APPENDIX A: Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study (Redacted)

to the Written Evidence of Coldwater Indian Band Hearing Order No. MH-013-2018

Hearing Order OH-001-2014

Trans Mountain Pipeline ULC

Application for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project

Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

Submitted to

Coldwater Indian Band

26 May 2015

Prepared by

Inglis Consulting Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

Executive Summary

The Coldwater Indian Band commissioned this Report, Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study, for submission to the National Energy Board pursuant to Hearing Order OH-001-2014 as part of their response to the proposed Trans Mountain Expansion Project.

This Report is preliminary and should not be considered as definitive nor as representing all the information on the occupation and traditional uses of the Nicola Valley region, including the tributary valleys, by the Coldwater Indian Band or their ancestors. Further research would undoubtedly uncover more information, and further analysis would lead to enhanced interpretations. The following conclusions and opinions relating to Coldwater Nlaka’pamux history, use and occupation of the Nicola Valley region and Nlaka’pamux territory are made from the research to date:

 The Coldwater are identified in the anthropological literature and in the Indian Affairs records as a division of the Nicola branch of the Nlka’pamux (Thompson). The territory of the Nicola Thompson is centred on the Nicola Valley and the surrounding tributary valleys. The earliest known inhabitants of the eastern end of Nicola Valley and the upper Similkameen River were a group identified by anthropologists as the Nicola Athapaskans. There is some evidence that they may be descended from Chilcotins who settled in the area prior to contact with whites. The Nlaka’pamux called these original inhabitants the Stu’wix or Stuwixamux. The area of historic Stuwixamux territory is depicted by Teit as running south from the upper Nicola River and including the Coldwater River.  First contact in the region of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers confluence was in 1808 by Simon Fraser of the North West Company. Traders with this Company were the first to interact and name the Nlaka’pamux. The name they used was Kootomin which is likely a variation of the name of the Nlaka’pamux village, Nkamtici’n, at the confluence of the Thompson and Nicola Rivers. This village is depicted on an 1814 (updated 1826) map by David Thompson. The name initially started as the name of the tribe at this village but became generalized to represent all the Nlaka’pamux. Kootoomin is the only tribe depicted on published British maps in the region of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers confluence throughout the Colonial period. The name Kootoomin is rendered Coutamine (with spelling variations) by the Hudson’s Bay Company. HBC traders named the Nicola River the Coutamine River.  On an 1827 HBC map, the upper Nicola River region was depicted as being within the territory of the Similkameen, a term the HBC traders used for the Nicola Athapascan. However, in the accompanying census, one of the three Similkameen sub-groups was

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

enumerated with the Coutamine suggesting that at least part of the Similkameen were considered Coutamine at this time. In 1835, “Little Knives” Indians were depicted along the Nicola River on another HBC map. Couteau or Knife was a term used for the Thompson by the HBC.  The Nicola Nlaka’pamux hunted in the area of Stûwi’x and intermarried with the Nicola Athapascan (Stûwi’нamuq). By the early 1800s, many of the Nicola Athapascan spoke the Nlaka’pamux language and most aspects of their culture were identified as Nlaka’pamux. The elderly Nicola Nlaka’pamux people anthropologists talked to in the late nineteenth century had ¼ Stûwi’нamuq ancestry. These people had little knowledge of the Nicola Athapascan language, and stories they had learned from their grandparents were identified as Nlaka’pamux.  This was not a physical displacement or extinction of the Nicola Athapascan, rather a process of intermarriage and settlement, resulting in their cultural and linguistic integration into the Nlaka’pamux. During this process, two branches of the Nicola Athapascan came to be identified: the Nicola branch (the Stûwi’нamuq proper), which came together with the Nlaka’pamux, and the Similkameen branch, which has integrated with the Okanagan. By the early nineteenth century, the Nicola Athapaskans were essentially indistinguishable from the Nlaka’pamux in terms of language, personal and place names, and traditional stories.  In the mid-nineteenth century, the Nicola Nlaka’pamux were often referred as Noweesticum’s tribe (various spellings). The Nicola Nlaka’pamux had thirteen villages along the Nicola River. The valley behind each village would have been part of the resource areas used by each village. Coldwater is identified as one of the Nicola Nlaka’pamux villages.  In the Colonial period, the Nicola Valley was the territory of the Nicola Nlaka’pamux. The Nicola Nlaka’pamux were described as two tribes which are named after their Chiefs, Chillihetza (various spellings) with territory on the east end of Nicola Lake and Nowistican (various spellings) with territory at the west end of the lake. In 1868, a reserve was established for the Nowistican tribe on the Nicola River at Shulus, nine miles from the western end of Nicola Lake. In 1859, Mayne met Chief Nowistican at Nicola Lake and described him as Chief of the Skowtous tribe, likely his rendering of Shulus. Mayne depicts the territory of the Skowtous tribe at the western end of Nicola Lake on his map of exploration. Shulus and two other villages along the Nicola River occupied by the Nowistican tribe are described as the three of the old settlements of the original “possessors” of the Nicola Valley.  In the mid-nineteenth century, Nlaka’pamux people from the Fraser River were paying the Nicola Nlaka’pamux to graze their livestock in the Nicola Valley, a practise that Indian Commissioner Reserve Sproat opposed in 1878.  Sproat initially allotted reserves in the Coldwater River valley to the Nicola Nlaka’pamux “Coldwater Indians” who had been displaced by settlers from their village at the

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confluence of the Coldwater and Nicola Rivers. However, he also needed grazing land in the Nicola Valley for other Nlaka’pamux tribes, and his final minute stated that the reserve was allotted to the Lower Nicola and “mixed Indians.” In the 1890s, Indian Agent Joseph MacKay distinguished between the original Coldwater people and the Boston Bar newcomers in his description of the Coldwater Band.  Although the official reserve schedules followed Sproat’s final minute in stating that the Coldwater reserves were held by mixed Indians from several other Nlaka’pamux groups, in practice Indian Affairs officials treated the residents of these reserves as a distinct band by at least 1885. They referred to this band as the “Quinshattan Band” or the Coldwater Band. This is the case with respect to the Indian Affairs Annual Reports (except for the Schedules of Reserves) and the Royal Commission on Indian Affairs for the Province of British Columbia (1913-1916). The Indian Affairs Branch did not formally recognize the existence of the Coldwater Indian Band until 1956.  Information obtained in interviews of twelve Coldwater Nlaka’pamux Knowledge Holders and Resource Users in 2015 identified 175 traditional use sites and areas that detail the continued importance of the Coldwater Valley and other areas of Nlaka’pamux territory for harvest of resources for materials, food, medicine and cultural purposes. Although urbanization, ranching, forestry and other industrial activities, and road infrastructure have impacted many areas, people still return to the harvest areas, if intact, where they went as children with their grandparents and parents. Many areas, however, have been obliterated or opened to access to others by industrial activities forcing people to find alternate areas for harvesting.  Coldwater families still rely heavily on food gathered from the land including deer, elk and moose, numerous berries and plant foods, medicines and materials, and fish including trout and salmon. Salmon, once a plentiful resource, are now much diminished in numbers in the Coldwater River and people now travel to the Fraser River to harvest or trade to get it. Foods are eaten fresh as harvested over the seasons and preserved for later use. These traditional foods are also traded and served at cultural events including the sun dance held at two sites on Coldwater Reserve No.1. Materials are also harvested for building sweat lodges, the sun dance ring, for use at funerals and for other traditional items including drums and cradle boards. Traditions of using the land for spiritual purposes are still maintained. Streams and rivers are used for cleansing and ritual bathing. Cradle boards are hung in special areas after single use. Spirit beings in lakes and at waterfalls and in other areas are honoured.  Traditional use sites and areas are part of the cultural fabric of being a member of the Coldwater Indian Band. For Coldwater members, being out in the territory connects the present to the past and to generations of ancestors. These activities are part of their identity, an expression of being a Coldwater Indian Band member. They are what bind families together. Their territory, not just selected areas, is part of their lives, in every

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

sense. Most of the interviews could be characterized in large part as a life lived on the territory.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

Credits

Acknowledgements The author would like to thank the Coldwater Indian Band and Council for the opportunity to work on this project with the community. The work of Dawn Porter, executive assistant, allowed the community interviews to run smoothly.

Twelve Coldwater community members shared their family history and use of the Nicola Valley region in interviews: Harold Aljam, Ron Aljam, Joyce Andrew, Albert Antoine, Krisalena Antoine, Marty Aspinall, Shawn Bob, Bernice Garcia, Annie Major, Clarence Oppenheim, Terry Spahan and Bill Voght. Their knowledge was exceptional and added significantly to this Report.

Note to Reader The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect adequately or completely the views of the Coldwater Indian Band.

As I am not a linguist, no attempt has been made in this Report to standardize the linguistic transcription of Nlaka’pamux words. Names of people and places are presented in the manner in which they appear in the source documents. Nlaka’pamux words are in italics excluding when part of a direct quote.

Project Team Richard Inglis - Project leader, interviews, research, report (CV is attached as Appendix A)

Cairn Crockford - Research, interviews

Chris Hebda - Interviews, interview data analysis

David Vogt - Research

GIS - Simon Norris, Karina Kalvaitis (Hillcrest Graphics)

Interview Transcriptions - Alice Huang, Robyn Ewing

Cover photo: View across the Coldwater Valley from the Coldwater Road (Inglis photo 2015).

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

Table of Contents Executive Summary ...... i Credits ...... v Acknowledgements ...... v Note to Reader ...... v Project Team ...... v List of Tables ...... viii List of Figures ...... viii Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historical Overview and Traditional Use Study ...... 1 Introduction ...... 1 Purpose of Study ...... 1 Study Area ...... 1 Sources of Data ...... 1 Structure of Report ...... 4 Ethnographic Overview ...... 5 History of Ethnographic Research ...... 5 Nlaka’pamux (Thompson) ...... 6 Nicola Nlaka’pamux (Cawa’xamux or Tcawa’xamux) ...... 7 Nicola Athapascan (Stûwi’нamuq or Stûwi’x)...... 10 Ethnographic Overview Summary ...... 14 Historic Overview ...... 16 Contact Period ...... 16 Fur Traders ...... 16 Contact Period Summary ...... 28 Colonial Period ...... 29 Coldwater Pre-emptions (1868-1870s) ...... 31 Colonial Period Summary ...... 36 Coldwater Post-Confederation (1871-1958) ...... 37 Exploration and Settlement ...... 37 Indian Reserve Commission ...... 38

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

Indian Affairs Annual Reports (1885-1934) ...... 46 RCIABC ...... 48 Recognition of Coldwater Indian Band (1956) ...... 50 Confederation Period Summary ...... 51 Traditional Use and Occupancy Study (TUOS) ...... 52 Methodology ...... 52 Interviews ...... 52 TUOS Analysis ...... 54 TUOS Summary ...... 56 Summary and Conclusions ...... 63 Appendix A. CV of Report Author ...... 66

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List of Tables Table 1: Categories of Traditional Use Sites ...... 54 Table 2: Activities Represented by the 139 Traditional Use Sites Identified ...... 55

List of Figures Figure 1: Map of the Study Area, approximating the territory of the Nicola division of the Nlaka’pamux as set out by Teit 1900...... 3 Figure 2: Teit’s Map of Thompson Territory, “the area formerly inhabited by the Athapascan tribe of Nicola valley” indicated by shading (Teit 1900: opposite 167)...... 9 Figure 3: Section of David Thompson’s map depicting the village of the Kootoomin Tribe on the Thompson River (1814, revised c.1826)...... 17 Figure 4: Section of Wyld's Map of North America depicting the location of the “Kootomin Indians,” 1823 (David Rumsey Collection). (In Hayes, Derek (2012). British Columbia: A New Historical Atlas: 44, Map 121)...... 18 Figure 5: 1824 Arrowsmith Map which depicts the Kootomin Indians east of the Fraser and Thompson Rivers confluence...... 19 Figure 6: Section of the 1824 Arrowsmith Map with a patch applied by the HBC which shows the “Ni cute magh” (Nicola River). (HBC Archives G4/31). Also in Hayes 2012: 47, Map127. 20 Figure 7: “A Sketch of Thompson’s River District 1827” by Archibald McDonald (In Hayes, Derek (2012): 46, Map 126)...... 24 Figure 8. Section of Untitled Map by Samuel Black, 1835 (BC Archives CM/B2079; Also in Hayes 2012: 50, Map 136)...... 25 Figure 9: Portion of Anderson's Map of British Columbia, 1867 (BC Archives. Map CM/F9). . 27 Figure 10: Section of the 1859 map ‘Sketch of Part of British Columbia,’ by Lieutenant R.C. Mayne of the Royal Navy (Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia, Surveyor General Division. Map Vault. 14T2 Miscellaneous)...... 30 Figure 11: Stephens survey plan of the alienations of lands at the confluence of the Coldwater and Nicola Rivers, 1874 (Land Title and Survey Authority. Surveyor General's Division. Kamloops Division, Yale District, PH1, FB 8/74)...... 32 Figure 12: Sketch of the Coldwater Reserves, 1878 ...... 42 Figure 13: Study Area Map with TUOS areas from interviews depicted. The area of the Coquihalla Lakes is added as an inset as it was a significant resource harvesting area to Coldwater people...... 62

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historical Overview and Traditional Use Study Introduction

The term Coldwater comes from the name of the tributary river of the Nicola River. The name is derived from the Nlaka’pamux name for the river, Ntstlatko, meaning “cold water.” This was also the name of the Nicola Nlaka’pamux village at the confluence of the Coldwater and Nicola Rivers. The name Coldwater was first identified in the archival record for the name of the river on maps from the Colonial period. The designation, Coldwater Indians, was first used by Indian Reserve Commissioner Gilbert Malcolm Sproat in 1878 when allotting Indian Reserves in the Nicola Valley region.

The Coldwater people are initially referred to as the Kwinshatin Band in Indian Affairs records from the late nineteenth century. The name is derived from one of the creeks that runs through Indian Reserve No.1. By the time of the Royal Commission on Indian Affairs for the Province of British Columbia, Coldwater Band is the designation used.

The Coldwater Indian Band is part of the Nicola division of the Nlaka’pamux. The main community of the Coldwater Indian Band is at Coldwater Indian Reserve No.1. A few members also live on Indian Reserve No.2, Paul’s Basin. The registered population in March 2015 was 832 with 338 living on-reserve. The Coldwater Indian Band is a member of the Nicola Tribal Association.

Purpose of Study This study was commissioned by the Coldwater Indian Band to support their response to the National Energy Board relating to the proposed Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project. This Report presents information about Coldwater Nlaka’pamux occupancy and use of the Nicola Valley region, in the past and today. This information was collected through ethnographic and historic research and interviews of 12 Coldwater community members.

Study Area The Study Area for the project is depicted in Figure 1. It is centred on the Nicola and Coldwater Valley watersheds. The Study Area roughly covers the territory of the Nicola division of the Nlaka’pamux as set out in Figure 2 with an expansion to the Fraser River in the west. During interviews, a region outside of the Study Area, Coquihalla Lakes, was consistently referred to and has been added as an inset to the Study Area map depicting the interview results (see Figure 13).

Sources of Data Information on the Coldwater/Nlaka’pamux history, use and occupancy of the Nicola Valley region was obtained from two main sources: published ethnographic studies and ethnographic

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study and historic records in archives; and interviews of twelve Coldwater community members. In addition, limited research of the British Columbia archaeological site data base added clarity to information found in the archival documents or provided in interviews.

Ethnographic and historic documents, maps and photographs relating to Coldwater/Nlaka’pamux history have been retrieved from libraries, archives and online sources. Repositories investigated include:

 Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ont.;  British Columbia Archives, Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, B.C.;  Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia, Victoria;  Indian Lands Registry System, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Ottawa;  Nicola Valley Museum and Archives, Merritt, B.C.;  Surveyor General Division, Map Vault, Victoria, B.C.;  Natural Resources Canada, Legal Survey Division, Ottawa, Ont.; and  University of Victoria Library, Victoria, B.C.

The following Coldwater Nlaka’pamux knowledge holders and resource users were interviewed in April 2015 regarding family histories and use of the Coldwater and Nicola Valley regions: Harold Aljam, Ron Aljam, Joyce Andrew, Albert Antoine, Krisalena Antoine, Marty Aspinall, Shawn Bob, Bernice Garcia, Annie Major, Clarence Oppenheim, Terry Spahan and Bill Voght.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

Figure 1: Map of the Study Area, approximating the territory of the Nicola division of the Nlaka’pamux as set out by Teit 1900.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

Structure of Report The Report is divided into five main sections: Introduction which sets out the purpose of the report, the study area, and the sources relied upon; the Ethnographic Overview which reviews the anthropological literature relating to the Nlaka’pamux in the Nicola Valley region; the Historic Overview which briefly outlines first contact in the region and settler alienation in the Nicola Valley, followed by a more detailed discussion of Indian Reserve creation in the Nicola Valley region and Indian Affairs administration; the Traditional Use and Occupancy research which summarizes the history of use and occupation of the Nicola Valley based primarily on information related in community interviews; and Summary and Conclusions which presents the results of the research.

