MMu s t a n g vva l l e y Wild horses have come to symbolize one First Nat i o n ’s battle over territory in ’sColumbia’s

STORY BY ANDREW FINDLAY WITH PHOTOGRAPHY BY PATRICE HALLEY he horse stirs and to s s e s its head anxiously, its muscular body chest- nu t - b r own save for a white stripe run n i n g do wn the length of its snout like a couloir of sn o w. Chief Roger William adjusts the sad- dle cinch in silence, slips a boot into the st i r r up and hoists himself into the saddle. A gust of dry air blows Tdo wn the val l e y , rattling the aspens and shimmering the pine grass in golden waves, while two ravens soar on a thermal, rid- ing up the crumbling sedimentary flanks of Mount Nem a i a h be f o r e resolving into black dots against the blue sky. If William is nervous about the mountain race about to be- gin, it doesn’t show or, at least, he is keeping his emotions wel l concealed behind mirror ed sunglasses. The 39-year-old chief of the Xeni Gwet ’in (ha-nay gwet - e e n ) has ridden his quarte r horse Morgan to victory in the legendary race five times. The only other competitors this year are Ter r y Lulua, a vet e r a n mountain racer, June Cahoose, a steely-nerved yo u n g woman from Anahim Lake, and George Anderson, a brash to b a c c o - c h e wing Carrier from Quesnel, B.C., whose constant chatter betrays his nerves. In the valley far below, country music croons while an ex- cited crowd of cowb o ys, tourists and locals waits for the start of the race, the marquee attraction at the rodeo hosted ever y August by the Xeni Gwet ’in First Nation, one of six Tsi l - hq o t ’in communities that form the Tsi l h q o t ’in National Gov- ernment in the heart of Chilcotin country, the region be t w een the and the of wes t - central British Columbia. To the southeast, Mount Ts’y l - o s (si g h -loss), the central figure of a Xeni Gwet ’in legend, keeps a silent vigil over the proceedings, sunlight glistening off a sil- ver y tongue of ice that tumbles down its face. Two weeks ago, 10 wild horses grazed lazily in this pasture. Among them wer e three mares as black as obsidian, two with one clumsy white foal each and a third one expectant, dumped into the water by his stumbling horse. Spu r r i n g Veteran horsemen astride Chilcotin horses, Roger William its belly swollen. Like nervous teenagers, two frisky colts Morgan to the finish, cowb o y hat still clinging improbably to (AB O V E , with black hat) and Terry Lulua are neck and neck for pranced at a respectful distance from the powe rful light his head, William and his steed are a study in grace and speed. first place in the quarter-mile race, a short version of the br own stallion, whose blond mane lent him a regal, author- Tog e t h e r , they easily notch up another victory in a display of three-quarter-mile mountain race William, chief of the Xeni it a t i v e air. Tod a y , the wild ones are nowh e r e to be seen, per- horsemanship that evokes pride throughout the Xeni Gwet’ i n Gwet’in First Nation, has won 17 times. Nine-year-old Lane haps chased by the midsummer heat into the shaded First Nation. In just 90 seconds, the race is over . Setah ( LE F T , in white hat) watches as Trevor Quilt, 18, readies woodlands higher up on the or, more his rope for a calf-riding competition in the rodeo hosted by li k e l y , by the ringing bustle of the rod e o . ild horses and the Chilcot i n ar e al- the Xeni Gwet’in since the 1970s. The Xeni Gwet’in and the In a thunder of hoofs, the racers are off, galloping down the most synonymous. Par t of the frontier mys- conservation group Friends of the Nemaiah Valley are incline at a ludicrous pace, a cloud of dust billowing behind tique and character of this country for at least proposing the creation of a preserve to protect 200 or so and all but obscuring the riders. A fall here could be fatal for 200 years, the animal, called cayuse here, has wild-ranging horses in British Columbia ( PR E C E D I N G PA G E S ) horse and rider. In under a minute, the competitors are mWo r e recently emerged as a symbol of Xeni Gwet ’in stren g t h . from indiscriminate hunting and capture. splashing across Nemaiah Creek. As they break onto the The band is embroiled in a benchmark land-claims case that grassy flats of the rodeo grounds, William has a comforta b l e could change the way First Nations pursue their claims, and the lead. Lulua, soaking wet and splattered with mud, has wild horse has become emblematic of their culture and polit- dr opped from second to third after being uncerem o n i o u s l y ical struggle. Indeed, the ver y survi v al of Xeni Gwet ’in culture

