes.
British
Even before the arrival of the first Europeans, the Sto: lo reached the first pockshaft in 1782 . In addition, measles (1848), tuberculosis and flu (1849) were rampant . How much the population has declined can no longer be measured, but based on the experience of later epidemics, the losses of 1782 are likely to have been well over a third. The way in which the culture of the Sto: lo was affected can only be determined through comparative studies.
The first European in the region was probably Simon Fraser , who sailed the Fraser River named after him in 1808. He must have already encountered a strongly changed culture.
From 1827 the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) founded Fort Langley (1827), Fort Simpson (1831) and Fort Yale (1848) and other posts. Their success in procuring fur and in supplying them with food depended on the willingness of the surrounding tribes to cooperate. The salmon needed came from the Fraser and Chilliwack Rivers, as well as the Harrison Rivers and their tributaries. The forts provided a certain security for the Sto: lo, because they protected them from attacks by other tribes such as the Lekwiltok . In addition, the doctors at Fort Langley provided protection against the smallpox epidemic of 1830. In addition, Stó: lo worked for the HBC along its trails as trappers , packers, guides, rowers, mail couriers and cooks. The number of non-Indian traders initially remained small.
Gold rush, attacks, repression
For the Sto: lo groups, the situation up until 1858 was definitely advantageous. But with the gold discoveries of 1858, thousands of prospectors came to the Fraser and drove upstream to Yale , from where they moved on to the Cariboo gold fields three years later . Therefore, the Sto: lo living further upstream were particularly hard hit by the brutality and ruthlessness of the newcomers. For example, Captain Charles Rouse destroyed five storage depots of berries and salmon at Spuzzum . His men killed up to 37 Indians. The approximately thirty tribes in this region largely lost their land and were gradually deprived of their rights, even for self-sufficiency, from their natural environment (see Tait ). The name for the whites changed to Xwelitem , the hungry . The first step towards this disenfranchisement and change of their culture was to bind them to certain places and to forbid winter camps, storehouses and the like. In addition, the relationship, which is based strongly on kinship, was cut through the compulsory assignment to a “tribe”.
The Trutch system
When Joseph Trutch was primarily responsible for Indian affairs in 1864, he had the Indian land in his area of responsibility reduced by over 90%. Trutch claimed the Indians were not entitled to land while the federal government recognized that right. In 1876 a commission recognized 82 predominantly tiny reservations ( Indian reserves ), especially among the coastal Salish.
In 1884 one of the numerous incidents occurred at the border, which repeatedly increased tensions between whites and Sto: lo, as well as between Canada and the USA. On February 24, 1884, an angry mob from Washington crossed the Canadian border and lynched the 14-year-old Louie Sam, a Sto: lo. He was suspected of murdering James Bell, a shopkeeper in Nooksack County . The Sto: lo had handed the boy over to the police in good faith. The British Columbia deputy couldn't stop the mob from hanging him from a tree right on the border. A Canadian investigation team found that he was innocent and that two of the lynchers murdered James Bell.
Current situation
The 1977 Stó: lō Declaration was signed by 24 First Nations . 21 of them later entered the so-called BC Treaty Process , the six-stage treaty process between British Columbia and the Province's First Nations, from which four again withdrew.
In August 1995, the Sto: lo also entered this process. The Indian Claims Commission released an initial report on the clashes in the Sumas First Nation case on February 22nd. They were given an area of 41.9 acres from Sumas Reserve No. 6 withdrawn to gain land for railway construction. When this short-lived railroad was abandoned in 1927, the Sumas were only allowed to buy back a third of the land they had seized, while the white settlers were allowed to buy their land for a symbolic price of one dollar. A plastics processor , Flex Lox Industries , also settled in the country . It caused a corresponding freight traffic and environmental risks, which at that time the 225 members of the tribe had to endure, because 70% of them live immediately adjacent.
After negotiations took place from 1982 to 1988, the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development rejected the Sumas' claim for restitution. The tribe commissioned the Indian Claims Commission to investigate in September 1993. She strongly recommended that Canada clarify the case and return the area or provide compensation. Negotiations are still ongoing.
In 2005, however, there was a rift within the Sto: lo group over the contract negotiations and two different tribal councils were formed. The Stó: lō nation joined eleven groups who wanted to continue the negotiations. These are the Aitchelitz, Leq'a: mel, Matsqui, Popkum, Shxwhá: y Village, Skawahlook, Skowkale, Squiala, Sumas, Tzeachten and Yakweakwioose.
Chawathil , Cheam , Kwantlen First Nation, Kwaw-kwaw-Apilt , Scowlitz , Seabird Island , Shxw'ow'hamel First Nation and Soowahlie joined the Stó: lō Tribal Council , which does not want to conduct any further negotiations within the framework of the BC Treaty Process on.