This report is preliminary and should not be considered definitive nor as representing all the information on the rights and title of the Coldwater Nlaka’pamux, in general or relating specifically to the Nicola Valley region. Further research would undoubtedly uncover more information, and further analysis would lead to enhanced interpretations.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

Ethnographic Overview

History of Ethnographic Research The major ethnographic study of the Nlaka’pamux (Thompson) was undertaken by James Teit for Franz Boas as part of the work of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition. The study is based on two manuscripts written by James Teit, the first on the upper Thompson submitted to Boas in 1895 and the second on the lower Thompson submitted to Boas in 1897. Additional information was submitted by Teit during Boas’ editing of the manuscripts. The study was published in 1900 as The Thompson Indians of British Columbia.1

A year earlier, in 1899, Charles Hill-Tout published a study on the Nlaka’pamux based on information obtained largely from a single respondent, Chief Mischelle of Lytton.2

Three other studies by Teit were also published: Traditions of the Thompson River Indians of British Columbia in 1898, Mythology of the Thompson Indians in 1912, and The Salishan Tribes of the Western Plateau in 1930.3 Boas, the editor of the latter publication, stated the background to this work by Teit:

“The material presented here was collected by Mr. James A. Teit in 1904, 1908, and 1909 while he was traveling over British Columbia and the States of Washington and Montana for the purpose of determining the distribution of Salishan dialects and the general movements of tribes so far as these could be ascertained by tradition…. The material here presented has been edited from a manuscript written by Mr. Teit and from notes scattered over many years of correspondence.”4

Although the Nlaka’pamux are not specifically studied in the report, there is significant material relating to them in the section on the Okanagan.

Teit also worked with Hermann Haeberlin and Helen Roberts on a study of coiled basketry which included the Nlaka’pamux, published in 1928.5 Teit’s ethnobotany work on the Thompson was published by Julie Steedman in 1930.6

1 Teit, James A. (1900). The Thompson Indians of British Columbia, edited by Franz Boas. New York: Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, Volume II, April 1900. 2 Hill-Tout, Charles (1899). 3 Teit, James A. (1898). ‘Traditions of the Thompson River Indians of British Columbia.’ Memoirs of the American Folk-Lore Society 6(1). Boston and New York: 1-137; Teit, James A. (1912). ‘Mythology of the Thompson Indians,’ edited by Franz Boas. Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 12; Publication of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition 8(2). New York; Teit, James A. Teit (1930). ‘The Salishan Tribes of the Western Plateau,’ edited by Franz Boas. 45th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology for 1927-1928. Washington: 23-396. 4 Teit 1930: 25. 5 Haeberlin, Hermann, James Teit and Helen Roberts (1928). Coiled Basketry in British Columbia and Surrounding Region. Washington: 41st Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology for 1919-1924: 119-484. 6 Steedman, Julie, editor (1930). Ethnobotany of the Thompson Indians of British Columbia, based on Field Notes by James Teit. Washington: 45th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology for 1927-1928: 441-522.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

In the late summer of 1941, linguist John P. Harrington, interviewed Nlaka’pamux people in the Lower Nicola area as part of a continuing effort to trace the origin and relationships of the Pacific Coast Athapascan languages, which he referred to comprehensively as “Chilcotin.” Harrington interviewed two individuals in particular who had knowledge of the Nicola- Athapascan language.7

In 1990, Nancy Turner, Laurence Thompson, Terry Thompson and Annie York published another ethnobotany study, Thompson Ethnobotany, which built on and enhanced the earlier work by Teit and Steedman.8 David Wyatt wrote overview articles on the Thompson and the Nicola for the Handbook of North American Indians, published in 1998.9

Nlaka’pamux (Thompson) In order to study the history of Coldwater Indian Band, it is necessary to initially discuss the Nlaka’pamux more generally. Anthropologists classify the Nlaka’pamux or Thompson as an Interior Salish people with territory located in the southern central interior of British Columbia. In the past, the Nlaka’pamux were called “Koomootin” by the North West Company. The HBC traders used the term Coutamine” and later “Couteau or Knife.” This name was superseded by Thompson in the late 1800s, a name derived from the Thompson River which flows through their territory. Nlaka’pamux is the name preferred by the people today.

The territory of the Nlaka’pamux was divided based on environmental differences at the junction of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers. Teit recorded the Nlaka’pamux people to the south as the Uta’mqtamux, the lower Thompson, and the Nlaka’pamux people to the drier north and east as the Nku’kumamux, the upper Thompson. The upper Thompson people were divided into four divisions or bands in Teit’s terminology: the Lkamtci’nemux, the SLaxa’yux, the Nkamtci’nᴇmux and the Cawa’xamux or Tcawa’xamux. 10 Teit also noted that the people of some of the villages or bands of the Upper Nlaka’pamux were “sometimes called after the name of their chief.”11

Uta’mqtamux Nlaka’pamux territory included the Similkameen Valley:

“The Thompson still claim the Similkameen valley down as far as between Hedley and Keremeous, and there is no doubt that the Thompson language has predominated

7 Harrington, John Peabody (1943). Pacific Coast Athapascan discovered to be Chilcotin. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 33 (7): 203-213; Mills, Elaine L. (ed.) (1981). The Papers of John Peabody Harrington in the Smithsonian Institution, 1907-1957. Volume One. A Guide to the Field Notes: Native American History; Language, and Culture of Alaska/Northwest Coast. (Kraus International Publications, Millwood, New York): I/21- I/2. 8 Turner, Nancy, Laurence Thompson, Terry Thompson and Annie York (1990) Thompson Ethnobotany: Knowledge and Usage of Plants by the Thompson Indians of British Columbia. 9 Wyatt, David (1998). ‘Thompson.’ Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 12: Plateau. Washington: Smithsonian Institution: 191-202; ‘Nicola.’ Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 12: Plateau. Washington: Smithsonian Institution: 220-222. 10 Teit 1900: 167-170. 11 Teit 1900: 171.

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throughout all the Upper Similkameen up to the present time, and Thompson blood is probably predominant there yet….. When describing the Thompson Indians I have included in their territory the Nicola valley, which is dominantly under Thompson influence. The other part, nowadays under strong Okanagon influence, I include in the Okanagon territory.”12

The boundaries of Nlaka’pamux territory and the internal divisions identified by Teit in 1900 are depicted in Figure 2.13 The Cawa’xamux, the people of the Nicola River, are the focus of this report. They will be referred to as the Nicola Nlaka’pamux.

Nicola Nlaka’pamux (Cawa’xamux or Tcawa’xamux) In 1895, Teit stated that the Nlaka’pamux “called their division which lived along the lower Nicola River, Tcawa’qamuq.”14 Teit listed 13 villages of the Tcawa’qamuq which were located near the Nicola River and provided distances from Spences Bridge for their location. Coldwater is one of the villages listed (number 10):

1. “Kapatci’tein (“little sandy shore”) - 12 miles from Spences Bridge; 2. Ca’xanîx (“little stone or rock”) - 16 miles above Spences Bridge; 3. x’û’tx’ûtkawê˥ (“holes by or near the trail”) - 23 miles above Spences Bridge; 4. xanᴇxᴇwê˥ (“stone by or near the trail”) - 27 miles above Spences Bridge; 5. Qaiiskana’ or Koiskana’ “name of a bush”) - Petit Creek, 29 miles from Spences Bridge; 6. N’a’iᴇk or N’e’iᴇk (“bearberry”) - 39 miles above Spences Bridge; 7. T’sulu’s or Sulu’s (“open flat”) - 40? miles above Spences Bridge; 8. Pti’tᴇk or Pᴇtu’tᴇk (“little spring”) - about 41 miles above Spences Bridge; 9. Nsi’sqᴇt (“little split or divide”) - a few miles from the west end of Nicola Lake; 10. NisLa’tko or Ntsa’la’tko (“cold water”) - a few miles from the west end of Nicola Lake; 11. Zuxt (?) - west end of Nicola Lake, 50 miles above Spences Bridge; 12. Qwiltca’na (?)15 - near the middle of Nicola Lake [south shore]; and 13. Ntcê’kus or Steê’kus (“red rising ground/eminence or red face”) - 1 mile south of 12 in the mountains.”16

Many of the villages of the Nlaka’pamux were small, consisting of two or three families. A few were larger with a population of 100 or more.17

12 Teit 1930: 204. 13 Teit 1900: opposite 167. 14 Teit in Boas 1895: 553. 15 Teit counts this small village as belonging to the Douglas Lake band of the Okanagan in his, although the Nicola Nlaka’pamux claim the country all along the creek, and the people are mostly of the Nlaka’pamux tribe. 16 Teit 1900: 174. Hill-Tout listed nine N’tlaka’pamuq villages in the Nicola Valley corresponding with Teit numbers 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13 (Hill-Tout 1899: 4). 17 Teit 1900: 174.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

Quilcena was noted as the most eastern of the Nicola Nlaka’pamux villages. Teit also listed the four Okanagan villages closest to Quilcena which he stated all have “a considerable admixture of Thompson Indian blood and speak both languages.”18

In 1895, Teit noted that there has been a recent influx of other Nlaka’pamux people to the Nicola Valley:

“The most notable migration in recent years, however, is that of a large band of Lower Thompson Indians, who crossed the intervening mountains, and settled in Nicola Valley, near the mouth of Coldwater River, and in other places, where they now have reserves.”19

The above statement relates, in part, to the Indian Reserve allocated by Indian Reserve Commissioner Sproat in 1878 and is discussed in a following section on Indian Reserve Creation in the Historic Overview.

Teit stated that the Nicola River country was not always part of Nlaka’pamux territory and that the country around Nicola Lake was originally the territory of the Stûwi’x, an Athapascan tribe who were absorbed by the Nlaka’pamux. These people will be referred to as the Nicola Athapascan in this Report.

“About fifty years [ca. 1845] ago many of the Nicola band moved into the Stûwi’x country around Nicola Lake, and some of them married into the Indians there. Some members of the Spences Bridge band, who were related by marriage to the Nicola band, also moved up there.”20

Teit added that the Nlaka’pamux called the upper Nicola country “from time immemorial,” Stûwi’н.21

18 Teit 1900: 174; Teit 1930: 206. 19 Teit 1900: 179. 20 Teit 1900: 178. 21 Teit in Boas 1895: 553.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

Figure 2: Teit’s Map of Thompson Territory, “the area formerly inhabited by the Athapascan tribe of Nicola valley” indicated by shading (Teit 1900: opposite 167).

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Nicola Athapascan (Stûwi’нamuq or Stûwi’x) The identification of an Athapascan tribe in the area of Nicola Lake was first noted by geologist George Dawson in 1891. In his study of the Shuswap, Dawson included a narrative of an Athabascan-speaking Chilcotin war party that Joseph W. MacKay,22 “from different sources, has put together… notes on the early history of the Indians now inhabiting the Similkameen country:”23

“A long time before the white man first came to the country, a company of warriors from the neighbourhood of the Chilcotin River made their appearance in the Bonaparte valley, apparently with the object of attacking the Indians who were there and of making slaves of such as they could take alive. This happened during the salmon-fishing season.

At that time it was customary for the Shuswaps who lived on the banks of the Thompson between Kamloops and the mouth of the Bonaparte and in the Bonaparte valley, to take their winter stock of salmon from the Fraser River at the western base of the Pavilion Mountain.

The warriors above mentioned had evidently calculated that most of the Shuswaps would be absent from their winter quarters on the Bonaparte and Thompson valleys, and would be encamped on the Fraser River during the salmon season, and that therefore they might make an easy prey of the few Indians who might be remaining in these valleys. It happened that during the previous winter provisions had been more than ordinarily scarce, in consequence of which all the Shuswaps belonging to these localities had removed to their salmon fisheries on the Fraser.

The strangers from Chilcotin were evidently ignorant of the geography of the country into which they had penetrated, and as they saw no Shuswaps where they had expected to find them, they continued their advance southward down the Bonaparte and Thompson valleys till they reached a position opposite the mouth of the Nicola River. At this place they were discovered by some scouts belonging to the N-tla-ka-pe-mooh tribe, who immediately descended to Nicomen and Tl-kam-cheen (Lytton), where most of the members of this tribe were assembled for the salmon fishery. They gave the alarming information that a hostile company was advancing down the Thompson.

A strong force of the N-tla-ku-pe-mooh immediately set out to intercept the strangers, and having soon ascertained their position and probable strength, established themselves both in front and behind them. The intruders, after they discovered that they were thus menaced by a force stronger than their own, took advantage of the night to cross the Thompson and proceeded to ascend the Nicola valley. The N-tla-ka-pe-mooh followed

22 Joseph William MacKay was HBC Chief Trader for the Thompson’s River District in the 1860s and later Indian Agent for the Department of Indian Affairs for the Kamloops and Okanagan Agencies. 23 Dawson, G. M. (1891). ‘Notes on the Shuswap People of British Columbia.’ Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada: 24.

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and harassed them, continuing to do so till the strangers were driven into the Similkameen valley, where they took a firm stand, and by their prowess, obliged their pursuers to desist from molesting them. The strangers were mostly young men, who had their wives with them, but only a few children, for in these primitive days the women accompanied their husbands to war and were valuable auxiliaries. The neighbouring N- tla-ka-pe-mooh and Salish of the Okanagan soon discovered that the stranger women were larger and better looking than their own, and treaties for peace and intermarriages were made. The language of the strangers fell gradually into disuse, and only a few words of it are now remembered by the oldest Indians of the Similkameen, the N-tla-ka- pe-mooh and Okanagan dialects now being used by these people indiscriminately. These strangers, who are said to have come from the Chilcotin country, are thus the earliest inhabitants of the Similkameen valley of whom any account has been obtained.”24

Dawson added information he had collected in 1888 in the Nicola Valley that he linked with the McKay narrative:

“An Indian named Joyaska, who lives in the Nicola valley, below the lake, and who is probably over sixty years old, informed me (in 1888) that he, with seven other men and some women and children belonging to them, were now the only remaining true natives of the Nicola region. Most of the Indians now living in this region are, according to him, comparatively new comers from the Similkameen and Thompson River countries, who have settled in Nicola because of its good grazing lands and otherwise favourable situation. He further states that his people spoke a language different from that now spoken in the country. His father spoke this language, but as he was but a little boy when his father died, he remembered only a few words. He could not say whence his people originally came, but after endeavouring to get him to think this out unsuccessfully, I asked him if the old language was like that of the Tshilkotin (Tinneh) to the north, and he said it was the same.”25

This was of interest to anthropologist Franz Boas as Dawson’s information conflicted in part with information which he himself had collected. Boas was unable to pursue his interest in the Nicola Athapascan (Stûwi’нamuq) himself in 1895 and requested Teit “collect as much

24 Dawson, George M. (1891). ‘Notes on the Shuswap People of British Columbia.’ Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada for the Year 1891, Series II: 24-25. 25 Dawson, George M. (1891): 25, 26.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study information as possible on the tribe.”26 In March 1895, Teit visited the Nicola Valley where he talked with three old men, Tᴇmskolaxan, Tcuiêska and Anapkᴇn, 27 who were:

“one quarter Stûwi’нamuq blood; each of them is old and white-haired, and I should judge over seventy years of age. One of them said he remembered when he was a boy his grandfather pointed out to him the spot on the Nicola a little below the lake where he (the old man) was born, and also told him that his people had always inhabited the region. This old man must have been born in Nicola at least 120 years ago…”28

Teit provided significantly more detail on the Nicola Athapascan (Stûwi’нamuq) in the 1895 paper than he collected for his Nlaka’pamux study published in 1900:

“Another old man…. was taken when a lad, by his father, all over the boundaries of the tribal territory in order to press upon him the different landmarks which constituted at that time the tribal boundaries. One of the old men named his ancestors for four generations back, saying that at that time the whole tribe lived in three camps or subterranean lodges, and that there were not very many people in each (probably forty or fifty souls), and that they all wintered along Nicola River below the lake, and in close proximity to each other. … The man mentioned war parties of Okanagan, Ntlakya’pamuq, and Shuswap, who attacked their fortifications unsuccessfully. These events happened three or four generations before his time.

Three generations ago the tribe had some admixture of Okanagan and Ntlakya’pamuq blood. Some of them had wives from among their tribes, and the latter took wives from among them….. They said when young they had the old people of the tribe telling mythological stories, but these were just the same as those current among the Okanagan and Ntlakya’pamuq…. I questioned them extensively regarding the customs of their ancestors, and found these corresponded exactly with those of the Ntlakaya’pamuq. Their weapons were also exactly the same. Their names, so far back as they can trace them, are also Ntlakya’pamuq……

They say that about sixty years ago [ca.1835] the winter habitations of the Ntlakya’pamuq extended up the Nicola River only some 17 miles. The country above this point was recognized as belonging to the Stûwi’нamuq….. The Cawa’qamuq used in former days only to go into the Stûwi’н country in the summer and fall to hunt. … When

26 Boas, Franz (1895). ‘The Tinneh Tribe of Nicola Valley (report by James Teit)’ Fifth Report on the Indians of British Columbia II. Report of the Sixty-fifth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, September 1895. London: John Murray: 552-555. 27 One of the old men was named Tcuiê’ska or Sê’sûluskîn (Teit in Boas 1895: 553) This man is the elder identified as Joyaska who Dawson had talked to in 1888; Tᴇmskolaxan, Tcuiêska and Anapkᴇn (Teit, James A. (ca.1910). Thompson Materials. Boas Collection, S1b.13. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society Archives). 28 Teit in Boas 1895: 552.