5 2 CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 5 CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC 5 3 Tatla Lake Tweedsmuir Quesnel South Provincial 0 50 100 km They bolt and disappear into the trees, Kleena Keene Bella Park Lees Corner Coola CHILCOTIN PLATEAU CHILCOTIN Anahim PLATEAU Williams Lake Tatla Lake Eagle Lake Lake (LIttle Eagle lake) vanishing like fleeting apparitions. 100 Mile House Many in the ranching community maintain that the Chilcotin and the spirit of its people may be intrinsically tied to the sur- Brittany Enlarged Brittany Clinton Henry’s Nuntsi Prov. Triangle horses ( AB O V E ) are an invasive species that competes with Crossing area vi v al of the horse. Far Park Meadow Bute The cayuse (meaning feral or domesticated mustang, espe- cattle for forage. They argue that the terms “mustang” and Upper Place Tatlayoko Inlet (Big Eagle lake) Captain George Town cially one tamed by aboriginal peoples) is also a symbol of eco- “wild horse” are used erroneously to describe feral horses Lake Triangle Merritt logical and genealogical controver s y . Conservationists who that were once domesticated and then turned loose. Elkin Lake Campbell Elegesi Qiyus River be l i e v e the wild Chilcotin horse has noble Spanish ancestry - Wild Horse Tatlayoko Tatlayoko Hope and may be among the last truly wild mustangs in Canada are emerald depths of Chilko Lake on the eastern slopes of the Protected Area Lake Konni Mtn. Preserve pitted against the provincial government, which considers the Coast Mountains. Some 375 Xeni Gwet ’in live on home- Nemaiah Valley cayuse feral (descended from once-domesticated animals) steads and small ranches in and around this pastoral val l e y . To Konni Lake and won’t protect it, and some local ranchers, who view it as the north, bounded by the Chilko and Taseko rivers, is the Bri t - In a view looking southwest ( TO P ) across an over g r a z er competing with cattle for forage, a nuisance to tany Triangle, a lofty and mysterious-sounding part of the Mount Ts’yl-os the Chilcotin Plateau toward the Coast (Mount Tatlow) Big Creek be managed. To the Xeni Gwet ’in, the cayuse is the nucleus gr eater Chilcotin Plateau. Hun d r eds of wild horses range be- ProvincialMountains, the Brittany Triangle lies above the intersection of the Chilko and Taseko of a centuries-old tribal horse culture, a source of saddle and tw een the valley and the Triangle. Park draft stock and an income in times of need. It is, unmistak- Judging by Wil l i a m ’s impres s i v e track rec o r d in the iconic rivers, near the bottom of the satellite ab l y , central to the Chilcotin ethos. mountain race, nobody understands horses like he does. Be- image. Clear-cuts are visible in the area Ts’yl-os ProvincialPark Taseko spectacled, soft-spoken and slight in stature, he seems an unlikely outside the Triangle. The Elegesi Qiyus Lakes co u red by the re t re at of continental ice sheets, cow b o y, let alone a community leader. In 1991, at the age of 25, Wild Horse Preserve ( LE F T ) was declared in the Nemaiah Valley forms a broad U-shaped quilt of he was elected chief of the Xeni Gwet ’in. He is fluent in Tsi l - 2002 by the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation, conifers and aspen-dappled meadows flanked by hq o t ’in (tsil-ko-tin), one of the Athapaskan language grou p . He which is also in a court battle over a claim mountains peaking at more than 3,000 metres. From its has proven to be a spirited role model, equally at ease strategiz- of title and rights to its traditional lands. Sheadwaters at Konni Lake, Nemaiah Creek meanders along the ing with lawyers in a Victoria office tower as he is riding the 0 5 10 15 20 25 km val l e y ’s 25-kilometre stretch to where it pours into the icy range with friends searching for wild horses.

