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History In-SHUCK-ch Nation - Xa’xtsa - Skatin - Samahquam |
History
We are the In-SHUCK-chOur land sustained us for generations. Our land was an important area in the colonial period. Following our trails and waterways, was the earliest route of travel to the Cariboo Gold Fields. Later we were visited by Roman Catholic missionaries. Indian Reserve Commissions in the late 1800s and early 1900s allotted the reserves where our communities are located today. Our way of life soon changed dramatically. The fur trade had a significant effect on our trade systems with our neighbours. Contact also brought diseases including smallpox, which decimated our villages. The gold rush introduced the first “highway” in British Columbia, the Harrison-Lillooet Wagon Road that brought miners from the south into the gold fields. Port Douglas was founded in the early gold rush period, and roadhouses were built along the road to cater to miners traveling northward to Lillooet. Our ancestors, unable to stop the influx of settlers, acted as guides and packers for them. In the early history of the province, settlers used “pre-emption” to take some of our best lands. Christianity soon impacted our traditional beliefs, rituals and ceremonies. Our ancestors were sent to residential school in Mission. Traditional ways and the speaking of Ucwalmícwts was forbidden. It’s a loss that we’re trying to overcome. In 1876, the Indian Act was imposed. Indian Reserves limited movement across the landscape. According to Canada and British Columbia, the land was no longer ours. The kúkwpi7 authority was replaced by the Indian agent. The federal crown decided who was “Indian” and who was not. After 1927, Indians were not allowed to seek legal counsel to redress their complaints. We were denied the BC vote until 1949. We were denied the federal vote until 1960. Salmon hatcheries were erected at Harrison Lake and on the Birkenhead River, disrupting natural salmon runs. Regulations limited fishing, hunting, and trapping. Our original economy, with hunting and fishing and gathering and trade provided our needs. This soon gave way to the wage economy. We worked in canneries on the lower Fraser River, and the hop fields in Agassiz and the berry farm's of Washington State. The logging industry was the primary source of wages. Change was unstoppable. Governments controlled our lands, our resources and our jurisdictions. What were we to do? To do nothing was not an option. We decided to bring change... Our leadership came together in 1983 and 1984 to discuss how to meet the challenges of a modern era, when we found ourselves wanting for homes and jobs and we were shut out of the economy. We had no place at the table, in the new economy, because we could not use Indian reserves, which are owned by the Queen, in the right of Canada, to raise capital. By 1985 we began assembling our people to talk about how to overcome our problems. It became clear that our problems stemmed from a disregard by Canada, of our sovereign right to our lands, and our jurisdictions. We resolved to engage Canada in these matters. In September of 1990, we sent a formal letter to the Prime Minister of Canada asking for a process to engage. Meanwhile, work had begun with the First Nations Congress (later the First Nations Summit) and the governments of Canada and British Columbia. When the three parties agreed to setting up the BC Treaty Commission, in September of 1992, we were represented by Mona Linger, Eppa (Gerard Peters), Pah-EE (Ron Gabriel), Xaytlem (Neil Phillips) and Sylvester Sam. When the BC Treaty Commission opened its doors in December of 1993, ours was the first statement of intent to negotiate a treaty that was received. In the modern era, this work began in the early to mid-1980s, and continues still. We trust that a century after our grandfathers put their names to the Declaration of the Lillooet Tribe, we can look forward to the next generation armed with the tools necessary to create our own place, on our own terms, within Canada. |
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