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the number of horses29 of the Cawa’qamuq began to increase, many of these people moved up to the Stûwi’н country on account of its good grazing, and settled there about fifteen years before the advent of the white miners in 1858 [ca. 1843]. After the country was partly settled by the whites more Cawa’qamuq, many Uta’mk.t,30 and some Ntlakyapamuqo’e and Okanagan settled in Stûwi’н country…. The Nicola Tinneh [Athapascan] who were already mixed with these tribes, never offered any opposition to their settlement. At the time of the advent of whites (1858) the recognised chief of the Nicola region was Nᴇwisîskîn, a Cawa’qamuq. The Ntlakya’pamuq soon became the prevailing language of that district.”31

Teit later added more information on the wars between the Nicola Athapascan and the Nlaka’pamux, Okanagan and Shuswap:

“Long ago the Stuwi’x (the Athapascan Nicola-Similkameen tribe) had frequent wars with the Thompson. This was at a time before the latter had intermarried much with them. The Lytton band of the Thompson were the people who attacked the Stuwi’x most frequently. The Shuswap and Okanagon also attacked them. The latter drove them away from near the mouth of Similkameen River, and occupied their- territory there; and the same may have been done by the Thompson near the mouth of the Nicola River. The Thompson ceased to attack the Stuwi’x after they had intermarried considerably with them, as they were afraid of killing their own kin, or, as they say, of “spilling their own blood.” The Okanagon, for the same reason and also because they made fast friends with the Thompson and became their allies, also ceased to attack the Stuwi'x.”32

In 1900, Teit returned to Nicola to gather additional information on the Nicola Athapascan (Stûwi’x) language:

“About 1820 some thirty to thirty five people spoke the stu’wix language habitually in the Nicola country. Most of them were very old people, some of them pure stu’wix whilst the others were mostly half stu’wix and half Thompson. The rest of the tribe in Nicola who were all more or less mixed with Thompson used the Thompson language. Some of them understood most of the stu’wix, and occasionally spoke a few words of it. Some of the stu’wix people, and those part Thompson were also mixed with Okanagan, but by far the most mixture in early times was with Thompson; intermarriage with the latter having taken place from the earliest known times.….”33

29 Wyatt states that the Okanagan had horses early in the eighteenth century (Wyatt 1998:199). On June 16, 1808, Simon Fraser met people he identified as Hakamaugh [Thompson] on horseback (Fraser in Lamb ed.1960: 84). 30 Lower Thompson. 31 Teit in Boas 1895: 552, 553. 32 Teit 1930: 257. 33 Teit, James A. (ca.1910). Thompson Materials. Boas Collection, S1b.13. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society Archives.

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Teit noted that the three men who gave him information in 1895 had passed away several years ago.

“I got no additional information from them before they died, excepting a few notes as to the numbers of people speaking the language in the olden times.”34

In the1900 publication, Teit included a map of the territory of the Nlaka’pamux, with “the area formerly inhabited by the Athapascan tribe of Nicola valley” shaded. The shaded area includes the Coldwater River (Figure 2).35 The area corresponds very loosely to that identified on the Archibald McDonald map as part of the country of the “Schimilicameachs” (Similkameen) (see Figure 7 in the Historic Overview section).

More information on the Similkameen is provided by Teit:

“…. the Similkameen country originally belonged to neither tribe [Thompson or Okanagan]. In olden days it was occupied by the Stuwi’x or Nicola-Similkameen Athapascan tribe.”36

“…it is said that in the early part of the past century there were only three or four real chiefs in the Nicola-Similkameen country -- Nicolas, at Douglas Lake, Upper Nicola (he had Spokan, Okanagon, and some Stuwi’x blood); Soxkokwa's (“Sun”), in the central part of Nicola Valley (he was half Stuwi’x and half Thompson); and Martinus (also of mixed descent), in Similkameen. Later Nawi’sesqᴇn (“raised high head” or “able to be high head”) became recognized chief in the central part of Nicola. He was pure Thompson, and leader of the Thompson people who settled in the Nicola Valley….. Some say that at the same time Skeū’s was chief of the Upper Similkameen. At the present day and for some time past there have been three chiefs in Similkameen, one at Douglas Lake besides the head chief, and five in Nicola Valley. Of these, at least six are of almost pure Thompson blood.”37

Ethnographic Overview Summary In the ethnographic documents reviewed for this report, Coldwater is identified as one of the villages of the Nicola Nlaka’pamux or Cawa’xamux (Tcawa’xamux), one of the divisions of the Upper Thompson (Nlaka’pamux).

34 Teit, James A. (ca.1910). 35 Teit, J. A. (1900). ‘The Thompson Indians of British Columbia.’ Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 2 (Anthropology 1): opposite p.167. 36 Teit 1930: 204. 37 Teit 1930: 262.

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The eastern area of the Nicola Valley was originally occupied by an Athabascan-speaking people the Nlaka’pamux called Stûwi’нamuq (Stûwi’x), the Nicola Athapascan. The Nicola Nlaka’pamux hunted in the area of Stûwi’x and intermarried with the Stûwi’нamuq. By the early 1800s, many of the Nicola Athapascan spoke the Nlaka’pamux language and most aspects of their culture were identified as Nlaka’pamux. The elderly people anthropologists talked to in the late nineteenth century had ¼ Stûwi’нamuq ancestry. These people had little knowledge of the Stûwi’нamuq language and stories they had learned from their grandparents were identified as Nlaka’pamux.

Based on review of the ethnographic sources, it is my opinion that the Stûwi’нamuq, the Nicola Athapascan, had been culturally absorbed by the Cawa’xamux, the Nicola Nlaka’pamux, by the early nineteenth century.

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Historic Overview

Contact Period First recorded contact with the Nlaka’pamux was by Simon Fraser in July 1808. Subsequent contact in Nlaka’pamux territory was by the first traders with the Pacific Fur Company, the North West Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). Initially, Indian trails were used to access areas but the HBC later developed “brigade trails” to more efficiently move animals and products of the trade. Later explorations were associated with the British military after the 1846 Treaty with the United States defined the border between the British and American territories. The Coldwater River area was largely bypassed by the early expeditions, consequently there is little information in the historic record relating to the area.

Fur Traders The earliest recorded account of Nlaka’pamux territory is the journal and letters of Simon Fraser, who spent the years 1806-1808 exploring the interior of what is now British Columbia for the North West Company (NWC). He descended the Fraser River as far as the North Arm in 1808. In June 1808, Fraser encountered a people whom he called “Hakamaugh,” in the vicinity of the mouth of the Thompson River. His party then continued down the Fraser and did not enter the Thompson River.

Fraser’s map is lost but in 1814, David Thompson, surveyor and astronomer with the North West Company, drew a map of the “North-West Territory of the Province of Canada from actual survey during the years 1792-1812” which would have included information from Fraser.38 There are later copies of the map which have annotations by Thompson including the locations of the tribes. In the area of the Thompson River, a village of the “Kootoomin tribe” is depicted (Figure 3). Kootoomin is the term used by the North West Company for the Nlaka’pamux. The HBC traders rendered the name as Coutamine. The name is likely derived from the name of the Nlaka’pamux village, Nkamtici’n, at the confluence of the Thompson and Nicola Rivers.

38 Thompson, David (1814, revised to c.1826?). Map of the North-West Territory of the Province of Canada from actual survey during the years 1792-1812. UK National Archives FO 925/4622. In Hayes, Derek 2012: 41, Map 113.

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Figure 3: Section of David Thompson’s map depicting the village of the Kootoomin Tribe on the Thompson River (1814, revised c.1826).

In 1812, the North West Company established the Thompson’s River trading post, subsequently known as Fort Kamloops. After the HBC and NWC merged in 1821, the HBC kept this post open. The earliest known journal from the Thompson’s River post is dated 1822-1823. There are a number of journal entries relating to trade by the Coutamine. On 5 September 1822, a “Coutamine Indian” arrived at the post with furs and was treated violently by the Indians living

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study near the post.39 Another group of Coutamines came to trade on 15 December, carrying salmon and beaver furs.40

When the HBC and NWC merged the maps of Thompson became accessible to the HBC. This information was provided by the HBC to authorities in Great Britain where it was incorporated into British maps of North America. The earliest map that depicted the Thompson and Nicola region as the territory of the “Kootomin” Indians was published by Wyld in 1823 (Figure 4). 41

Figure 4: Section of Wyld's Map of North America depicting the location of the “Kootomin Indians,” 1823 (David Rumsey Collection). (In Hayes, Derek (2012). British Columbia: A New Historical Atlas: 44, Map 121).

39 McMillan, J. and J. McLeod (1822-1823). Thompson's River Journal by James McMillan and John McLeod, 1822 and 1823. Winnipeg: Hudson's Bay Company Archives. File B.97/a/1. pp.5-6. 40 McMillan, J. and J. McLeod (1822-1823). Thompson's River Journal by James McMillan and John McLeod, 1822 and 1823:18. 41 Wyld, J. (1823). Map of North America from 20 to 80 Degrees North Latitude, Exhibiting the Recent Discoveries, Geographical and Nautical. David Rumsey Collection. James Wyld (1790-1836) was an influential British cartographer who took over William Faden’s mapmaking business in London and also his title of Geographer to the Queen, a title passed to his son, James Wyld, following his death in 1836.

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An 1824 map by the mapmaking firm of Aaron Arrowsmith, “Exhibiting all the New Discoveries in the Interior Parts of North America,” also depicted the Kootomin Indians in the area between the Fraser and Okanagan Rivers (Figure 5).42 New information was applied to a copy of this map by HBC employees as patches. In the area of the Thompson River, the Nicola River is depicted for the first time on a map with the name “Ni cute magh” (Figure 6).

Figure 5: 1824 Arrowsmith Map which depicts the Kootomin Indians east of the Fraser and Thompson Rivers confluence.

42 Arrowsmith, Aaron (1824). “A Map Exhibiting all the New Discoveries in the Interior Parts of North America.” Winnipeg: Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, G3/88. In Hayes, Derek (2012). British Columbia: A New Historical Atlas: 45, Map 123. Aaron Arrowsmith (1750-1823) was a British cartographer and map publisher. His business was continued by his sons.

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Figure 6: Section of the 1824 Arrowsmith Map with a patch applied by the HBC which shows the “Ni cute magh” (Nicola River). (HBC Archives G4/31). Also in Hayes 2012: 47, Map127.

In 1823, John McLeod, clerk in charge of the Thompson’s District, described in his report for 1822-23, the seven tribes that “resort to this Post [Kamloops]” including the “Cou-ta-mine Indians and Si-miola-cu-miachs [Similkameen].”

“Cou-ta-mine Indians, their boundaries begin at the termination of that of the Shuswaps and countries westward down the Banks of Thompson River till ten leagues43 below the confluence of [unclear - Fraser River probably]. This is very numerous and brought us a good share of the Kamloops trade this last winter. They are very insolent to the whites when up on trading excursions on their lands….

43 A league is 3 miles.

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Si-miola-cu-miachs, they inhabit that part of the Country that is laying between Thompson's and [word obscured by damage to page] Rivers and west of the Country inhabited by the Okanagan Indians”44

It is my opinion that HBC traders appear to be using the term Similkameen (various spellings) to describe the Nicola Athapascan of Teit. Their territory included the Similkameen Valley in southern British Columbia.

In 1826, Archibald McDonald, HBC clerk in charge of the Thompson District, visited the Nicola Lake region in 1826.45 On 10 September 1826, he recorded that a discussion of “the different parts of the surrounding country whence the Indians come in” was “annexed to this Journal.”46 The Letterbook contains a full report to John McLoughlin, Chief Factor at Fort Vancouver, dated 30 September:

“I set out accompanied by 8 men & Nicolas, the Upper Okanagan Chief, on Monday the 18th Inst and… in seven days we were back after performing the desired object…

This river to the mouth of the Coutamine is not bad, & indeed to the little rivulet Nicaumchin there are no very dangerous places…

On arrival at the Forks (that is, the Thompson River mouth)… I then left the Indian Chief & 4 men with the horses and our little property, & proceeded by land… for the span of about 8 miles…

During the trip we had the good fortune to see but few Indians: their salmon fishing was over, and by that time they were back in the mountains after the deer…

Herewith I forward a sketch of the river, & the other objects referred to in this report…

P.S. 24 October 1826. On reference to the sketch you will find dotted off my track from Thompson River the other day by Schimilicameach & where I assumed the Indian path not far from where I left it when coming up the Coutamine. What I have seen of the country there would not discourage me from adopting that passage in preference to go round by Kamloops.”47

44 McLeod, John (1823). Untitled [Thompson’s District Report]. BC Archives, MS-2715, John McLeod file, Microfilm reel A1656(1), copy of Library and Archives Canada, MG19-A23, John McLeod fonds, volume 1. 45 McDonald, A. (1826-1827). Journal of Occurrences at Thompson's River, 1826/27. Hudson's Bay Company Archives. File B.97/a/2, Microfilm reel 1M66. Winnipeg: 27fo. 46 McDonald, A. (1826-1827). Journal of Occurrences at Thompson's River: 3. 47 Cole, Jean Murray ed. (2001). This Blessed Wilderness: Archibald McDonald's Letters from the Columbia, 1822- 44. Vancouver: UBC Press: 42, 44-45.

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On 24 October, McDonald sent this report to McLoughlin together with a cover letter in which he described it as “a short report with a rough sketch of the country from Thompson River Establishment down to the Forks of Fraser River.”48

McDonald’s journal also contained entries relating to daily happenings at the trading post. Both the Schimilicameachs and the Coutamines are noted as trading on a regular basis. In December 1826, he attended a “grand affair” attended by about 300 men at which the Coutamines and Shewhaps exchanged gifts:

“I acknowledged the good behaviour of the Coutamines when I was among them [and] intimated our intention of soon going that way again for salmon, & the probability of the whites by & bye passing thro their country with Boats &c &c, all of which seemed to leave them with sentiments of additional regard for us… None of the Okanagans attended & but very few of the Schimilicameach.”49

The 1827 Thompson District Report by McDonald included a census of Indians in the district and other information. McDonald appended to this report a sketch map showing “the land Situation of the different tribes & divisions alluded to in this Report.” The District Report does not contain a map.50 There is a sketch map drawn on the final page of the Thompson River Letter Book that may be a copy of the District Report map (Figure 7).

The map from the final page of the Letter Book shows the “Coutamine River,” the present-day Nicola River, as a tributary to “Thompson’s River” which in turn flows into the Fraser River.51 The boundaries of various indigenous groups are drawn on the map in coloured ink. The origin of the boundary lines is unclear. The base map is meticulously drawn but the boundaries are less well drawn and may have been added at a later time.

On the McDonald map, the upper Coutamine River is depicted within the northern end of the “Schimilicameachs” (Similkameen) territory. The territory to the northwest of there, including the downstream portion of the Coutamine River, was held by the “Coutamines.” The area to the east, encompassing Okanagan Lake, was held by the “Okanagans,” and the area to the northeast by the “Satcheminas.”

48 Cole, Jean Murray ed. (2001). This Blessed Wilderness: Archibald McDonald's Letters from the Columbia, 1822- 44: 47-48. 49 Cole, Jean Murray ed. (2001). This Blessed Wilderness: Archibald McDonald's Letters from the Columbia, 1822- 44: 53-55. 50 McDonald, A. (1827). Thompson River District Report, 1827. In Rich, E.E. (1947). Part of Dispatch from George Simpson Esq, Governor of Ruperts Land, to the Governor & Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company London: March 1, 1829: Continued and Completed March 24 and June 5, 1829. Toronto: Champlain Society: 224-233. The original version is file B.97/e/1, Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Winnipeg. The McDonald Sketch Map comes from B.97/a/2, the Kamloops post Letter Book. 51 McDonald, Archibald (1827). “A Sketch of Thompson’s River District 1827.” Winnipeg: HBC Archives B97/a/2. In Hayes, Derek (2012): 46, Map 126.

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The 1827 District Report census lists the groups, principal chiefs, and their populations in the district. McDonald identified 11 “tribes,” including the “Coutamines,” “Schimilicameachs,” and “Okanakans.” The tribes were enumerated by chief or principal man. The Coutamines had two chiefs, Senitsea and Tunuska, as did the Schimilicameachs, Naltakin and Chi coo quaas. Significantly, the Coutamines people and those Schimilicameachs people associated with Chief Chi coo quas were enumerated together suggesting that they were perceived as a single group by McDonald (total population 1076).52 McDonald provided no additional information on these tribes in his report.

52 McDonald, A. (1827). Thompson River District Report, 1827. In Rich, E.E. (1947). Part of Dispatch from George Simpson Esq, Governor of Ruperts Land, to the Governor & Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company London: March 1, 1829: Continued and Completed March 24 and June 5, 1829. Toronto: Champlain Society: 231.

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Figure 7: “A Sketch of Thompson’s River District 1827” by Archibald McDonald (In Hayes, Derek (2012): 46, Map 126).

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In 1835, Samuel Black, Chief Trader at Kamloops,53 drew a detailed map of the District (Figure 8).54 This map is remarkable for the detail it provides. The Nicola River is named the South Branch [of the Thompson River]. Spius Creek is named “Shimilkomeen Fork.” Two “barriers,” likely fish trap fences, are depicted on the lower Nicola River. “Couteaumeens” is depicted at the junction of the Fraser and Thompson Rivers. The 1826 route of McDonald’s party, discussed earlier, is shown going south along the Coldwater River to the “Shimilkcomeen Branch” of the Okanagan River, and north around Nicola Lake. Another trail is depicted on the south side of Nicola Lake heading south along a creek [Quilchena Creek] to the Shimilkcomeen Branch. “Little Knives Ind” is written along the Nicola River from the junction with the Thompson River. This is the first time that the word Knife is used for the Thompson. As noted earlier, Couteau or Knife was a term used by the Hudson’s Bay Company for the Nlaka’pamux. Why the word “little” is used is not known. It may refer to being a sub-group of the Couteau.