5 4 CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 5 CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC 5 5 When William says he was born on the back of a horse, he and other interior First Nations have certainly been ac- means it. Bef o r e a gravel road was built in the early 1970s, the complished horsemen since before Eu ropeans populated only link to the outside world was by horse team and buggy Western Canada. In his diary, explorer Simon Fraser notes along 100 kilometres of wagon trails out to Lee’s Corner on a meeting in June 1808 on the banks of his namesake rive r Highway 20. “I used to ride around on the back of my with natives who “we re exceedingly well dressed in leather mo m ’s horse chasing cattle all over the val l e y ,” he says. “We and we re on horseback.” ca n ’t afford to buy expensive horses, and we can catch wild The wild Chilcotin horses survi v ed in obscurity for cen- horses as we need them. If you have a tough winter with no turies, described in campfire tales and the writings of cowb o y ha y , you can cut them loose and they’ll feed themselves. It’s scribes such as Paul St. Pie r r e. That is, until a few years ago, something we’ve always understood.” when a ren o wned bear scientist with a knack for orch e s t r a t i n g successful environmental campaigns and an idealistic conser- o d ay’s horse (Equus caballus) descends from vationist started getting the mustangs some media attention. As i a n rel a t i v es that migrated to Nor th America David Williams, one of the five founding member of the over the Bering land bridge about 55 million yea r s Friends of the Nemaiah Valley (FONV), invited independent ag o . One genus of these rel a t i v es, Prot o ro h i p p u s , biologist Wayne McC ror y to conduct a wildlife inven t o r y of Twas a primitive swamp dweller about the size of a wireh a i re d the Brittany Triangle in the spring of 2001. It was a project Horse whisperer Douglas Myers ( TO P ) uses gentle te r r i e r . It evol v ed in Nor th America and began returning to that would send McCrory’s life on an unexpected tangent. persuasion and body language to break mustangs. Dave Eurasia during the Miocene period about 20 million years ago. He packed his camera, notebook, field glasses and two Lulua ( AB O V E ) has a trapline north of Henry’s Crossing on the The modern horse went extinct here about 10,000 years ago. weeks’ worth of grub and joined Williams for the trip to a . With horses for partners, an equine version of Spanish conquistadors rei n t r oduced it to the New World five FONV log cabin at Far Meadow, an idyllic spot on a 65- musical chairs cracks up ( OP P O S I T E TO P , left to right) Andrea centuries ago, and the remnant bands of wild Chilcotin hectare lot smack in the centre of 20,898-hectare Nunsti William-Youth, Leona William, Roger William, Douglas horses, it is increasingly believed, descend from those Spa n i s h Provincial Park. Myers and Darren Setah during the annual gymkhana, a mustangs that roamed Nor th America by the tens of thou- It was like journeying back into the provi n c e ’s fron t i e r horsemanship competition. Since the 1992 occupation of sands, arriving in central British Columbia from the southern past. The only way in and out was a tortuous old wagon trail the bridge at Henry’s Crossing, the yearly “Gathering” Great Plains through trade or natural migration. f rom Elkin Lake to a ghostly homestead called Captain (OP P O S I T E BO T T O M ) has reinforced Xeni Gwet’in culture The mystery of their origin is a source of continuing con- George Town, after which the trail climbed onto the Bri t t a n y through food, songs, dances and games. tr over s y , but if you ask any Xeni Gwet ’in where the horses Triangle to a trapper’s cabin at Upper Place. Fin a l l y , after two come from, the response, essentially, will be: “Th e y ’ve been bumpy hours, the road brought them to the lakeside cabin he r e as long as I can rem e m b e r .” The people of the Chilcotin that shares a low prom o n t o r y with an abandoned farmstead

5 6 CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 5 CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC 5 7