Reservations
The sub-tribes, the number of reserves with their total area and the number of members can be found in the following table (August 2009):
| tribe | Reservations | Area in ha | registered relatives | of which in the reserve |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aitchelitz | 4th | 565 | 40 | 25th |
| Chawathil | 5 | 621.5 | 530 | 286 |
| Cheam | 3 | 473.2 | 476 | 203 |
| Kwantlen First Nation | 7th | 566 | 204 | 65 |
| Kwaw-kwaw-Apilt | 4th | 607 | 41 | 28 |
| Leq'a: mel First Nation | 11 | 490 | 346 | 115 |
| Matsqui | 5 | 430 | 236 | 84 |
| Popkum | 3 | 160 | 8th | 1 |
| Scowlitz | 4th | 337 | 223 | |
| Seabird Island | 2 | 2151 | 839 | 510 |
| Shxw'ow'hamel First Nation | 4th | 400 | 174 | 68 |
| Shxwhá: y Village | 5 | 799 | 337 | 74 |
| Skawahlook | 3 | 87 | 77 | 6th |
| Skowkale | 4th | 143 | 229 | 150 |
| Soowahlia | 3 | 633 | 357 | 161 |
| Squiala First Nation | 5 | 652 | 146 | 92 |
| Suma's First Nation | 2 | 245 | 242 | |
| Notice | 3 | 358 | 405 | 230 |
| Yakweakwioose | 3 | 96 | 63 | 31 |
Return of the oldest ancestral stone
At the beginning of 2007, after more than a hundred years, one of the objects that were important for Sto: lo returned to the area where it was created. It was a stone monument that symbolized the powers of the creator ancestor T'xwelatse. In 1892 it had been brought to Seattle , where it had ended up in the Burke Museum , the university's anthropological museum. Around 100 years later, a Sto: lo called Herb Joe, who also bore the name of the ancestor, asked the elderly about its origins and significance. They gave him the order to get the ancestral stone back from Seattle.
Negotiations with the museum and the authorities dragged on for 14 years, and were made more difficult by the fact that returns from American museums can only be made to tribes within the USA . So Herb Joe switched on the coastal Salish from the Nooksack tribe who lived there. The archaeologist Dave Schaepe has now provided evidence that the stone in the Burke Museum was the ancestral stone we were looking for. On arrival at the Nooksack Community Center , the stone was received by 400 people. After a week, the stone crossed the border into Canada and was received by over 500 people near its original location in Chilliwack . In addition, the rarely seen masks ( sxwo: yxwey ) were worn.
literature
- Crisca Beer Value: Tracery in the Mistlines. A Semiotic Account of Sto: lo Culture. Seattle WA 1986 (Seattle WA, University of Washington, Ph.D. thesis, 1986).
- Keith Thor Carlson (Ed.): You are asked to Witness. The Sto: lo in Canada's Pacific Coast History. Stó: lō Heritage Trust, Chilliwack BC 1997, ISBN 0-9681577-0-X .
- Keith Thor Carlson: A Stó: lō-Coast Salish Historical Atlas. Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver et al. 2001, ISBN 1-55054-812-3 .
- Darren Friesen: Canada's Other Newcomers: Aboriginal Interactions with People from the Pacific. Saskatoon 2006 (Saskatoon, University of Saskatchewan, Master's Thesis, 2006), online (PDF; 2.11 MB) .
- Eleanor B. Leacock: The Seabird Community. In: Marian W. Smith (Ed.): Indians of the Urban Northwest (= Columbia University Contributions to Anthropology. Vol. 36, ZDB -ID 435575-1 ). Columbia University Press, New York NY 1949, pp. 185-194 (Reprinted. AMS Press New York NY 1949).
- Oliver N. Wells: The Chilliwacks and Their Neighbors. Edited by Ralph Maud, Brent Galloway and Marie Wheeden. Talonbooks, Vancouver 1987, ISBN 0-88922-255-X .
Remarks
- ^ According to HistoryLink: An American mob crosses the Canadian border and lynches 14-year-old Louie Sam, a member of the Sto: lo tribe, on February 24, 1884 .
- ↑ According to the information from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development , First Nation Profiles (selection British Columbia): [1] .
- ↑ According to the information from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development , First Nation Profiles: Aitchelitz ( Memento of the original from May 3, 2012 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. .
- ↑ ibid .: Chawathil ( Memento of the original from April 12, 2011 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. .
- ↑ ibid .: Cheam ( Memento of the original from August 11, 2011 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. .
- ↑ ibid .: Kwantlen First Nation ( Memento of the original from June 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ ibid .: Kwaw-kwaw-Apilt ( Memento of the original dated August 11, 2011 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. .
- ↑ ibid .: Leq'a: mel First Nation ( Memento of the original from August 7, 2011 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. .
- ↑ ibid .: Matsqui ( Memento of the original from November 29, 2009 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. .
- ↑ ibid .: Popkum ( Memento of the original from June 23, 2009 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. .
- ↑ ibid .: Aboriginal Portal Canada, Scowlitz (2006) ( Memento of the original from August 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ Williams 2, 9.7 hectares; Squawkum Creek 3, 158 hectares; Scowlitz 1,69 ha; Pekw'xe: yles (Peckquaylis) 10.3 ha, which the small tribe shares with 20 other tribes.
- ↑ ibid .: Seabird Island .
- ↑ ibid .: Shxw'ow'hamel First Nation ( Memento of the original from August 11, 2011 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. .
- ↑ ibid .: Shxwhá: y Village ( Memento of the original from May 3, 2012 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. .
- ↑ ibid .: Skawahlook ( Memento of the original from March 2, 2012 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. .
- ↑ ibid .: Skowkale ( Memento of the original from March 31, 2012 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. .
- ↑ ibid .: Soowahlie ( Memento of the original from August 11, 2011 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. .
- ↑ ibid .: Squiala First Nation ( memento of the original from March 31, 2012 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. .
- ↑ ibid .: Aboriginal Portal Canada, Sumas First Nation (2006) ( Memento of the original from June 25, 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. .
- ↑ Especially Upper Sumas 6 with 234.6 ha.
- ↑ ibid .: Tzeachten ( Memento of the original from March 31, 2012 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. .
- ↑ ibid .: Yakweakwioose ( Memento of the original from March 16, 2012 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. .
- ↑ Based on the report by Sandra Shields: T'xwelatse Comes Home. In: Seattle Times , Jan. 28, 2007.
See also
- History of the Coastal Salish
- History of British Columbia
- First Nations history
- List of Indian tribes recognized in Canada
- Richard Malloway