Figure 8. Section of Untitled Map by Samuel Black, 1835 (BC Archives CM/B2079; Also in Hayes 2012: 50, Map 136).

53 Black was Chief Trader at Kamloops from 1830 to 1841. 54 Black, Samuel (1835). Untitled Map Victoria: BC Archives CM/B2079; A colour copy of this map is in Hayes 2012: 50, Map 136.

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During the early 1840s, the United States and Great Britain negotiated the international boundary in the Oregon Territory, eventually leading to the signing of the Oregon Treaty in 1846 and the settling of the boundary along the 49th parallel. In connection with these negotiations, Wyld produced maps of the disputed country. These maps again made reference to the Indians inhabiting the Nicola-Thompson area as the Coutamines.55 The first maps depicting the gold fields of British Columbia in 1858 depict the area south of the Thompson River and east of the Fraser River as Couteau (Nlaka’pamux) Country.56

Following the signing of the Oregon Treaty, the HBC transitioned its western posts and supply routes north. Between 1846 and 1848, Alexander Caulfield Anderson, HBC trader, explored several potential new brigade trail routes linking Fort Kamloops with Fort Langley on the coast. These explorations brought Anderson along the Nicola River in 1847 and along the Coldwater River in 1848, although he does not refer to specific Indian villages or camps in these areas in his surviving journals. Because these trips were made in early summer, Anderson likely would not have encountered people at their winter villages.57

Based on information contained in his earlier journals and sketches, Anderson eventually produced a large map of B.C. in 1867, on which he marked his brigade trails through the southern interior (Figure 9).58

55 See Map 166 in Hayes 2012: 57. 56 See Maps 179 and 186 in Hayes 2012: 62, 67. 57 Anderson, N. M. (2011). The Pathfinder: A.C. Anderson's Journeys in the West. Vancouver: Heritage House: 136. 58 Anderson, A. C. (1867). Map of British Columbia. Victoria: BC Archives. Map CM/F9. Victoria.

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Figure 9: Portion of Anderson's Map of British Columbia, 1867 (BC Archives. Map CM/F9).

This map shows the “Brigade Trail, 1848” between the Fraser River and Nicholas Lake (Nicola Lake) via the Coldwater River.

Anderson’s journals provide further detail on his explorations of 1846-1848 although not upon the identity of any possible inhabitants of the Coldwater valley at that time. In 1846, his party set out from Langley on their return trip to Fort Kamloops intending to make the journey via the Similkameen River. On their way up this river his party encountered “old Blackeye, the Similkameen & his son-in-law.” Blackeye recommended to Anderson a “horse road” maintained by the Similkameen which was “very short as Compared with the long & painful Circuit made by us.”59

Anderson was sufficiently impressed by this route that he made arrangements to meet Blackeye at Nicola Lake the following May to receive additional information and plan his route back to Fort Langley.60 Blackeye was late and it is not clear whether the two actually met.

59 Anderson, A. C. (1878). History of the Northwest Coast, 1848: Transcribed by Joyce Kirk, 27 November 1972 [excerpts]. BC Archives. MS-559, Box 3. Victoria. pp. 154-155. 60 Anderson, A. C. (1878): 161.

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The 1847 return trip from Fort Langley brought Anderson through the Coldwater valley. The party departed the Fraser River at Kequeloose on a “horse portage” on June 1.61 Anderson was accompanied by unnamed “Guides from Thompson’s River.”62 Their route brought them along the Coldwater River on 10 June:

“Leave enct. 4 ½ A.M.; in two hours reach the ford of R. la grimace, a feeder of Nicholas River… Thence three hours to the cold water River, another tributary of Nicholas’ River; Cross and follow down the right bank, through a fine country till its junction with the main stream, a distance of about 20 miles.”63

This appears to be the same route taken by McDonald in 1826.

Contact Period Summary First contact in the area of Nlaka’pamux territory was in 1808 by Simon Fraser of the North West Company. Traders with this Company were the first to interact and name the Nlaka’pamux. The name they used for the Nlaka’pamux was “Kootoomin” (various spellings) which is likely a variation of the name of the Nlaka’pamux village, Nkamtici’n, at the confluence of the Thompson and Nicola Rivers. This village is depicted on an 1814 (updated 1826) map by David Thompson. The name initially started as the name of the tribe at this village but became generalized to represent all the Nlaka’pamux. Kootoomin is the only tribe depicted on published British maps in the region of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers confluence throughout the Colonial period. The name Kootoomin is rendered Coutamine (with spelling variations) by Hudson’s Bay Company traders. HBC traders named the Nicola River the Coutamine River.

On an 1827 HBC map, the upper Nicola River is depicted as being within the territory of the Similkameen, the HBC name for the Nicola Athapascan. However, in the accompanying census, one of the three Similkameen sub-groups is enumerated with the Coutamine suggesting that at least part of the Similkameen were considered Coutamine at this time. This Similkameen group is likely the Stûwi’нamuq of Teit. In 1835, “Little Knives” Indians are depicted along the Nicola River on a HBC map. Couteau or Knife was a term used for the Nlaka’pamux by HBC traders.

It is my opinion based on preliminary research for this Report that the term Kootoomin or Coutamine in the Contact period records refers to the Nlaka’pamux. The term Similkameen (various spellings) in the Contact period records refers to the Athapascan peoples who Teit refers to as the Stûwi’нamuq, the Nicola Athapascan. Further, it is my opinion that the Nicola River region was largely Nlaka’pamux territory in the early 1800s. The term Little Knives may be recognition of a sub-group of the Nlaka’pamux, the Nicola Nlaka’pamux.

61 Anderson, A. C. (1878): 177. 62 Anderson, A. C. (1878): 185. 63 Anderson, A. C. (1878):187.

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Colonial Period Explorations of the southern British Columbia interior continued in the Colonial period. In 1859, Lt. Richard Charles Mayne of the Royal Navy made a journey inland to Fort Kamloops, traveling up the Nicola River to Nicola Lake where he met Noweeticum, the chief of the Skowtous tribe:

“We came up with the [Nicola] Lake. Here for the first time I saw mounted Indians of the interior… When we camped overnight, I had no idea that we were in the close proximity of Indians, and upon waking in the morning I was not a little surprised to see an old Indian on horseback looking into the tent. Tom at once introduced him as No-as-is-ticun, the chief of the Skowtous tribe, and a connection of his own, and very soon a large number came riding up to our encampment, all fairly mounted on light yet fleet horses. My new friend with the long name was very friendly and sent one of his men to his hut for a grouse…

Coming out of the tent… I found that we were upon rising ground, with a river flowing beneath us, and that beyond a wide valley of undulating land extended for several miles, which was dotted with Indian villages, the smoke of whose fires was rising into the clear air, while over it we could see Indian horsemen galloping about in various directions. The old chief informed me that these were the homes of his tribe, the Skowtous,64 and that his domain extended as far as the Thompson River, which divided him from the Shuswap Indians.

Upon my telling him whither I was going, the chief at once expressed a desire to accompany us through his territory, and offered us horses for the journey… [H]e joined us with a staff of eight or ten of his tribe, all well mounted.”65

On Mayne’s map, the label Skowtous Indians is depicted on the south side of the Nicola River and western end of Nicola Lake (Figure 10).66 No villages are marked on the map. The mountains on either side of Nicola Lake are named, Squmalist or Service Berry Mountain on the north, and Wha-Hatch-Aller or Otter Mountain on the south. A trail is also marked on the north side of the Nicola River and Lake.

64 “Skowtous” is possibly Mayne’s rendering of T’sulu’s or Sulu’s, one of the villages of the Cawa’xamux (see ethnographic overview section). 65 Mayne, R. C. (1862). Four Years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island: An Account of Their Forests, Rivers, Coasts, Gold Fields, and Resources for Colonisation. London, John Murray: 113-114; also see 296, 300. 66 Mayne. Lieutenant Richard C. (1859). Map: Sketch of Part of British Columbia by Lieutenant R.C. Mayne, R.M. on H.M.S. Plumper, 1859. Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia, Surveyor General Division. Map Vault. 14T2 Miscellaneous. Lithographed at the Topographical Depot of the War Office, Col. H. James R.E. Director.

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Figure 10: Section of the 1859 map ‘Sketch of Part of British Columbia,’ by Lieutenant R.C. Mayne of the Royal Navy (Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia, Surveyor General Division. Map Vault. 14T2 Miscellaneous).

In 1866, Anglican missionary John B. Good arrived at Yale. The following year, a delegation of “Thompson Indians” from Lytton led by chief Sashiatan visited him and asked him to come to Lytton to teach the gospel there, which he did.67 In his 1868 annual report, Good described the Nicola River as part of the territory of the Nlaka’pamux Indians:

“The Indians speaking what we term the Thompson tongue do not probably exceed fifteen hundred souls… and they range from Spuzzum… to within a short distance of Lilooet…; then, taking the Thompson River and valley commencing at Lytton, they extend as far as Bonaparte country, where we come in contact with those speaking the Kamloops dialect. Then leaving the headwaters of the Thompson they stretch along the Nicolas River as far

67 Good, J. B. (1867). Thompson River Indians. Ninth Annual Report of the Columbia Mission, for the Year 1867. London: Rivingtons: 61-62.

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as the Nicolas Lake, including also the beautiful Midas Valley,68 in immediate proximity to which is the Similkameen Valley; the many occupants of which speak quite another tongue [Okanagan].”69

On at least one occasion in 1868, Nicola chief “Nuhuistan” (Nowisisticum) came to visit Good at his mission. Good described the Nicola Indians:

“A considerable tribe of Indians live on Nicolai Lake and River. The chief, Nuhuistan, came to see me to-day. He has undergone persecution in consequence of the adherence of himself and people to the Anglican Mission. He has great influence, and is anxious for a teacher to be stationed at his village. The Nicolai Indians speak the same tongue as those of Thompson River; the Simikameen speak the Shuswap.”70

The following year, Good made a trip up the Nicola River and met again with chief “Naweeshistan” as well as “the whole of Naweeshistan’s camp” near the mouth of the river.71

Coldwater Pre-emptions (1868-1870s) In 1868, William Charters acquired a pre-emption at the mouth of the Coldwater River. Subsequently, nearby lots were also surveyed for John Charters, Jesus Garcia, and William Voght.72 By the mid-1870s, much of the land in the area of the confluence of the Coldwater and Nicola Rivers had been alienated.

E. Stephens conducted a township survey in this area in 1874, including several lots at the mouth of the Coldwater River. On William Charters’s Lot 122, up the Coldwater River, he noted the presence of “old Indian grounds” (Figure 11).73 This alienation of lands where the Coldwater Nlaka’pamux had improvements was a source of conflict between the Nlaka’pamux and the new settlers.

68 It is not known what valley Good is referring to here. 69 Good, J. B. (1868). The Thompson Mission: Report, With Journal Extracts, of the Rev. J.B. Good, 10 November 1868. Tenth Annual Report of the Columbia Mission, for the Year 1868. London: Rivingtons: 132. 70 Good, J. B. (1868). The Thompson Mission: Report, With Journal Extracts, of the Rev. J.B. Good, 10 November 1868. Tenth Annual Report of the Columbia Mission, for the Year 1868. London: Rivingtons: 42. 71 Columbia Mission (1870). Eleventh Report of the Columbia Mission, for the Year 1869. London: Rivingtons: 29. 72 F.W. Laing, (1939). The Nicola District. Colonial Farm Settlers on the Mainland of British Columbia 1858-1893, with a historical sketch. Microfilm copy held by British Columbia Archives, MS-0700, Microfilm reel A-819(1). Victoria: 416-427. 73 Stephens, E. (1874). Fieldbook: Nicola Valley, BC Township Survey (Tp 87, 89, 90, 91, 93, 94): Fieldbook No. 4 (Original), 24 June-15 August 1874. Land Title and Survey Authority. Surveyor General's Division. Kamloops Division, Yale District, PH1, FB 8/74. Victoria: 25

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Figure 11: Stephens survey plan of the alienations of lands at the confluence of the Coldwater and Nicola Rivers, 1874 (Land Title and Survey Authority. Surveyor General's Division. Kamloops Division, Yale District, PH1, FB 8/74).

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In 1868, Peter O’Reilly, Colonial Gold Commissioner and future Indian Reserve Commissioner, reported that settlers were beginning to pre-empt land in the Nicola Lake region and recommended the creation of Indian Reserves there “without delay.… in order to avoid trouble hereafter.”74 Joseph W. Trutch, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works (CCLW), instructed O’Reilly to establish “reserves for the use of the Indians resident thereon.”75

On 5 August, O’Reilly received instructions “to undertake the adjustments of these reserves” as soon as possible.76 He left immediately and marked off reserves for the Indians of Deadman’s Creek, the Bonaparte tribe (in this case he adjusted an earlier reserve), Savona’s Ferry, and two tribes at Nicola Lake, those of Chillihetza and Nowistican.77

On 29 August, O’Reilly reported back to the CCLW:

“I found that at Nicola Lake the Indians are divided into two tribes, one occupying the Eastern or upper, and the other the Western or lower end of the lake, “Chillihetza” being the chief of the former, and “Nowistican” of the latter……

The tribe under Chillihetza represents a population of 150, owning 20 head of cattle and 130 horses. At their request I marked out a square block of land containing about 800 to a 1000 acres for their use, situated at the mouth of a creek which flows into the lake on the South-East side, about four miles from its head; two and a half miles lower down, on the same side of the lake, I marked out for this tribe a second reserve of about 80 acres, embracing the mouth of another creek, which is particularly valuable to them on account of the fishing. The tribe under Nowistican consists of about 100, and possess 32 head of cattle and 200 horses. I had considerable difficulty in effecting any arrangement with this tribe, as they claimed a large extent of valuable land, but at last the chief consented that I should mark out about 1000 acres in one block, situated on the Nicola River, commencing nine miles from the foot of the lake.”78

The two reserves established for the tribe of Chillihetza are now Okanagan reserves and are not discussed further in this Report. The reserve for the Nowistican tribe was at Shulus,79 the seventh village in Teit’s list of the Cawa’xamux, the Nicola Thompson (see ethnographic

74 O'Reilly, P. (1868). Correspondence: P. O'Reilly to the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, 19 June 1868. Papers Connected with the Indian Land Question, 1850-1875. Victoria, Richard Wolfenden. 75 Trutch, J. W. (1868). Correspondence: J.W. Trutch, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, to P. O'Reilly, 5 August 1868. Papers Connected with the Indian Land Question, 1850-1875. Victoria, Richard Wolfenden.

76 Trutch, J. W. (1868). Correspondence: Trutch, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works to O'Reilly, 5 August 1868. Published in Papers Connected with the Indian Land Question (1875):50. Victoria. 77 O'Reilly, P. (1868). Correspondence: P. O'Reilly to the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, 29 August 1868. Papers Connected with the Indian Land Question, 1850-1875. Victoria, Richard Wolfenden. 78 O'Reilly, P. (1868). Correspondence: O'Reilly to the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, 29 August 1868. Published in Papers Connected with the Indian Land Question (1875):50-51. Victoria. 79 Shulus is located several miles downriver from Merritt.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study overview section). Surveyor Edward Mohun had accompanied O’Reilly and surveyed the reserves after O’Reilly left.80

In December 1870, Chief Naweeshistan sent a petition to Governor Musgrave stating his dissatisfaction with the reserve allotted reflecting “the great difficulty of affecting any arrangement” noted by O’Reilly at the time. The petition read:

“That the land officially reserved for the use of himself and Indians owning his authority does not meet his and their wants and wishes; but having received it from the beginning under protest, it is still in its present unaltered form, an abiding source of growing discontent and disaffection.

That the said Chief, for himself and people, respectfully prays that the reserve in dispute be laterally extended, so as to embrace on the one side his old location at Nehyig, with the water-courses, burial grounds, and potato gardens thereof, and to the junction of Nicola and fresh-water stream, called "To Tulla," on the other.”81

Reverend Good provided additional information in a covering letter:

“In laying off the reserve at Nicola Valley, between two and three years ago, a piece of land was assigned for the future use of the Indians rendezvousing in this valley, quite apart from either of the three old chief settlements which had previously been the favorite locations of these original possessors of, perhaps, the most favoured valley in this upper country. The names of these Native stations, in the order of their approach from Lytton, are “Nehyig”82 with its two burial places, two water courses, and long line of Indian potato patches, and situate about a mile inclusive of the new official reserve, a place of remarkable beauty, fertility, and natural attraction; (2.) “To Tulla,”83 some four miles further on where the Nicola River and the fresh-water stream meet, and from whence in turning to the lake we proceed in an easterly direction; and (3) the third is named “Tootch,”84 just at the foot of the lake, where Naweeshistan's elder brother Poash has lived for years past, and from which he has lately been driven in favour of a white settler who has been allowed to pre-empt over his head, and to seize upon his improvements and lands without any compensation being offered him in mitigation of the loss and grief thereby occasioned him.