McC ror y was enraptured, spend- ing hours concealed in thickets of lodgepole pine watching the horses in the meadows while a fascinating p i c t u re of the ecosystem slow l y emerged. The entire park was his study area, and he routinely saw 25 to 27 horses in two distinct bands: the Chestnut and the Black St a l- lion. There wer e roans, greys, chest- nuts and buckskins, and several of them exhibited the shaggy mane and long tail characteristic of Span- ish mustangs. They travel a network of fores t trails linking dozens of meadows , natural pastures where they forage on a variety of grasses and sedges. Dur i n g the long, cold winter, they rep a i r mo r e often to the shelter of the fores t canopy to feed on pine grass. Their Following the 2003 forest fire that displaced the wild social behaviour is consistent with that observed in wild horses horses as it ravaged the Brittany Triangle, biologist Wayne el s ew h e r e. Each band is led by a stallion that fiercely guards its McCrory ( A B O V E , left) and conservationist David Williams he r d of 6 to 10 mares and dependant foals, marking its terri- returned to the maze of blackened meadows and forests to to r y with stacks of dung known as “stallion piles.” Colts are tol- look for horses. They found fireweed thriving ( OP P O S I T E ) and erated only until they reach two to three years, at which time coyotes surviving ( BE L O W ). The majority of the horses the stallion forces the libidinous young males out of the herd. roaming the Nemaiah Valley ( PR E C E D I N G PA G E S ) are born wild, “I t took a while for the horse aspect to kick in,” McC ror y but some escape from ranches and have feral descendants. says. “The iconic side of it really happened when we saw the Black Stallion band. The science side of it took a little longer.” built in the 1920s by the late, respected Xeni Gwet ’in elder When the fire was finally extinguished, Eagle Lake Hen r y. McC ror y found a vibrant ecosystem with a full guild of the Triangle had been transforme d . pr edator and prey . Using remote cameras and field observa- tions, he rec o r ded grizzly and black bears, moose, white-tailed n 2002, McC ror y released a rep o r t estimating that the e n v i ronment, and their pre s e rvation and security re q u i re d e e r, coyotes, wolves, lynx and cougars. And, of course, br oader 155,000-hectare Brittany Triangle might host as protection of their habitat,” the declaration states. “There- t h e re we re horses. After all, this was the Chilcotin, and many as 14 wild-horse bands, with a total of 140 to 200 f o re, disruption of the environment, including flora and horses we re simply part of the landscape, like we a t h e r - individuals, in addition to the 50 to 60 that range in the fauna, in the Elegesi Qiyus Wild Horse Preserve is prohib- beaten cow b oys and homesteads. That’s why neither INemaiah Val l e y . The Chilcotin horses exist at the northern ex- ited unless authorized or consented to by the Xeni Gwet’in Williams nor McC ror y thought much about it at first. tr emity of native grasslands in Nor th America, the natural First Nations Government.” One evening, though, while sitting on the front porch at range of mustangs that dispersed across the continent after the Early in 2003, more evidence surfaced about the ancestry of Far Meadow watching the sun set over the snow-capped Spanish introduced them. This, in McC ror y’s view, supports the the Chilcotin horse. Blood samples from three horses, includ- Coast Mountains, Mc Cro ry had an epiphany. That day, case for their colonial heritage. Mor e important, they survi v e ing one aptly named “Spanish Bob,” wer e sent to Gus for the first time, he had seen a band of horses led by a black alongside a rich complement of predators in a natural fores t - Cothran, a geneticist at the Uni v ersity of Kentucky who has an- stallion. “This horse was snorting and doing his bluff an d - p a s t u r e ecosystem in rel a t i v e isolation. McC ror y believes al y z ed DNA from 100 different wild-horse herds in the charges,” McC ror y says. “Then the band disappeared. It was the ecosystem to be uniquely suitable to wild horses, calling it United States. One gene of interest when searching for Spa n - like a vision.” a “mosaic of meadows . ” ish colonial ancestry is transferrin, an iron-binding prot e i n In this unassuming landscape of undulating pine forests Williams and McC ror y approached the Xeni Gwet ’in Fir s t found in blood serum. All three Chilcotin horses had an un- and meadows, the biologist had stumbled across something Nations Government with a proposal: co-operate in an effort common variant of this blood marke r . he had never witnessed before: bands of wild horses living to create a wild-horse