Ucluelet (people)

Traditional Ucluelet territory and today's main reserves

The Ucluelet are Canadian Indians and refer to themselves as the Ucluelet First Nation or Yu-cluth-aht . The latter means something like "safe haven" or "safe landing site". They live on Vancouver Island off the Pacific coast. They speak Wakash - although only ten men and ten women spoke this language in 2001 - and belong to the Nuu-chah-nulth . They are mainly represented vis-à-vis the Canadian government by the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council , but they have also come together to form the Maa-nulth group , which consists of five Nuu-chah-nulth tribes.

The Ucluelet are spread over nine reserves in the southern Clayoquot Sound , of which Ittatsoo 1 and Kleykleyhous 5 are the largest, each with more than 60 hectares. The reserves cover a total of around 200 hectares , although only one in three Yu-cluth-aht lives. In April 2010, 620 people were considered to be members of this First Nation , of whom 204 lived on their own reservation, mainly in Ittatsoo 1 . 15 others lived in other reservations, 401 outside the reservations.

The chief is Violet Mundy, who is advised by six councilors .

language

Like other Nuu-chah-nulth groups, the Yu-cluth-aht try to animate the language in its cultural context. This is all the more difficult as none of them have advanced degrees. In this way, the 20 remaining eloquent speakers are encouraged to teach the boys their language. A Resource Library Center was also set up to collect interviews with the elderly and fishermen. These are to be integrated into the language project, with a focus on health and healing, religion and philosophy, chants, speeches and stories. A story of the band will soon appear on the official homepage .

history

The oral tradition of the Yu-cluth-aht knows of several groups that lived in the vicinity of today's place Ucluelet . Like all Nuu-chah-nulth, these had a chief known as Haw'iih , at least one central location, and a claimed area ( hahuuti ). But these closely related groups joined together despite previous wars, so that today's Yu-cluth-aht emerged from a combination of formerly seven groups. Only the Toquaht continued to live in two settlements on Ucluelet Inlet , although they are very closely connected to the neighbors.

In 1860 the first white settler, Captain Stuart from Nanaimo , came to Ucluelet. A little later, the Sutton brothers came from Seattle . They bought large lots on Kennedy Lake and built the first sawmill.

In the 1920s, some Japanese families tried their luck as fishermen, but salmon yields declined and the provincial government limited catches. Around 1930, 60 Japanese and 18 white families were living in the village. The attack of Japan on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 prompted the government to intern all Japanese. Few of them returned after the war ended.

With the connection of the place to Port Alberni (1959) and the advance of the wood industry, the character of the region changed radically. Only a fraction of the old trees remained, the ecological consequences and thus the consequences for the Yu-cluth-aht were profound. In addition, they have so far only benefited to a small extent from tourism, which picked up with the establishment of the Pacific Rim National Park in 2001 at the latest .

In 2006 the five groups of the Maa-nulth First Nations closed , to which, in addition to the Yu-cluth-aht, the Toquaht , the Huu-ay-aht First Nations and the Ka: 'yu:' k't'h '/ Che: k 'tles7et'h' and the Uchucklesaht Tribe belong to an agreement on land rights, the Maa-nulth Final Agreement , with the Province of British Columbia and the State of Canada .

With this agreement, which affects around 250 km² of land, the parties involved have agreed on rights and obligations of use. For the Yu-cluth-aht, 199 hectares of the former reserve, 5,147 hectares of additional land and 92 hectares of land acquired by Canada and British Columbia are affected. The First Nations have legislative power over this country and determine exactly when provincial or federal law breaks that law. In addition, rural districts were established which the Maa nulth peoples are allowed to acquire and which are then subject to the same law. Overall, they receive all rights to the mineral resources and the forests. At the same time, they can prohibit hunting and fishing. The bands involved must have sent a director to the board of the two districts of Alberni-Clayoquot and Comox-Strathcona no later than 10 years after the contract comes into force . In addition, the government has pledged transfers of CAD 21.6 million , a total of around CAD 73 million, plus rights to use its resources of CAD 380,000 or CAD 1.2 million per year.

The five groups are allowed to collect taxes on their land, but must allow the settlers who do not belong to their groups to participate. In addition, the groups involved are allowed to take all measures to protect their cultural heritage. This also applies to cultural assets that are in the collections of the Royal British Columbia Museum , the Canadian Museum of Civilization and Parks Canada .

Finally, after a transition period, all provisions of the Indian Act will lose their validity. Now all parties involved are called upon to ratify the treaty. In June 2009 the federal government ratified the treaty.

literature

Wayne Suttles (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Volume 7: Northwest Coast. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 1990. ISBN 0-87474-187-4