80 Mohun, E. (1868). Correspondence: Mohun to the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, 6 October 1868. Published in Papers Connected with the Indian Land Question (1875): 52. Victoria; Mohun, E. and A. S. Farwell (1868). Map: Plan A [Indian Reserve at Nicola River], surveyed by Mohun & Farwell, C.E., August 1868. Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia, Surveyor General Division. Map Vault, 25T1 Land Reserves. Victoria. 81 Chief Naweeshistan (1870). Petition: Naweeshistan, Indian Chief at Nicola Valley to Governor Musgrave, 19 December 1870. Published in Papers Connected with the Indian Land Question (1875): 87. Victoria. 82 Teit 1900: 174. Village 6, N’a’iᴇk or N’e’iᴇk, of the Cawa’xamux, the Nicola Thompson division. 83 Teit 1900: 174. Village 7, T’sulu’s or Sulu’s, of the Cawa’xamux, the Nicola Thompson division. 84 Teit 1900: 174. Village 11, Zuxt, of the Cawa’xamux, the Nicola Thompson division.

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Naweeshistan from the first was most anxious to retain intact the right of the three spots severally, to which I have directed the attention of Your Excellency, but his heart was specially set upon “Nehyig,” his own favorite stopping place and head-quarters. It was here he received a most friendly visit from Your Excellency's predecessor in office, Sir James Douglas,85 to whom Naweeshistan is well and favourably known. Here, also, the present Chief Justice Begbie called upon him, and left him with assurances of safety and protection of his rights that the old man now regards as standing in imminent jeopardy.”86

There is a series of letters back and forth between Good and the Colonial bureaucracy with Good presenting the case for the Nicola. In one letter, he stated that O’Reilly had committed to returning to Nicola to address the issues:

“…in relation to the burial grounds, Mr. O'R. on my earnest expostulation, and in the presence of Naweeshistan and many others at the Court House, distinctly promised to visit Nicola and lay off so many acres, encircling these places of sepulchre, and at the same time re-examine the limitation of Naweeshistan's Reserve, but never went, notwithstanding the Indians put themselves greatly about to stay at home in order to meet him at the time announced for his visit.”87

With respect to the latter group, which included members of what was subsequently known as the Coldwater Band, O’Reilly stated the following:

“The tribe under Nowistican consists of about 100, and possess 32 head of cattle and 200 horses. I had considerable difficulty in effecting any arrangement with this tribe, as they claimed a large extent of valuable land, but at last the chief consented that I should mark out about 1000 acres in one block, situated on the Nicola River, commencing nine miles from the foot of the lake.”88

In 1873, Good published a criticism of O’Reilly’s Nicola reserves in the Daily British Colonist newspaper of Victoria. Good alleged that the reserves allotted to the Nlaka’pamux were too small and had inadequate water supplies.89 Several weeks later, the newspaper published a reply signed simply “Nicola.” This reply defended the reserve allotments and added:

“There are two portions of tribes here, each under its subordinate chief (the tyhee being at Lyton). One of these are in the upper portion of the Valley and belong to the Catholic

85 Possibly referring to Douglas’ visit to Nicola Lake in September 1860. Charles Good to Cox, 12 September 1860. BC Archives. GR 1785, Box 1, File 1. British Columbia. Gold Commissioner, Rock Creek, 1859-1862. Victoria. 86 Good, Rev. J. B. (1870). Correspondence: Good to Governor Musgrave, 19 December 1870. Published in Papers Connected with the Indian Land Question (1875): 86-87. Victoria. 87 Good, Rev. John B. (1871). Correspondence: Reverend J. B. Good to Hankin, Colonial Secretary, 3 February 1871. Published in Papers Connected with the Indian Land Question (1875): 89-90. Victoria. 88 O'Reilly, P. (1868). Correspondence: P. O'Reilly to the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, 29 August 1868. Papers Connected with the Indian Land Question, 1850-1875. Victoria, Richard Wolfenden. 89 Good, J. B. (1873). Indian Reserves, 15 September 1873. Daily British Colonist. Victoria.

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Mission; the others are in the middle or rather toward the lower part of the Valley, and are under Mr. Good’s [Anglican] jurisdiction. They are all Nicola Valley Indians nevertheless, and are counted as one tribe…

As for their old settlements, abodes, homesites, etc. having to be abandoned – if the reader has ever visited an Indian camp, where the houses are tents… and a new building site to be selected two or three times a year, he has a correct idea of the old homesites, abodes etc.”90

Colonial Period Summary In my opinion, in the Colonial period the Nicola Valley is the territory of the Nicola Nlaka’pamux of whom the Coldwater are part. In 1868, a reserve was established for the Nowistican (Nicola Nlaka’pamux) tribe on the Nicola River at Shulus, nine miles from the western end of Nicola Lake. In 1859, Mayne met Chief Nowistican at Nicola Lake and described him as Chief of the Skowtous tribe, likely his rendering of Shulus. Mayne depicts the territory of the Skowtous tribe at the western end of Nicola Lake on his map of exploration. Shulus and two other villages along the Nicola River are also described as the three of the old settlements of the original “possessors” of the Nicola Valley.

90 Nicola (1873). Indian Reserves, 25 October 1873. Daily British Colonist. Victoria.

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Coldwater Post-Confederation (1871-1958)

Exploration and Settlement Land alienations and consolidations for ranching continued in the Nicola Valley region after Confederation. By the mid-1870s, much of the land in the area of the confluence of the Coldwater and Nicola Rivers had been alienated. To facilitate getting cattle to the market of the lower mainland, the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works commissioned a survey for a proposed route for a cattle trail from Hope to the Nicola River in 1874. George Landvoight, the surveyor, noted at mile 53 from Hope “a good Indian trail on its [Coldwater River] Eastern side. This trail follows down the valley to its junction with the Nicola River, and is in good repair, evidently much travelled.”91 The trail was constructed and was used briefly to take cattle down to Hope and the Fraser Valley.

On 20 and 21 June 1874, Indian Superintendent for British Columbia, Israel Powell, met an assembled group of Nicola Indians at the Indian Reserve at Nicola Lake. A series of chiefs presented their grievances about being dispossessed of their lands. As an example, Te-Kole-a- kan an old blind man stated:

“… I have come a long way to see you, as I have had a piece of land which I have cultivated for years. Bill Charters92 came and we agreed to go into partnership together – he made a ditch and 3 other settlers came in with him – each one pre-empting 320 acres and they took all my land – fences & everything and told me to go. I said nothing & told my tribe not to create any fuss about it – I went across the creek & Mr. Chapman93 came & turned me off as he said he had got permission from the Governor to pre-empt there. I wanted to remain one year to take but Chapman would not agree to this and told me to go at once. I have had a bad feeling ever since and if I do not get back my land I shall never get over it – all my people have a sick tum tum now because the whites have taken away my land.”94

After the presentations Powell made an address and offered presents of farming implements which “they all refused – saying what is the use of tools without land.”95 George Blenkinsop, a

91 Landvoight, George (1874). Correspondence Landvoight to Beaven, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, 17 September 1874. Report of the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works of the Province of British Columbia, from the 1st December, 1873 to the 31st December, 1874. Victoria: Richard Wolfenden: 332 92 William Charters pre-empted 160 acres of what would become Lot 122 on Coldwater River on 27 June 1868 (P.R. 214); see also P.R. 26, dated 6 May 1871 (320 acres). 93 James Chapman pre-empted 320 acres of what would become Lot 126 on 14 August 1871 (P.R. 38).

94 Blenkinsop, George and I.W. Powell (1874). Diary (extracts): Visitation to Nicola Lake, 20 - 21 June 1874. Library and Archives Canada. RG 88, Volume 494 Box 3, MIKAN no. 142483. Notebooks, 1874-1900. Notes Documenting Interrogating of Various Tribes. 1874. Ottawa. George Blenkinsop, a former fur trader, accompanied Powell on this trip and kept a diary of the proceedings. 95 Blenkinsop, George and I.W. Powell (1874). Diary (extracts): Visitation to Nicola Lake, 20 - 21 June 1874. Library and Archives Canada. RG 88, Volume 494 Box 3, MIKAN no. 142483. Notebooks, 1874-1900. Notes Documenting Interrogating of Various Tribes. 1874. Ottawa.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study former fur trader, accompanied Powell on this trip. He wrote in his journal that Powell arrived at Nicola Lake where he met the chiefs and people of the local bands assembled together. A number of chiefs then spoke, including Nawistikan who complained that his lands had been pre- empted by white settlers.96

Indian Reserve Commission In the summer of 1878, Indian Reserve Commissioner Gilbert Malcolm Sproat commenced the allotment of reserves among the Nlaka’pamux tribes. He descried Nlaka’pamux territory as:

“The Nekla.kap.a.muk division or “Nation” of the Indians of British Columbia occupies the banks of the river Fraser from a few miles below Spuzzum to nearly Lillooet; the banks of the river Thompson from Lytton to the river Bonaparte (but not including the Bonaparte Indians), and the banks of the river Nicola from Cooks Ferry to the foot of Nicola Lake, including the Indians at the last named place.”97

Sproat referred to the Nicola Nlaka’pamux as Na-weese-is-ti-kun’s tribe after the chief.98

Prior to visiting Coldwater, Sproat visited the Spuzzum Indians (21 May 1878, although his Field Minute is dated 1 June 1880),99 the Boston Bar Indians (1 June 1878), the Boothroyd Indians (8 June 1878) and the Siska Indians (18 June 1878), all of whom were referenced as joint holders of the Coldwater reserves in his final Minutes of Decision. In the Spuzzum field note, Sproat noted that he expected the Spuzzum Indians to graze their livestock “in the Nicola district.”100 In his Boston Bar field minute, he reported:

“They say they have too little land… for grass for their stock in winter: there is no grass on the hills here: they have to send their horses and cattle to Nicola every winter and have to pay chiefs there for grass…

96 Blenkinsop, George and I.W. Powell (1874). Diary (extracts): Visitation to Nicola Lake, 20 - 21 June 1874. Library and Archives Canada. RG 88, Volume 494 Box 3, MIKAN no. 142483. Notebooks, 1874-1900. Notes Documenting Interrogating of Various Tribes. 1874. Ottawa. 97 Sproat, Gilbert Malcolm (1878). Field Minute on the Lytton subgroup of the Lytton group of Nekla.kap.a.muk Indians, 20 July 1878 (to CCLW). 98 Sproat, Gilbert Malcolm (1878). 99 Sproat, G. M. (1878). Minutes of Decision: Spuzzum Indians, 21 May 1878. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 6: Minutes of Decision & Sketches: G.M. Sproat: May 1878 to August 1878 (Reg. No. X11430). Vancouver. Compare with Sproat, G. M. (1880). Yale District: Spuzzum Indians: Instructions to Surveyors, 1 June 1880. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 4/13: Field Minutes - G.M. Sproat: Nekla-kap-a-muk Indians: Spuzzum Group: June 1, 1880. Ottawa. 100 Sproat, G. M. (1880). Yale District: Spuzzum Indians: Instructions to Surveyors, 1 June 1880. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 4/13: Field Minutes - G.M. Sproat: Nekla-kap-a-muk Indians: Spuzzum Group: June 1, 1880. Ottawa.

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As to the land at Nicola, I can say nothing until I study the whole question and visit that place.”101

The Boothroyd Field Minute makes no mention of a need for additional grazing areas in the Nicola Valley.102 In his Field Minute for the Kanaka Flat and Siska Indians, he indicated that the latter would be given winter grazing land for both groups “at Hamiltons Creek.”103

Sproat visited the Nicola Valley area of Nlaka’pamux territory in the late summer/early fall of 1878. In his field minute of 28 August, he described the Nicola as having three tribes:

“It may be stated that the three tribes, proper of the Nicola Valley are those at:

1. “Shack-in” or “Potatoe Gardens”

2. Na-weese-is-ti-kun’s people

3. Chilliheetsa’s people,

but that there are other lands on the Nicola or its tributaries belonging to, that is, occupied by, other tribes who have their Tribal ^i.e. winter^ places of residence elsewhere.

Other Tribes than those of Nicola proper have wintered their stock at and near the Nicola River, ever since they had stock, and some have cultivated potatoes in parts, but Chilliheetsa and Na-weese-is-ti-kun have made them pay for the former privilege.

I have told all the Indians that this paying of tribute shall now cease, and each tribe should manage and enjoy its own lands, which now have been selected to afford tillage land, and also grazing; land for summer and winter, with as little dispersion of the tracts of land as possible, though, from the nature of the country, in some parts, it has been found impracticable to find the necessary descriptions of land in one place, or near the same place. For instance – The Surveyor will find at the “Potatoe Gardens” that the Indians of Cooks Ferry and also the Indians of Nicomen have farms adjacent to the lands of the “Potatoe Garden” Indians.”104

101 Sproat, G. M. (1878). Field Minute as to the Land Questions of the Boston Bar or Tuck-kwi-owh-um Indians, 1 June 1878. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 4/2: Field Minutes - G.M. Sproat: Nekla-Kap-amuk Indians: Boston Bar Group; River Fraser 19 to 30 Mile Post, 1 June 1878. Vancouver: 7, 27-28. 102 Sproat, G. M. (1878). Field Minute: The Boothroyd Group of Indians, 8 June 1878. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 4/3: Field Minutes - G.M. Sproat: Nekla-kap-amuk Indians: Boothroyd Group; Fraser River 33 to About 43 Mile Post: June 8, 1878. Vancouver. 103 Sproat, G. M. (1878). Field Minute: Kanaka Flat and Siska Subgroups, 18 June 1878. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 4/3: Field Minutes - G.M. Sproat: Nekla-kap-amuk Indians: Kanaka Flat, and Siska Flat Group: June 18, 1878. Vancouver: 24. 104 Sproat (1878). Field Minute 20 August 1878.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

On 26 August 1878, Sproat visited a group of “mixed Indians” northwest of Coldwater along the Nicola River. He stated:

“These [mixed] Indians have had no reserves here, but have, in some instances, been settled here for a long time, having Nicola connections and not having suitable land at the tribal headquarters in the gorge between Yale and Lytton.

Their stock, of necessity they have also had to send to Nicola for winterage and they have been charged by the principal Nicola chiefs for this privilege of grazing, a practice which I explained must now come to an end.”105

In his Field Minute of 6 September 1878, Sproat laid out his observations and decisions at Coldwater. The Field Minute states that it pertains to the “Coldwater Indians:”

“The Indians formerly had fenced and cultivated patches and constructed irrigation ditches on lands now in the possession of white men near the mouth of the Coldwater, and I found a very sore feeling among the Indians on account of their being dispossessed – here as at the foot of Nicola Lake – without compensation, but rather than raise difficult questions between the Governments with respect to lands occupied and improved by white men, I finally induced the Indians to let bygones be bygones, and to take things as they were and try to make the best of what offered.

I found that there were some patches – chiefly small river bottoms up the Coldwater above the white men’s farms – and though some doubts were expressed on the point, I came to the conclusion that several at least of these would not be too high for wheat – except perhaps in some years, and accordingly, I assigned a reserve… to include these arable pieces and a necessary adjunct of grass land…

[The southern boundary was] the north line of the Mexican Gregario’s preemption…

I think the 69 mile post line will be below any land the Indians wish to cultivate on the bottom near the river, but if before the surveyor arrives, the Indians have cultivated or fenced any small piece below such post, the line can be jogged northerly on the river bottom to include such land. The 69 mile tree was shown to the Indians, and it is a good mark.

The Indians of course cannot shut the trail. They wish to change, at their own cost, a few hundred yards of the trail above the 69 tree Post, to enable them to enclose some cultivable land, and to this it cannot be supposed that the Provincial Government or the settlers can

105 Sproat, G. M. (1878). Field Minute: Nekla-kap-amuk Indians: Nicola River, Right and Left Bank About 20 to 23 Miles from Cook's Ferry: Mixed Indians of Nicola, Boston Bar, Skuppah etc. Tribes. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 4/8: Field Minutes - G.M. Sproat: Nekla-kap-amuk Indians: Nicola River: "Mixed Indians": August 26, 1878. Vancouver.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

have any sound objection. (Many roads through Indian Reserves have been changed without even asking leave, since Confederation.)…

I assign also for these Indians a curious basin in the mountains… where ‘Paul,’106 a well known and much respected Indian, has tried cultivation, he says, successfully on a limited scale. It will surprise me if crops will grow regularly there owing to its elevation, but Paul and others are going to extend their trials of the place… The people propose to have cattle or sheep at this place…

Probably the best piece of land for cultivation, except on the bottoms, will be near Quin- sah-tem stream…

The Indians as already said feel very strongly about their having without compensation at the Coldwater been dispossessed in favour of white settlers, and there would be great trouble were any attempt made to deprive them of this remnant consisting of a small privilege to enable them to cultivate about 15 acres of agricultural land.”107

The sketch map attached to the Field Minute (Figure 12) shows the sites of what became Coldwater IR No.1 and Paul’s Basin IR No.2 (Meadow IR No.3 is not shown although there are “hay lands” marked to the east). Note the “Indian trail” running through both reserves on the west bank of the Coldwater River and the “cattle trail” on the east bank of the Coldwater.108

106 Paul was subsequently identified by Indian Agent MacKay and in the Kamloops Wawa as a Boston Bar Indian who settled at Coldwater (see following Indian Affairs Annual Reports and Kamloops Wawa sections). 107 Sproat, G. M. (1878). Field Minute: The Coldwater and Its Neigbourhood, 6 September 1878. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 4/10: Field Minutes - G.M. Sproat: Nekla-kap-a-muk Indians: The Coldwater and its Neighbourhood: September 6, 1878. Vancouver. 108 Sproat, G. M. (1878). Field Minute: The Coldwater and Its Neigbourhood, 6 September 1878. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 4/10: Field Minutes - G.M. Sproat: Nekla-kap-a-muk Indians: The Coldwater and its Neighbourhood: September 6, 1878. Vancouver.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

Figure 12: Sketch of the Coldwater Reserves, 1878

The first explicit reference by Sproat to the Coldwater reserves as a common grazing reserve is in his 14 October 1878 Field Minutes for the Upper Similkameen, written after he visited Coldwater:

“With respect to winterage [for the Upper Similkameen people], the Indians at Ashnola, Keremeos &c. would object to their using the land lower down the Similkameen, and the white settlers there complain even of the above Okanagans getting grass near Keremeos. I had therefore to look in the direction of Nicola for grazing especially winterage, for these Upper Similkameen Indians…

I told the Indians that I would try to find winterage for these at Nicola somewhere, where other Indians were getting grass, as unfortunately they could not get winterage… at Similkameen.