pres e r ve in the Brittany Triangle. It “This marker is rare. We’ve seen it only four or five times in in balance with other wildlife in an environment that was, would be Canada’s second official wild-horse refuge, the 100 or so herds,” says Cothran. “The fact that these horses have save for a few frontier relics, unaltered by humankind. other being on Nova Scotia’s Sable Island. On June 6, 2002, been isolated for so long definitely warrants further inves t i - They are truly wild animals, highly sensitive to humans, ears the Xeni Gwet ’in exceeded all expectations by declaring the gation.” He adds that he req u i r es 20 to 25 samples to draw any like sonar discerning the snap of a twig underfoot 200 metres en t i r e Brittany Triangle the Elegesi Qiyus Wild Horse Pre- conclusions about ancestry. Neve r theless, the clues locked in aw a y . At the slightest scent carried on a shifting wind, they bolt s e rve. Pronounced ah-legacy cayuse, it means “Eagle Lake the horses’ DNA have strengthened the case for conserva- and disappear into the trees, vanishing so quickly that they Hen r y Cayuse Wild Horse Pres e r ve.” tion. The idea of a wild-horse pres e r ve is gaining momentum seem like fleeting apparitions. “Wild horses are sensitive to disruption of the natural and support from high-profile philanthropists, including

6 0 CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 5 CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC 6 1 Rob e r t and Birgit Bateman. McC ror y and Williams are wel l aw a r e of the horse’s romantic appeal and its ability to tug at public heartstrings. Howeve r , not ever ybody is impressed.

p a dusty roa d fr om Hen r y’s Crossing on the Chilko River , Cliff Schuk grazes 150 head of cat- tle on crown land in the Brittany Triangle. He li v es with his wife and daughters on a homestead Uar ound which old farm machinery and engine parts are scat- te r ed like museum pieces. His father bought this quarter sec- tion in 1963, and the younger Schuk has spent most of his life he r e. When he hears the words “wild horse,” he shakes his head, then folds thick arms that hang from his torso like tree limbs. “Th e r e’s no such thing as a wild horse,” he says emphati- ca l l y . “It’s not like a deer or a moose.” Sc h u k do e s n ’t necessarily ad v ocate culling the horses but believes calls for conservat i o n ar e over b l o wn. “They could have some Spanish stock, but you can tell they’ve got breeding from local horses.” In other wo r ds, many of the horses called “wi l d ” share characteristics with paints, palominos, buckskins and other breeds found on any Chilcotin ranch. The provincial Min i s t r y of Wat e r , Land and Air Prot e c t i o n sh a r es Schuk’s view: “Our Min i s t r y does not have a policy on wild horses because our jurisdiction is under the Wildlife Act , which does not rec o g n i z e these horses as wildlife,” says com- munications director Max Cleeve l e y. “Because they we re once domesticated, they are not considered wild the way bears, wolves, deer and cougars are.” Howeve r , a wild species is, by the Min i s t r y’s own definition, one that is wild by nature and either is native to Canada or has extended its range into Canada without human interven t i o n and has been present here for at least 50 years. Giv en this, the Min i s t r y says it welcomes any new scientific or genetic infor- mation about the origins of the Brittany Triangle horses. The provincial Min i s t r y of For ests, which manages crown grazing leases, is even less sympathetic to feral horses, reg a r d- ing them as voracious grazers that sometimes need to be con- tr olled. An agrologist with the forest service in Williams Lake, Chris Easthope has been dealing with the feral-horse issue since joining the Min i s t r y in 1977. He believes the controver s y su r r ounding the horses is guided more by “emotion than fact.” In the 1980s, Easthope oversaw the capture of dozens of wild “I don’t use the term wild horses. I don’t believe it’s an ap- D N A analysis is adding weight to the theory that the horses south of the Nemaiah Val l e y , most of which wer e auc- pr opriate term,” Easthope says, pointing out that some horses horses roaming the Brittany Triangle ( A B O V E ) are tioned for slaughter while some wer e sold as saddle horses. Ac- roaming in the Chilcotin have visible brands. “All the horses descended from mustangs introduced by Spanish curate rec o r ds would be difficult to