It was decided, finally, that they should get their grass and hay on the lands of the Spuzzum and Boston Bar &c Indians in the neighbourhood of the Coldwater and this is quite understood among the three tribes – the place will be described in the instructions relative to the grazing lands of the Spuzzum and Boston Bar people.”109

109 Sproat, G. M. (1878). Similkameen Field Minutes: Instructions for Surveyors in Pursuance of the Decisions of the Indian Reserve Commission, 14 October 1878. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne

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Before leaving office in 1880, Sproat went back over his notes from the previous several years and prepared final reports. As part of this “winding up” process, he reported to Lawrence Vankoughnet, Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, he “re examine[d] every note book, and… in particular, questions necessarily left open.”110 On 12 July 1880, Sproat forwarded to the B.C. Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works a complete set of final Minutes of Decision for several places in the Nicola region, including “Cold Water in Nicola Valley.”111 A similar copy of these Minutes was submitted to the Indian Department.

Sproat referred to the Coldwater reserve as being set aside for the lower Nicola and other bands of “mixed Indians,” rather than to the “Coldwater Indians” as in his Field Minute:

“Lower Nicola Indians with mixed Indians of Spuzzum, Boston Bar, Boothroyd and Siska, and Upper Similkameen.”112

As described below, these other tribes, beginning with the Upper Similkameen in 1893, were later removed as beneficial owners of the Coldwater Reserves.

Sproat also allotted reserves for the Spuzzum Indians113 and the Boston Bar Indians114 in 1878. To each of these allotment descriptions in his final Minutes of Decision (Volume 6 of the Federal Collection), he appended an identical, undated “note,” in his handwriting:

Seymour. Volume 4/13: Field Minutes - G.M. Sproat: Nekla-kap-a-muk Indians: Upper Similkameen: October 14, 1878. Vancouver. 110 Sproat, G. M. (1880). Correspondence: G.M. Sproat, Indian Reserve Commissioner, to L. Vankoughnet, Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, 11 August 1880. Library and Archives. RG 10, Volume 3711, File 19,581. Ottawa. 111 Sproat, G. M. (1880). Correspondence: G.M. Sproat, Indian Reserve Commissioner, to G.A. Walkem, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, 12 July 1880, enclosing Indian Reserve Commission Minutes of Decision for Spuzzum to Lytton, Nicoamen (part), Cooks Ferry, Cold Water in Nicola Valley, and Upper Similkameen. Provincial Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 5: Minutes of Decision, Correspondence & Sketches: Gilbert M. Sproat: July 1880 to August 1880 (M.O.Ds June 1878 to July 1880), Binder 5 (Box 2). Corr. no. 655/80. Vancouver. 112 Sproat, G. M. (1878). Minutes of Decision: Coldwater River, Nicola Valley: Lower Nicola Indians with Mixed Indians of Spuzzum, Boston Bar, Boothroyd and Siska and Upper Similkameen, 11 September 1878. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 6: Minutes of Decision & Sketches: G.M. Sproat: May 1878 to August 1878 (Reg. No. X11430). Vancouver. See also Sproat, G. M. (1880). Correspondence: G.M. Sproat, Indian Reserve Commissioner, to G.A. Walkem, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, 12 July 1880, enclosing Indian Reserve Commission Minutes of Decision for Spuzzum to Lytton, Nicoamen (part), Cooks Ferry, Cold Water in Nicola Valley, and Upper Similkameen. Provincial Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 5: Minutes of Decision, Correspondence & Sketches: Gilbert M. Sproat: July 1880 to August 1880 (M.O.Ds June 1878 to July 1880), Binder 5 (Box 2). Corr. no. 655/80. Vancouver. pp. 99-101. 113 Sproat, G. M. (1878). Minutes of Decision: Spuzzum Indians, 21 May 1878. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 6: Minutes of Decision & Sketches: G.M. Sproat: May 1878 to August 1878 (Reg. No. X11430). Vancouver. See also Sproat, G. M. (1880). Correspondence: G.M. Sproat, Indian Reserve Commissioner, to G.A. Walkem, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, 12 July 1880, enclosing Indian Reserve Commission Minutes of Decision for Spuzzum to Lytton, Nicoamen (part), Cooks Ferry, Cold Water in Nicola Valley, and Upper Similkameen. Provincial Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 5:

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“The grazing lands for these Indians are assigned in commonage with other Indians in the Nicola District at Coldwater.”

Sproat’s Minute of Decision for the Upper Similkameen Indians contains a similar note:

“The grazing lands of these upper Similkameen Indians are provided for in Upper Nicola and or Coldwater.”115

Sproat’s minutes for the Boothroyd Indians, dated 8 June 1878, do not contain this note.116 His minutes for the Siska Indians designated Hamilton Creek as their grazing commons.117

Mohun surveyed the Nicola Valley Indian Reserves in the fall of 1879. He wrote of the assistance provided to him by the two Nicola chiefs:

“I beg most respectfully to submit to you that both Chillaheetsa and Naweesistikun, the Nicola Chiefs, were of great service in enabling me to prosecute the work vigorously, by

Minutes of Decision, Correspondence & Sketches: Gilbert M. Sproat: July 1880 to August 1880 (M.O.Ds June 1878 to July 1880), Binder 5 (Box 2). Corr. no. 655/80. Vancouver: 15. 114 Sproat, G. M. (1878). Minute of Decision: Boston Bar Indians, 1 June 1878. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 6: Minutes of Decision & Sketches: G.M. Sproat: May 1878 to August 1878 (Reg. No. X11430). Vancouver. See also Sproat, G. M. (1880). Correspondence: G.M. Sproat, Indian Reserve Commissioner, to G.A. Walkem, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, 12 July 1880, enclosing Indian Reserve Commission Minutes of Decision for Spuzzum to Lytton, Nicoamen (part), Cooks Ferry, Cold Water in Nicola Valley, and Upper Similkameen. Provincial Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 5: Minutes of Decision, Correspondence & Sketches: Gilbert M. Sproat: July 1880 to August 1880 (M.O.Ds June 1878 to July 1880), Binder 5 (Box 2). Corr. no. 655/80. Vancouver:32. 115 Sproat, G. M. (1878). Minutes of Decision: Neklakapamuk Indians: Upper Similkameen Indians, 5 October 1878. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 6: Minutes of Decision & Sketches: G.M. Sproat: May 1878 to August 1878 (Reg. No. X11430). Vancouver. See also Sproat, G. M. (1880). Correspondence: G.M. Sproat, Indian Reserve Commissioner, to G.A. Walkem, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, 12 July 1880, enclosing Indian Reserve Commission Minutes of Decision for Spuzzum to Lytton, Nicoamen (part), Cooks Ferry, Cold Water in Nicola Valley, and Upper Similkameen. Provincial Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 5: Minutes of Decision, Correspondence & Sketches: Gilbert M. Sproat: July 1880 to August 1880 (M.O.Ds June 1878 to July 1880), Binder 5 (Box 2). Corr. no. 655/80. Vancouver: 116. 116 Sproat, G. M. (1878). Minutes of Decision: Boothroyd Indians, 8 June 1878. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 6: Minutes of Decision & Sketches: G.M. Sproat: May 1878 to August 1878 (Reg. No. X11430). Vancouver. 117 Sproat, G. M. (1878). Minutes of Decision: Siska Indians, 18 June 1878. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 6: Minutes of Decision & Sketches: G.M. Sproat: May 1878 to August 1878 (Reg. No. X11430). Vancouver. See also Sproat, G. M. (1880). Correspondence: G.M. Sproat, Indian Reserve Commissioner, to G.A. Walkem, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, 12 July 1880, enclosing Indian Reserve Commission Minutes of Decision for Spuzzum to Lytton, Nicoamen (part), Cooks Ferry, Cold Water in Nicola Valley, and Upper Similkameen. Provincial Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 5: Minutes of Decision, Correspondence & Sketches: Gilbert M. Sproat: July 1880 to August 1880 (M.O.Ds June 1878 to July 1880), Binder 5 (Box 2). Corr. no. 655/80. Vancouver: 71.

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taking care that I was never delayed for want of horses or men, whenever I required them.”118

Due to deep snow, the Coldwater Reserves were not surveyed by Mohun in 1879. In 1886, Indian Reserve Commissioner Peter O’Reilly instructed E. Skinner, surveyor, to complete the surveys of the reserves of the Coldwater Band.119 O’Reilly did not visit the Nicola Valley to review the existing reserves, nor to establish new reserves, during his tenure as Indian Reserve Commissioner.

In 1887, O’Reilly forwarded the plans for the Coldwater reserves and several other reserves to the B.C. Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for final approval. He identified the population and numbers of livestock on several reserves submitted in this package, but not for Coldwater.120 The Province initially delayed its decision, prompting O’Reilly to write again in 1889 requesting confirmation of the reserves.121 British Columbia approved the Coldwater reserves in May 1889.122

On 28 December 1893, O’Reilly recommended to the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs that the Upper Similkameen Indians be removed from the bands entitled to use the Coldwater reserves as a commonage:

“I have conferred with Mr. [Joseph] Mackay, the late Agent of the district, and have ascertained from him that the Similkameen Indians have never used any portion of the reserve at Coldwater, allotted to them for grazing purposes in common with other bands by Mr. Sproat.

Mr. Mackay states that it would be undesirable that they should be allowed to use these lands, as their doing so would lead to tribal trouble.

118 Mohun, E. (1880). Correspondence: Mohun, Surveyor to Powell, Indian Superintendent, 2 February 1880. Library and Archives Canada. RG 10, Volume 3706 file 18994, Microfilm reel C-10124. Kamloops Agency – A Report Submitted by Edward Mohun on his Supervision of Surveys of Reserves. 1880. Ottawa. 119 O’Reilly, Peter (1886). Correspondence O’Reilly to E. Skinner, 29 April 1886. 120 O'Reilly, P. (1887). Correspondence: P. O'Reilly, Indian Reserve Commissioner, to Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, 8 June 1887. Provincial Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Minutes of Decision, Correspondence & Sketches: Peter O'Reilly: February 1884 to December 1887 (M.O.Ds February 1884 to September 1887), Binder 8 (Box 3). Corr. no. 1332/87. Vancouver. 121 O'Reilly, P. (1889). Correspondence: P. O'Reilly, Indian Reserve Commissioner, to the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, 24 January 1889, enclosing H.G. Vernon, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, to P. O'Reilly, Indian Reserve Commissioner, 24 June 1887. Provincial Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 9: Minutes of Decision, Correspondence & Sketches: Peter O'Reilly: January 1888 to December 1889, Binder 9 (Box 4). Vancouver. 122 O'Reilly, P. (1889). Correspondence: P. O'Reilly, Indian Reserve Commissioner, to Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, 11 May 1889. Provincial Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 9: Minutes of Decision, Correspondence & Sketches: Peter O'Reilly: January 1888 to December 1889: Binder 9 (Box 4). Corr. no. 1126/89. Vancouver.

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Under the circumstances I think it would be desirable to erase the name of the Upper Similkameen tribe, as one of the owners of the three Coldwater reserves.”123

The Deputy Superintendent General replied to O’Reilly on 8 January 1894, approving the removal of the Upper Similkameen as one of the owners of the Coldwater Reserves:

”… to inform you that the Department approves of your recommendation that the Upper Similkameen tribe be no longer recognized as one of the owners of the three Coldwater Reserves.”124

However, the Indian Department did not remove the Upper Similkameen Band from the official list of Coldwater reserve owners prior to re-designation of the reserves as belonging to the Coldwater Band in 1956 (see discussion below).

Indian Affairs Annual Reports (1885-1934) The Coldwater Band is identified by name or as the Quinshattan Band in the annual reports of the Indian Department from 1885 onwards. The annual reports were shortened after 1913 and included less qualitative data, but continued to report the population of Coldwater (sometimes “Coldwater Band”) on at least an occasional basis until 1934. Prior to that date, they normally included two relevant sections: written descriptions of each Agency by the Indian Agent (which sometimes included descriptions of specific bands), and tabular statements listing the population by total, age, and religion for each band (i.e. an annual census).

In 1885, J.W. MacKay Indian Agent for the Okanagan Agency refers to the Coldwater as Kwin- shatin in his annual report.125 He noted: “They winter hundreds of horses for their Frazer River countrymen.”126 In his 1886 annual report, MacKay noted that the Quin-sha-a-tin reserves had been surveyed, and that “quite a number of T-qua-ya-um Indians remain most of the time here with their horses.”127 In 1887, MacKay wrote that “Seventy-five per cent of the horses brought here [Quin-sha-a-lan reserve] from Squa-ya-um, Spuzzy and other reserves on the Fraser perished in the storms of last winter.”128

123 O'Reilly, Peter (1893). Correspondence: P. O'Reilly, Indian Reserve Commissioner, to the Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, 28 December 1893. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 14: Minutes of Decision, Correspondence & Sketches: P. O'Reilly, A.W. Vowell: March 1893 to September 1899: File 29858, Vol. No. 8 (Reg. No. B-64649). Vancouver. 124 Reed, H. (1894). Correspondence: H. Reed, Deputy Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, to P. O'Reilly, Indian Reserve Commissioner, 8 January 1894. Federal Collection of Minutes of Decision, edited by Anne Seymour. Volume 14: Minutes of Decision, Correspondence & Sketches: P. O'Reilly, A.W. Vowell: March 1893 to September 1899: File 29858, Vol. No. 8 (Reg. No. B-64649). Vancouver. 125 Kwinshatin is the name of one of the creeks that flows through Indian Reserve No.1. 126 MacKay, J. W. (1885). Annual Report: Okanagan Agency. Annual Report of the Department of Indian Affairs for the Year Ended 31st December 1892. Ottawa: Maclean, Roger & Co. (1886): 93. 127 MacKay, J. W. (1886). Annual Report: Okanagan Agency. Annual Report of the Department of Indian Affairs for the Year Ended 31st December 1892. Ottawa: Maclean, Roger & Co. (1887): 86. 128 MacKay, J. W. (1887). Annual Report: Kamloops and Okanagan Agency. Annual Report of the Department of Indian Affairs for the Year Ended 31st December 1887. Ottawa: Maclean, Roger & Co. (1888): 120.

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In 1889, MacKay stated that there were two groups that made up the “Quinshaatin” or Coldwater:

“These Indians are located in the Cold Water valley. They are a small band, industrious and energetic, and are doing well; they had abundant crops of grain and vegetables. A number of Boston Bar Indians have removed from T-kua-yaum to this reserve. The Kuinshaatin Reserves were originally allotted to the Indians for grazing purposes, the T- kua-yaum Indians, having rights with those of Kwinshaatin, have discovered that good crops may be raised even in this elevated region and are improving the advantages now extended to them.”129

In 1892, MacKay again wrote in his Annual Report of the two groups at Coldwater, the original families and the newcomers from Boston Bar:

“This band consists principally of Boston Bar Indians, who are here cultivating portions of the lands which were allotted to them for pastoral purposes; the original inhabitants are now represented by two families. The head of one of these families, on account of the large accession made to the band from Tkuayaum, assumed an air of great importance and interfered with the operations of the newcomers to their great disadvantage. I have, however, surveyed the subdivisions held by the different Indians, and have intimated to them that they are each chiefs in their own right, on their own several lands, so long as they behave themselves properly, and that the Chief Tla-kam-i-nas-kat is hereafter relieved from the responsibility of directing their ordinary domestic operations and movements. The Indians are now going to work with a good will, and are improving their subdivisions; they had good crops last year and sold a large quantity of wheat.”130

In 1895, the Kamloops Wawa published an article that discussed the coming of Paul and the Boston Bar Indians to Coldwater.131 This article claimed that Coldwater was only “a hunting ground” until recent times, when an Indian named Paul Satchie moved there with “his family and some friends” and then persuaded Indians to relocate from Boston Bar to join him. According to the Wawa account:

“Coldwater was a mere desert, or simply a hunting ground. An oldish Indian, Paul Satchie came there with his family and some friends, and induced half of the Boston Bar Indians to follow him, for the purpose of rearing horses, tilling the ground, and procuring a more

129 MacKay, J. W. (1889). Annual Report: Kamloops-Okanagan Agency, 27 August 1889. Annual Report of the Department of Indian Affairs for the Year Ended 31st December 1889. Ottawa: Brown Chamberlin: 110.

130 MacKay, J. W. (1892). Annual Report: Kamloops and Okanagan Agency, 13 September 1892. Annual Report of the Department of Indian Affairs for the Year Ended 31st December 1892. Ottawa: S.E. Dawson: 245. 131 Catholic missionary J.M. LeJeune established the Kamloops Wawa, a newspaper which published in shorthand script and in aboriginal languages, including Chinook. The shorthand script was taught at Coldwater in 1889, making them among the first to read and write the new system.

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certain means of livelihood than the fish and game on which hitherto they had to rely on sole sustenance. He had another object in view, which was to make Christians of all those people.”132

RCIABC The RCIABC convened a hearing on Coldwater IR No.1 on 17 October 1913. During this meeting, band members raised the following issues and requests:

 Chief George Sandy requested “the use of our share [of land] even outside the Reserve – we would like to use that forever.”133

 Felix Sampson requested the right to “everything what is in the land – hunting and everything that is fit for me to use – that is what I want, and all the timber.”134

 James Antoine, “the late chief’s son,” requested “a little more land.”135

 William Nelson, testifying with the permission of the chief, stated that the population of Coldwater IR No.1 was 113, there was 175 acres under cultivation (“chiefly hay”), and that IR No.2 and IR No.3 were uninhabited.136 When asked whether the Band wished to be allotted more land, Nelson stated: “if it was possible for the Reserve to be enlarged in such a way that Coldwater and Paul’s Basin could be connected together, I think it would be better.”137

Indian Agent J.F. Smith was not present when the RCIABC held its Coldwater hearing in 1913.138 However, on 13 February 1915, Smith visited the Coldwater Reserve to meet with “the Chief and all his men” about the land request after which he submitted a report together with a sketch map. According to Smith:

“As the weather conditions did not permit of a personal inspection of the area sought, the locality was pointed out to me, and explained on their Map. This is shown to consist of a

132 Kamloops Wawa (1895). Coldwater. Kamloops Wawa, Vol. 4, No.7: 97. July 1895. 133 Royal Commission on Indian Affairs for the Province of British Columbia (1913). Meeting with the Coldwater Band or Tribe of Indians on Their Reserve on the 17th Day of October, 1913 (Transcript Copy). Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs. McKenna-McBride Commission Testimony Collection, Kamloops Agency. Vancouver. p. 203. 134 RCIABC (1913). Meeting with the Coldwater Band or Tribe of Indians on Their Reserve on the 17th Day of October, 1913 (Transcript Copy): 204-205. 135 RCIABC 1913). Meeting with the Coldwater Band or Tribe of Indians on Their Reserve on the 17th Day of October, 1913 (Transcript Copy): 205. 136 RCIABC (1913). Meeting with the Coldwater Band or Tribe of Indians on Their Reserve on the 17th Day of October, 1913 (Transcript Copy): 209-210. 137 RCIABC (1913). Meeting with the Coldwater Band or Tribe of Indians on Their Reserve on the 17th Day of October, 1913 (Transcript Copy): 211. 138 Smith, J. F. (1915). Correspondence: J.F. Smith, Indian Agent, to Royal Commission on Indian Affairs, 24 February 1915. Library and Archives Canada. RG 10, Volume 11021, File 538A, Microfilm reel T-3958. Kamloops Agency - Correspondence Re Additional Land Applied For and Status Thereof, 1913-1916. Ottawa.

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tract of unsurveyed land extending from the extreme Northwest Corner of Reserve No 1 to the extreme Northeast corner of Reserve No 2. The entire area covers a mountainous and sparcely [sic] timbered country, strictly pastural land and unfit for cultivation.

The area is of an unknown quantity which can only be determine[d] by a survey.

I have written to the Government Agent at Nicola in an endeavour to secure a Map showing more clearly the situation, and what land, if any, is alienated within the area… In the meantime I am enclosing herewith the only Map I have of the Reserve.”139

Smith’s application of 1915 is equivalent to Nelson’s application of 1913.

On 27 February, Smith submitted an update to his report based upon a meeting with the B.C. Government Agent at Nicola. He reported that “none of the plots” covered by the Coldwater application had been alienated. He also enclosed a blueprint and a letter from the Government Agent.140

On 22 July 1915, J.A.J. McKenna, on behalf of the Lands Committee of the RCIABC, submitted a minute note stating that Smith’s Coldwater application had been rejected because it was considered unnecessary and because the land was covered by timber limits:

“Your Committee having had under consideration the application in behalf of the Indians of the Lower Nicola, Spuzzum, Boston Bar, Boothroyd, Siska and Upper Similkameen Tribes or Bands (in common) in respect to the Coldwater, Paul’s Basin and Meadow Reserves… finds that the land applied for in behalf of these Indians is covered by Timber Limits and is therefore not available for constitution as additional Indian Reserve land. Apart, however, from the unavailability of the land applied for, your Committee does not consider that additional land is reasonably required by these applicant Indians.”141

In an 1938 Order-in-Council, B.C. accepted the new reserve surveys, adjustments, and cut-offs that had emerged from the RCIABC Final Report and the Ditchburn-Clark inquiry and transferred its title to Indian Reserves to the Dominion. The Order-in-Council includes a list of

139 Smith, J. F. (1915). Correspondence: J.F. Smith, Indian Agent, to Royal Commission on Indian Affairs for the Province of British Columbia, 23 February 1915. Library and Archives Canada. RG 10, Volume 11021, File 538A, Microfilm reel T-3958. Kamloops Agency - Correspondence Re Additional Land Applied For and Status Thereof, 1913-1916. Ottawa. 140 Neither the letter nor the blueprint has been located in the files. Smith, J. F. (1915). Correspondence: J.F. Smith, Indian Agent, to Royal Commission on Indian Affairs, 27 February 1915. Library and Archives Canada. RG 10, Volume 11021, File 538A, Microfilm reel T-3958. Kamloops Agency - Correspondence Re Additional Land Applied For and Status Thereof, 1913-1916. Ottawa. 141 McKenna, J. A. J. (1915). Correspondence: J.A.J. McKenna, Lands Committee, to the Chairman and Members, Royal Commission on Indian Affairs for B.C., 22 July 1915. Library and Archives Canada. RG 10, Volume 11021, File 538A, Microfilm reel T-3958. Kamloops Agency - Correspondence Re: Additional Land Applied For and Status Thereof, 1913-1916. Ottawa.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study all B.C. reserves. On this list, the Coldwater reserves are listed as being allotted to the “Lower Nicola, Spuzzum, Boston Bar, Bothroyd [sic], Siska and Upper Similkameen (in common).”142

Recognition of Coldwater Indian Band (1956) In 1956, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration officially recognized the Coldwater Indian Band as a band under the Indian Act. A Cabinet order passed on 19 April 1956 stated, in part:

“WHEREAS by an order of the Royal Commission on Indian Affairs… Coldwater Indian Reserve No. 1, Paul’s Basin Reserve No. 2 and Meadow Indian Reserve No. 3 were set apart for the use and benefit of the Lower Nicola, Spuzzum, Boston Bar, Boothroyd, Siska and Upper Similkameen Bands in common;

AND WHEREAS the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration reports that for many years the Indians using and occupying the three reserves have been referred to as the Coldwater Band of Indians and recognized as the beneficial owners thereof;

THAT on April 6th, 1956, the said group was officially constituted the Coldwater Band pursuant to… the Indian Act; …

THEREFORE, His Excellency the Governor General in Council… determine[s] that Coldwater Indian Reserve No. 1, Paul’s Basin Indian Reserve No. 2 and Meadow Indian Reserve No. 3 be held for the use and benefit of the Coldwater Band of Indians.”143

The Indian Affairs Branch also obtained Band Council Resolutions from the Boothroyd Band, Boston Bar Band, Lower Nicola Band, Siska Band, Spuzzum Band, and Upper Similkameen Band, each of which waived the respective band’s interest in the three reserves and stated that:

“the three mentioned Reserves of the Coldwater Band have, in the past, been utilized entirely and only by the Coldwater Band and have never treated as held in common with any other Bands.”144

The reason for this initiative has not been determined. It may relate to uncertainty over reserve title in connection with the Trans Mountain and Westcoast Transmission pipeline requests for rights-of-way on the Coldwater Reserves about this time.

142 British Columbia. Executive Council (1938). O/C 911/38: Certified Copy of a Minute of the Honourable the Executive Council, Approved by His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor on the 29th Day of July, A.D. 1938. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. Indian Lands Registry System. Instrument 8042R. Ottawa: 46. 143 Canada. Privy Council Office (1956). P.C. 1956-596, 19 April 1956. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. Indian Lands Registry System. Instrument 17248. Ottawa. 144 Canada. Privy Council Office (1956). P.C. 1956-596, 19 April 1956. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. Indian Lands Registry System. Instrument 17248. Ottawa.

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Confederation Period Summary Indian Affairs generally recognized villages as Indian Bands. With Indian Reserve allotments in the late 1870s, the Coldwater are recognized as a sub-group of the Nicola Thompson. Settler land alienations at the confluence of the Nicola and Coldwater Rivers had dispossessed the Coldwater inhabitants of their village site (noted by Teit) as well as lands of economic importance to them. In consequence, the Indian Reserve Commissioner established three reserves for the “Coldwater Indians” up the Coldwater River Valley which was still free of settlers.

At the time of the Indian Reserve Commission, the Nicola Valley Thompson were charging Fraser River Thompson tribes to graze their livestock in the Nicola Valley territory. The Indian Reserve Commissioner disapproved of the situation and established rights for these outsiders to the Nicola Valley on the Coldwater Reserves. This resulted in people from Boston Bar in particular moving permanently to the Coldwater Valley and living on the Coldwater Reserves. In the late nineteenth century the Coldwater community was described as having two sub-groups, the original Nicola Thompson and some Fraser River Thompson. In 1956, the federal government recognized the Coldwater Band as the beneficial owners and removed the interests of Fraser River Bands.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

Traditional Use and Occupancy Study (TUOS)

The Coldwater TUOS interviews and two ground-truthing trips provided the information included in the TUOS database. Time and budget restraints limited the number and scope of interviews.

Methodology The methodology and guidelines employed for the Coldwater TUOS are based on those described and recommended by the Province of British Columbia’s Traditional Use Study Program.145 Some modifications of these guidelines were employed for the Coldwater TUOS project, particularly in the number, content and structure of fields in the project’s Traditional Use and Occupancy Site Database, outlined later in this report. This methodology is considered to be thorough and reliable, and is used in preference to other research models that focus on the identification of “kill, capture and gather” sites. The TUOS methodology employed for the project identifies areas and locations where Coldwater Nlaka’pamux people, past and present, exercise their traditional rights, and not just specific points where Coldwater people have killed a deer or caught a fish.

In the interviews, information on the location of traditional use or occupancy sites and areas was documented on the project maps, and to the extent possible, additional details about the site or area and the activities that occurred there. This included information on where the site or area was learned or obtained; other people known to have used the site; the history of activities at the site; the times of year when it has/had been used, and the quality and quantity of resources at the site.

Interviews Twelve people from the Coldwater Indian Band were interviewed regarding family history and harvesting of resources. Six of the interviewees were women and six were men. All had spent most of their life in the Nicola/Coldwater Valleys region and had families there. Five of the interviewees gave testimony at the National Energy Board Hearings in Kamloops on 14 November 2014.146

All but two of the interviews were held in the boardroom of Coldwater Indian Band Administration Offices on Coldwater Indian Reserve No.1. One follow-up interview was held in an elder’s home, followed by a ground-truthing trip. The other interview was a ground-truthing trip.

Each interview started with a discussion of the purposes of the TUOS Project, including an outline of the topics to be discussed during the interview, the types of questions to be asked, and

145 B.C. Ministry of Forests, Aboriginal Affairs Branch, “Traditional Use Study Program Guidelines,” 2001. 146 National Energy Board (2014). Hearing Order OH-001-2014, Trans Mountain Pipeline ULC, Hearing held at Kamloops, B.C. 14 November 2014. Volume 14. Ottawa: International Reporting Inc.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study how the resulting information would be managed and used. Project Consent Forms were reviewed with each interviewee, and these were signed by the interviewee and witnessed by the interviewer before each interview started.

Once initial discussions were completed and consent forms signed, the interview recording equipment was set up and the interview commenced. The two ground-truthing trips were not recorded by video or audio. For most sessions, the process of discussing the interview and setting up equipment required up to half an hour before the actual interview began. Each interview was recorded by digital video and audio recorder. Notes were taken as well. Interview sessions ranged in total length from 2 hours to 3 hours, with actual recorded interview time ranging from 90 minutes to 2 1/2 hours. Each interviewee was acknowledged with an honorarium at the end of the interview session.

Each session with the interviewees began with them providing background on their personal and family history, with focus being directed on how they had learned about Coldwater Nlaka’pamux history; where they had lived in Nlaka’pamux territory; and what types of traditional activities they had engaged in within Nlaka’pamux territory.

Interviewees generally provided a “tour” of their knowledge of places to harvest resources that was based on their life experiences. Follow-up questions focused on obtaining specific details about when sites are used; the frequency with which they are used; the quantities or quality of resources harvested; how the resources are consumed or used; changes that they have seen in resources; and other associated details.

The locations of traditional use or occupancy sites and areas were plotted in pencil on the paper interview map as points, lines or polygons as appropriate. Interviewees were consulted about the accuracy of the mapping of sites as they were plotted. When necessary, mapping lines were erased or altered based on comments from respondents.

Interview maps were used in seven of the interviews. The mapping of all sites was accomplished to the precision possible, based on the interviewer’s and interviewee’s ability to identify, describe, and depict the locations of the sites on the interview maps. Additional maps were also consulted when site locations were difficult to determine or outside of the project Study Area. Each site or area was identified on the interview maps by sequential numbering in the order it was recorded; starting at “1” for each interview session. The mapped location for each site or area is identified in the interview digital video, audio, interview notes and transcripts, and in the TUOS Database by a unique alphanumeric code, as in the following examples:

 CW-01:001 - being the first site recorded during interview session CW-01

 CW-02:011 - being the eleventh site recorded during interview session CW-02

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

In addition to the interview sessions, two ground-truthing trips were conducted with interviewees. The ground-truthing trips allowed for confirmation or refinement of site locations by GPS, for visual recording of sites with photography, and for recording of additional site information provided by the participants.

TUOS Analysis The Coldwater TUOS produced significant results and a clear understanding of use of the Coldwater Valley and other areas of Nlaka’pamux territory from information in the interviews. Analysis of the interviews to date identified 175 traditional sites and areas. The location of these sites and areas is depicted in Figure 13.

All the traditional use and occupancy sites and areas have been classified, at the most general level, according to six “Categories” that facilitate the presentation of information. Traditional use and occupancy sites are often multi-purpose and represent more than one “category.” For example a settlement site may also be an archaeology site.

The categories represented by the175 traditional sites and areas are presented in Table 1. Land resource sites represent the largest percentage of sites, approximately 69%, followed by culture history sites at over 18%, aquatic resource sites at approximately 14%, and settlement activity sites at over15%.

Table 1: Categories of Traditional Use Sites

Category Number of Sites Percentage of Study Area Total (n=175) Aquatic Resources 24 13.7% Archaeology147 4 2.3% Culture History 32 18.3% Land Resources 120 68.6% Settlement Activity 27 15.4% Travel 2 1.1%

The activities represented by the 175 traditional use sites are presented in Table 2. Berry and plant gathering (food, medicines, materials) is the largest activity represented at over 58%. Hunting is the next most frequent activity at over 18%, followed by sacred and ceremonial activity and legendary beings at 16%, dwelling activity at over 15%, fishing activity at near 14%, and traditional history at over 3%.

147 The archaeological site records at the Archaeology Branch, Province of British Columbia for the Study Area were not researched for this preliminary project.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

Table 2: Activities Represented by the 175 Identified Traditional Use Sites and Areas

Activity Number of Sites Percentage of Entities Study Area Total (n=175) Archaeological Site 4 2.3% pit house(s); Berry/Plant Gathering 101 57.7% alder; balsamroot; berries - gooseberries; berries - huckleberries; berries - Saskatoon berries; berries - soapberries; berries - unspecified; berries - wild raspberries; berries - wild strawberries; birch bark; bitterroot; cedar; chokecherries; cottonwood; fir boughs; fir tree bark; Indian carrot; Indian celery; Indian potato; Indian rhubarb; juniper; Labrador tea; lodgepole pine sap; medicinal plant; mushrooms - cottonwood; mushrooms - pine; mushrooms - sand; mushrooms - shaggy mane; mushrooms - spring; mushrooms - thunder; mushrooms - unspecified; Oregon grape; pine cone seeds; red willow; rosehips; stinging nettle; trapper's tea; tree needles - unspecified; wild onions; willow sticks; Dwelling 27 15.4% campsite; homestead; house(s); pit house(s); Environmental Feature 3 1.7% waterfall; Fishing 24 13.7% fish weir; salmon - coho; salmon - kokanee; salmon - sockeye; salmon - spring; salmon - steelhead; salmon - unspecified; suckers; trout - bull trout; trout - dolly varden; trout - lake trout; trout - rainbow trout; trout - unspecified; whitefish; Forestry 3 1.7% cedar; Hunting 32 18.3% beaver; deer - mule deer; deer - unspecified; deer - white-tailed deer; ducks - unspecified; elk; goose - unspecified; grouse - blue grouse; grouse - spruce grouse; grouse - unspecified; moose;

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rabbit; squirrel;

Legendary Being 5 2.9% little people; sasquatch; wild man; xaxaku; Marker Site 6 3.4% avoidance area; Named Place 1 0.6% named place; Recreation 2 1.1% childhood playground/territory; swimming; Sacred/Ceremonial Site 23 13.1% cradleboards; loon habitat; rite of passage; ritual bathing; sacred area; sacred mountain; spiritual training; sun dance grounds; sweat lodge; vision quest area; Traditional History 6 3.4% portal; traditional history; Trails/Travel 2 1.1% horse tie-up;

TUOS Summary In overview, the Coldwater Nlaka’pamux people have used, and continue to use, a wide variety of resources and engage in many activities in the eastern Nicola Valley and Lake, and Coldwater Valley regions. These include a wide variety of plants and berries used both as foods and medicines, as well as fish, ungulates, and other game animals hunted for food. There are also numerous sacred places across the landscape used for ceremony or which hold traditional histories.