compile, according to that are running on crown range are feral horses.” conquistadores. Chilcotin people travelled widely and Easthope. It wasn’t the first time there had been an open season Horses are often disparagingly ref e r r ed to as “hay-burners” could have acquired horses through trade with other First on Chilcotin wild horses. A 1940 story in the Daily Provi n c e , because of a digestive system that demands copious amounts Nations long before Europeans arrived in Western Canada. headlined “War is Dec l a r ed on Wild Horses of Area , ” of forage. An elongated mouth and prominent incisors make In a playful battle ( O P P O S I T E B O T T O M), two horses clash with described how ranchers could purchase a $2.50 permit to horses well adapted to grazing much lower to the grou n d flailing hoofs and nipping teeth. round up and kill any unclaimed horses found on their range. than cattle. But charges of overgrazing by horses in the (I n the United States, the Wild Free - R oaming Horse and Bur r o Chilcotin seem to be based more on anecdote and rum o u r Act, passed in 1971, made it illegal to kill horses on public land.) than science and res e a r ch. Easthope concedes there has never The forest service continues to monitor feral horses in the been an in-depth study of the horses’ impact on Chilcotin Chilcotin. Over several days last winter, the forest service con- grasslands but argues that his own field observations suggest ducted aerial surveys and counted 794 individuals in the feral horses can have a considerable negative effect. For ex- Chilcotin For est District, including 115 in the Brittany Tri a n g l e ample, he says, once horses have heavily grazed an area, un- alone, close to the estimate in McC ror y’s 2002 rep o r t. palatable pasture sage tends to fill in.

6 2 CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 5 CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC 6 3 Giv en the high profile of the Chilcotin horses these days, culling them to conserve range could be a public rel a t i o n s ni g h t m a r e, but Easthope doesn’t rule it out as a last res o r t.

at u re dealt the Brittany Triangle a serious bl o w in July 2003. Lightning struck the tinder-dry fo r est east of Hen r y’s Crossing, sparking a fire that, by Sep t e m b e r , had ripped across 29,200 Nhe c t a r es, scorching close to 20 percent of the Triangle. When the fire was finally extinguished that fall, the Triangle had been dramatically transformed. Many of the meadows that had pr ovided key wild horse forage wer e reduced to barren scars of smouldering wasteland. The forest that had provided a winter refuge for horses and other wildlife was a solemn vision of black- ened spikes, the remains of pine and spruce trees. Howeve r , the wel l - k n o wn natural rej u v enating cycle of fire was quickly evi- dent as fresh grasses pushed stubbornly through the black- ened soil last spring. It looked like the wild horses had fared wel l A Tsilhqot’in family, Kispiox Louis, Margaret and baby, on during the post-fire winter. the shore of Tatla Lake, B.C., in 1913. The Tsilhqot’in people Concern quickly shifted to the careless actions of a few hun- make up six communities on the Chilcotin Plateau. dr ed people. After the snow melted, hordes of mushroo m - pickers descended on the Brittany Triangle to cash in on a Defending the Nemaiah bumper crop of morels, leaving behind off-roa d - v ehicle trails and campsites littered with trash. The Triangle’s isolated R I T I S H CO L U M B I A was still a crown colony in 1863 when Al- wilderness — the ver y thing that makes it ideal wild-horse Bfred Waddington, an entrepreneur from , habitat — had been seriously compromised. led an effort to build a wagon road from the head of Bute Inlet to “I f we don’t get a lid on access, you may as well forget about the Chilcotin Plateau in a scheme to link a deep-sea port with the it as wilderness habitat,” McC ror y says, adding that FO N V an d go l d fi elds of the Cariboo. Motivated by fear of smallpox and the Xeni Gwet ’in are working hard on a plan to decommission threats to their territory, a band of Chilcotin, led by the warrior fire roads and wagon trails leading into the Brittany Tri a n g l e . chief Klatsassin, travelled down the Homathko River and am- The mushroom boom also caught the Xeni Gwet ’in Fir s t bushed Waddington’s crew in the early morning on May 1, 1864. Nations Government by surprise. In Chief Wil l i a m ’s opinion, Thirteen men were killed in their tents. Fearing an insurrection, the pickers, many of them Chilcotin natives, wer e showing a the British response was swift. A militia was sent to quash the resis- pr ofound disrespect for the land they had fought so hard to tance, and under a vague promise of amnesty, Chief Klatsassin pr otect. When the band council started charging harvesters a and four other Chilcotins surrendered in Quesnel. They were tried, fee of $75 a month, friction resulted between the Xeni convicted of murder and all met their end on the scaffold. Gwe t ’in and other bands. William believes they wer e left For two weeks in May 1992, Xeni Gwet’in elders, youth and with little choice. leaders gathered to defend their territory again. This time, in- stead of using guns, they blockaded a bridge at Henry’s Cross- he tiny Xeni Gwet ’in First Nation is being closely ing on the Chilko River, preventing Carrier Lumber from watched by other bands around British Columbia for building a logging road into the Brittany Triangle. This act of another reason: its aboriginal land claim, in which it civil disobedience forced the company to scrap its logging plans has claimed title and rights to the Brittany Tri a n g l e — an occasion that is honoured every June when Xeni Gwet’in Tand the Nemaiah Val l e y . (Neither the Tsi l h q o t ’in nor the Xen i meet at Henry’s Crossing for “The Gathering.” Gwe t ’in have ever signed a treaty with the federal or provi n c i a l After the blockade, the Xeni Gwet’in entered negotiations go vernment and maintain their title to their entire territory.) If with the Ministry of Forests for joint management of the Brittany successful, how will the Xeni Gwet ’in manage the lands? The Triangle, but they came to an impasse in the late 1990s. In band is currently weighing the merits of various power sys- 1998, the band embarked on a landmark court case, arguing for tems, from wind to solar to a combination of hydr o and alter- aboriginal land title to a region that includes the Nemaiah Valley na t i v e energy, to replace the widely dispersed community’s and a trapline around Chilko, Taseko, Big Eagle and Little Eagle reliance on gas and diesel generators. As testament to their in- lakes, roughly 420,000 hectares of crown land. The Xeni dependence, many band members oppose the idea of con- Gwet’in case, relying heavily on oral history, hinges on whether necting to the B.C. Hydr o grid for fear that it would wea k e n or not they had settled the land in question prior to 1846, the their control over development in the Nemaiah Val l e y . year the Oregon Boundary Treaty was signed and British sover- The Xeni Gwet ’in are still rec o vering from Eur opean con- eignty applied to most of present-day British Columbia. tact and the effluent of social ills, broken homes, alcoholism A. F . and drug abuse that flowed from the residential school system,

6 4 CANADIAN GEOGRAPHIC M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 0 5 when youngsters wer e rem o ved from their homes, taken to St. rapidly replacing horses. Even Setah spends more time on Jos e p h ’s Mission in Williams Lake and forbidden from speak- what he jokingly refers to as his “Japanese quarter horse” than ing Tsilhqot’in. Today, Xeni Gwet’in children learn Tsil- he does riding his steed. And, like others from his community, hq o t ’in at a small dayca r e, old folks come together ever y Jul y Setah has had to look elsewh e r e for employment, a search that for the Elders Gathering and young Xeni Gwet’in are has taken him to the oil patch in northeastern British Co- schooled in the fundamentals of horsemanship at the annual lumbia ever y winter for the past few years. “I don’t want to gymkhana. But if Xeni Gwet ’in culture is going to survi ve , le a v e, but there’s no work around here,” he says, before hitting young people need reasons to stay in the Nemaiah Valley — the ignition and twisting the throttle. and more than just romantic notions of galloping wild horses. Har r y Setah is a man with one foot planted in old-time horse ack in the Nemaiah Va l l ey, the rodeo grou n d s cu l t u r e and the other striding towa r d an uncertain future. As ar e all but deserted. The visiting cowb o ys with their Setah bounces across a meadow astride his Honda Quad, a horse trailers and the few adven t u r ous tourists in bracing wind buffets the Brittany Triangle. Setah, 54, has the rented campers have departed. Life rolls along in enviable job of wild-horse ranger, charged with patrolling the BChilcotin country in that timeless way it always has. Con- Triangle, monitoring signs of horses and keeping a check on hu- tr oversies about overgrazing, Spanish ancestry, wild or feral, man activity. FONV contributes $18,000 a year to his salary do n ’t excite many Xeni Gwet ’in. They are respectful of but in a 50-50 cost-sharing agreement with BC Par ks. ne v er overly sentimental about the wild horses — for the most ‘Th e y ’re not the best looking horses but they can’t be beat in the mountains.’ Setah stops at the edge of the meadow, which fades into the pa r t, that’s the job of urban equestrians. Still, debates about skeletal remains of a charred lodgepole pine forest, seem- the mysterious and alluring horses of the Brittany Triangle and ingly desolate and lifeless. He dismounts, then points to a col- Nemaiah Valley are unlikely to die down any time soon. lection of sun-bleached bones, light brown hair and skin still McC ror y and FO N V ha v e made a strong case for conserva- clinging to what looks like a tibia, as well as a tail, lying de- tion, while the B.C. government remains skeptical. tached and surprisingly well pres e r ved . Chief William rides solo along the banks of Nemaiah “Looks like a young colt, probably starved to death,” he Creek, bound for his home at the south end of the valley a few says, kicking over one of the bones on which a few strands of ki l o m e t r es from where Chilko Lake’s frigid waters lick the horse hair are still visible. During his patrols last spring, Se- sh o r eline. This is the kind of leisurely commute William gets tah counted four carcasses. Winter is hard on wild horses. to savour too rarely these days, what with the court case, Deep snow and a diminished supply of grass can weaken the band council duties and dealing with mushroom-pickers. younger ones and render them vulnerable to pred a t o r s . Arriving home, he tethers Morgan to a tree, then holds out Setah, like most Xeni Gwet ’in of his generation, is a former a handful of oats. The horse gives an apprec i a t i v e snort, and rodeo cowb o y, his bowlegged aging body now feeling the ef- William sits on a round of fir, tilting his hat to shield his eyes fects of broken bones acquired from his days on the circu i t . fr om the sun. In the softening evening light, the jagged skyline The wild horses are legendary among the Xeni Gwet ’in for of the Coast Mountains is imbued with crimson and saffron, a agility and endurance on tough mountain trails. Setah speaks smoky sunset from the forest fire that has been burning in about them in reve r ent, almost mythological terms. But he also Tweedsmuir South Provincial Par k for much of the summer. refers to them as you would any other res o u r ce that needs to William is reticent when asked about the flood of attention be conserved, like deer or salmon. the cayuse has drawn to this remote val l e y . Offering another “T h e y’re not the best-looking horses, but they’re ve ry handful of oats to Morgan, he says, “It sure doesn’t hurt our s u re-footed, can’t be beat in the mountains. And they’re political cause. If it helps, then why not?” sm a r t too. They know how to deworm themselves by eating Questioning the Xeni Gwet ’in about wild horses is like alkali,” he says. Those not coveted as saddle horses are some- asking a woodworker about his relationship with a solid piece times sold by the Xeni Gwet’in as rodeo stock, and to the of old-growth Douglas fir. Still, William says, knowing that ho r r or of equine lovers, a rodeo horse often meets its end at bands of mustangs still roam the land sustains the soul of Xen i the abattoir. But most of the time, Setah says, the wild Gwe t ’in culture. “Th e y ’ve always been a part of my life,” he horses are simply left alone. says. “Wild horses enhance us.” Completed in the early 1970s, the Nemaiah Valley roa d brings a steady trickle of tourists to hunt moose, fish in And r ew Findlay is a writer based in Courte n a y , B.C. Chilko Lake or hike through the alpine meadows surrou n d - Pho t o g r apher Patrice Halley lives in Wycliffe, B.C. ing Mount Ts’yl-os. The road also brings modern influe n c e s that are jeopardizing the traditional horse culture. Young peo- To comment, please e-mail [email protected] ple are leaving to find work, and pickups and Quads are or visit www.canadiangeographic.ca/indepth.

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