Geographically, both sides and the bottom of the Coldwater Valley are relied upon heavily for resource use due to proximity to the settlement at Coldwater IR 1, as well as availability of resources in the area. There are also many other areas that were used consistently by interviewees and other community members, including the Coquihalla Summit and Lakes area, the Spius Creek and Stoyoma Mountain area, Boss Lake and Davis Lake area, Minnie Lake, Aspen Grove, and Nicola Lake. Resource use and traditional sites were documented throughout these areas, as well as in other locations elsewhere in the Nlaka’pamux territory.

Plant resources collected through the territory include: bitterroot (łk’ᵂǝpn), Indian celery (cewete?), Indian potato (tetuwn), balsamroot (soxᵂm), cow parsnip (or Indian rhubarb (hekᵂu?), stinging nettle (swelwliqt), wild onion (qᵂlewe?), Labrador tea, trapper’s tea (k’ece?), Oregon grape (scolse?), huckleberries (c’ǝlc’a’le and ?imixᵂ), Saskatoon berries (scaqᵂm), soapberries (sxusm), chokecherries (zǝlkᵂu), strawberries (sqᵂoqᵂyep), raspberries (s?ey’icqᵂ), and gooseberries (sxecǝn). Different parts of many tree species including cedar, red willow, alder,

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study lodgepole pine (the cambium/sap (ntu?), birch, juniper (pu’nlp), and cottonwood are also used by Coldwater people for food, medicine, spiritual purposes, for creating traditional items such as drums, shakers, and cradleboards, and for building materials (sweat lodge frames, sun dance ring). The interviews conducted for this project do not represent exhaustive ethnobotanical questioning. In a focussed ethnobotanical study Nancy Tuner et al identified at least 435 different plants collected as food, medicine and materials by the Nlaka’pamux peoples.148 The interviews demonstrate the wide variety of plant species still collected at specific areas throughout the territory by Coldwater people.

Mushrooms gathered in many areas include: pine mushrooms (qames), thunder mushrooms (or lightning mushroom, ski?ki?x mǝƛqi), sand mushrooms (mǝƛqi), spring (?) mushrooms, and shaggy mane mushrooms (nki?ki?xqin). Mushroom collecting is concentrated along the Coldwater River and in the Aspen Grove and Minnie Lake areas to the south of Nicola Lake.

Species fished from the Coldwater include: trout (Dolly Varden; rainbow trout (cu?xelus); and ,(?ᵂle؟Bull trout (sǝm?elus), salmon - coho; spring (kᵂyi?e); kokanee (kekniy); and steelhead (co suckers, and whitefish (memit). Sockeye (sxᵂa?es) is taken at specific fishing stations on the Fraser River.

Ungulates and other animals are hunted throughout the territory. These include: moose alxkn), deer (mule deer (sƛule?) and white-tailed deer (zexpe?), elk (stxec), rabbit؟y) (sqᵂoqᵂyǝc), grouse (spruce grouse (caqcǝqt), and blue grouse (smumtm), squirrel, as well as waterfowl including geese and ducks.

People also talked about their responsibility to the land and the resources and the frustration of seeing the land abused:

“we also are protectors of the land…. Let's agree on how it's going to be protected. Not have it told to us.”149

Many people are harvesting and hunting for their families, as well as for other community members and for ceremonial events, including for the Sun Dance, funerals and other ceremonies. One community member who was interviewed noted:

“I have a ceremony in the winter time that requires the traditional food… four times at the ceremony. That ceremony takes place in December, and also in February. Enough for eight nights, for about fifty people.”150

Traditional use sites identified during the interviews were not limited to resources, but were also sites and areas of cultural importance, including: ritual bathing sites, sites of spiritual training for

148 Tuner, Nancy et al. (1990). Thompson Ethnobotany: Knowledge and Use of Plants by the Thompson Indians of British Columbia. Memoir No.3, Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria. 149 Interview CW-07, April 2015. 150 Interview CW-08, April 2015.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study young people, sweat lodge and vision quest locations, Sun Dance grounds, avoidance areas based on oral histories, trees in which to hang cradleboards after use, sacred waterfalls and mountains, archaeological pit house sites, and areas inhabited by legendary beings including Little People, Sasquatch, and mermaids.

Many people in the community have learned of these sites, both cultural and resource areas, from their parents and grandparents at a young age, and have observed a distinct change in the availability of traditional resources. One interviewee noted:

“It seems like my picking area is getting smaller and smaller; whereas, before I used to go anywhere. Wherever my parents took me, I used to be able to go there…and we’d pick. Now there’s development happening there…”151

As resource areas are negatively impacted, Coldwater people are being forced to move elsewhere to get resources:

“And we used to be able to pick on both sides of—and hunt on both sides... When they put that highway [Coquihalla] nobody has really picked over there now. They cut us off there, and we just kinda went this way. And people now are going to Hope and Boston Bar to get the huckleberries, which you used to get very well at Coquihalla.”152

Also important to Coldwater members are the specific personal memories, family connections and histories that are associated with the areas described as “traditional use and occupancy sites.” Many people remembered fondly experiences with grandparents, parents, siblings, and friends, now gone, that are associated with these locations. Several people interviewed described a sense of trespass when they observe and experience the presence and activities of others in key areas of the territory they consider vital to maintaining their way of life, and their identity as Coldwater. An interviewee talked about the impact of increased numbers of people coming into the upper Coldwater area to camp:

“it's really awful because we grew up knowing that area. All of a sudden, it's like we're just pushed right out of it….. that mindset [this is ours now], and that mannerisms, and that way of being that they brought to the area that I knew and grew up with as a traditional camping ground, it's tainted. I can't really even see it as our traditional camping ground.”153

When talking about another traditional camping area, the same interviewee stated:

151 Interview CW-02, April 2015. 152 Interview CW-05, April 2015. 153 Interview CW-07, April 2015.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

“that's so close to the highway, that's not really camping. We only went there because that was where my father used to camp with his dad.”154

Even places that are still available for resource use are constrained by outside users moving into areas that were traditionally used for camping, fishing, and hunting. One community member that was interviewed noted:

“…we used to go up and there used to be certain places where families went and camped and set up. The next day, they’d go fishing and that. But we can’t even set up camp no more because there’s so many tourists… It’s just a zoo up there now.”155

Beyond land alienation resulting from urban and industrial development and increased numbers of people coming to the region, people have observed changes in the environment itself over their lifetime. This is most notably expressed as a decline in the quality and quantity of plant and other traditional resources. When speaking of the amount of water in the Coldwater River, two interviewees stated:

Used to be – you couldn’t see the bottom when I was a kid. The river has gone down… there’s some places where you could go and you couldn’t see the bottom. But now you can just go there and see the bottom.156

“there used to be a lot of fish in there one time. All of a sudden, there was just nothing. The salmon weren't coming up to spawn. The water got so shallow to spawn, but the water's too warm and it's not doing them any good—the salmon any good or the eggs.”157

Difficulties on the land itself are compounded by the encroachment of modern society on traditional lifeways. When discussing the experience on the landscape, one interviewee noted:

“Even getting out there is half the battle… because we’re growing up in such a consumerist society. Easy for us to go buy our meat now. That just throws our balance right off in terms of maintaining who we are as Indigenous.”158

The same interviewee continued, stating:

“A lot of the resurgence in our spirit is going out on the land. I find that’s where I get a lot of my strengths. Gathering, being out on the land.”159

154 Interview CW-07, April 2015. 155 Interview CW-10, April 2015. 156 Interview CW-10, April 2015. 157 Interview CW-06, April 2015. 158 Interview CW-08, April 2015. 159 Interview CW-08, April 2015.

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This strength is reflected in the extensive knowledge of the territory employed by Coldwater people. For example, rather than referring to Saskatoon berries or chokecherries as one species, there were several varieties of each species described during interviews – some with larger seeds, some with more flesh, some of a different colour, and some with bushes of differing size. One interviewee noted that there are 12 to 20 varieties of Saskatoon berries of which they were aware, and described the differences of several of these over the course of the interview.160 Chokecherries were also noted as having several varieties – some juicier, some darker in colour.

Many of the resources and traditional areas along the Coldwater River and in the Nicola Valley are utilized by Coldwater people as part of a seasonal round. Berries, medicinal plants, hunting, traditional bathing, and other areas follow one another throughout the year, with the end of one often signalling the start of the next. Throughout the cycle, foods are both eaten fresh as well as preserved for later use. Some are dried, some are canned or jarred, and some are frozen so that they can be used during other parts of the year when the resource is unavailable. Medicines and teas are dried for later use.

After the winter in March and April, people often begin to go onto the land to harvest resources. Plants including Indian celery and bitterroot and mushrooms including spring mushroom and thunder mushroom are collected at this time. Suckers are fished in lakes during the springtime as well. By May, Indian potato is gathered on the hillsides, and trout are caught at the mouths of creeks flowing into the lakes.

Throughout June and July and into August, berries including soapberries, Saskatoon berries, wild raspberries, wild strawberries, gooseberries and others are collected. Following this period of berry harvesting, various species of salmon (including sockeye, coho, and spring) are fished along the Coldwater River as well as along the Fraser River, where some Coldwater families have fishing stations now that the Coldwater runs are reduced to a fraction of their past abundance. Kokanee salmon are also fished in several locations around Nicola Lake at creek mouths. In mid-August, huckleberries are gathered in many locations around the territory, including high up in Coquihalla at the headwaters of the Coldwater River.

At the end of August the hunting season begins, and many people hunt moose and deer throughout the fall, often until they have enough to provide for their family’s needs. In the fall, other types of mushrooms including pine mushrooms, sand mushrooms, and shaggy mane mushrooms are also collected. Steelhead and some trout are fished in the fall and through the winter, sometimes by ice fishing.

The seasonal cycle is also reflected culturally. One of these is traditional bathing, which occurs in many locations that change throughout the year. The Sun Dance, for which there are two grounds run by different families, takes place in July and August, and is accompanied by use of sweat lodges and vision quests. For others, the season of ceremony begins in September and

160 Interview CW-02, April 2015.

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October with the onset of winter, with what one interviewee referred to as “liftoff.” The interviewee continued by describing its significance:

“…liftoff is to start prayers. You give thanks for the entire seasonal cycle you just had. Start praying for the things that we’re looking for, like strength, wisdom, knowledge, or acceptance of something.”161

As the ceremony season ends in the springtime, in February or March, it is referred to as “touchdown.” The interviewee noted:

“That’s when we come back and start preparing for the next seasonal cycle. The touchdown ceremonies, that’s usually… praying for water, praying for snow… praying for abundance of berries, good luck in hunting, and gathering salmon. All our needs are taken care of…”162

There are also other traditional areas which are highly important to Coldwater people. These spiritual areas include lakes, waterfalls, and streams at which spirit beings are honoured and which hold special importance in traditional histories and origin stories. Areas to hang up cradleboards in the trees to ensure the vitality and success of babies in later life are also areas of great spiritual importance. Even when some of these sacred areas are threatened by the encroachment of outsiders, their importance remains. One interviewee stated:

“…you see their motorboats and everything in that lake now. But the teachings were there. The teachings are there. I never forgot the teachings. It’s people that don’t know about the teachings that are doing all of that.”163

The interviewee added about the loss of spiritual connection to the land of the Coldwater Valley:

“I grew up in a time when the land was strong in the valley and the spirits were all around and you can feel them... if you walk about now there's so much noise and construction. It's like everything's going by so fast, you don't have time to slow it down. All the building that's going on... like the spirits are disappearing or going elsewhere.”164

It is my opinion that the information obtained in interviews for this study is representative of the use of the territory by the Coldwater community, both for traditional resource gathering and for cultural and spiritual purposes. These uses are a continuation of a pattern that has been in place for generations. Modifications to this pattern are a result of land alienation and urban growth, industrial development and associated infrastructure, ranching and other activities.

161 Interview CW-08, April 2015. 162 Interview CW-08, April 2015. 163 Interview CW-10, April 2015. 164 Interview CW-10, April 2015.

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study

Figure 13: Study Area Map with TUOS areas from interviews depicted. The area of the Coquihalla Lakes is added as an inset as it was a significant resource harvesting area to Coldwater people.

Map Redacted

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Summary and Conclusions

The earliest known inhabitants of the eastern end of Nicola Valley and the upper Similkameen River were a group identified by anthropologists as the Nicola Athapaskans. There is some evidence that they may be descended from Chilcotins who settled in the area prior to contact with whites. The Nlaka’pamux called these original inhabitants the Stu’wix or Stuwixamux. The area of historic Stuwixamux territory is depicted by Teit as running south from the upper Nicola River and including the Coldwater River.

First contact in the area of Nlaka’pamux territory was in 1808 by Simon Fraser of the North West Company. Traders with this Company were the first to interact and name the Nlaka’pamux. The name they used for the Nlaka’pamux was Kootomin which is likely a variation of the name of the Nlaka’pamux village, Nkamtici’n, at the confluence of the Thompson and Nicola Rivers. This village is depicted on an 1814 (updated 1826) map by David Thompson. The name initially started as the name of the tribe at this village but became generalized to represent all the Nlaka’pamux. Kootoomin is the only tribe depicted on published British maps in the region of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers confluence throughout the Colonial period. The name Kootoomin is rendered Coutamine (with spelling variations) by the Hudson’s Bay Company. HBC traders named the Nicola River the Coutamine River.

On an 1827 HBC map the upper Nicola River is depicted as being within the territory of the Similkameen, a term used by the HBC traders for the Nicola Athapascan. However, in the accompanying census one of the three Similkameen sub-groups is enumerated with the Coutamine suggesting that at least part of the Similkameen were considered Coutamine at that time. In 1835, “Little Knives” Indian are depicted along the Nicola River on another HBC map. Couteau or Knife was a term used for the Nlaka’pamux by the HBC traders.

The Nicola Nlaka’pamux hunted in the area of Stûwi’x and intermarried with the Nicola Athapascan (Stûwi’нamuq). By the early 1800s, many of the Nicola Athapascan spoke the Nlaka’pamux language and most aspects of their culture were identified as Nlaka’pamux. The elderly people anthropologists talked to in the late nineteenth century had ¼ Stûwi’нamuq ancestry. These people had little knowledge of the Nicola Athapascan language, and stories they had learned from their grandparents were identified as Nlaka’pamux.

This was not a physical displacement or extinction of the Nicola Athapascan, rather a process of intermarriage and settlement, resulting in cultural and linguistic integration into the Nlaka’pamux. During this process, two branches of the Nicola Athapascan came to be identified: the Nicola branch (the Stûwi’нamuq proper), which came together with the Nlaka’pamux, and the Similkameen branch, which has assimilated with the Okanagan. By the early nineteenth century, the Nicola Athapaskans were essentially indistinguishable from the Nlaka’pamux in terms of language, personal and place names, and traditional stories.

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In the mid-nineteenth century, the Nicola Nlaka’pamux were often referred as Noweesticum’s tribe (various spellings) after the chief with that name. The Nicola Nlaka’pamux had thirteen villages along the Nicola River. The valley behind each village would have been part of the resource areas used by each village. Coldwater is identified as one of the Nicola Nlaka’pamux villages, located in the area of the Colwater/Nicola Rivers confluence.

In the Colonial period, the Nicola Valley was the territory of the Nicola Nlaka’pamux. The Nicola Nlaka’pamux were described as two tribes which are named after their Chiefs, Chillihetza (various spellings) with territory on the east end of Nicola Lake and Nowistican (various spellings) with territory at the west end of the lake. In 1868, a reserve was established for the Nowistican tribe on the Nicola River at Shulus, nine miles from the western end of Nicola Lake. In 1859, Mayne met Chief Nowistican at Nicola Lake and described him as Chief of the Skowtous tribe, likely his rendering of Shulus. Mayne depicts the territory of the Skowtous tribe at the western end of Nicola Lake on his map of exploration. Shulus and two other villages along the Nicola River occupied by the Nowistican tribe are described as the three of the old settlements of the original “possessors” of the Nicola Valley.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Nlaka’pamux people from the Fraser River were paying the Nicola Nlaka’pamux to graze their livestock in the Nicola Valley, a practise that Indian Reserve Commissioner Sproat opposed in 1878.

Sproat initially allotted reserves in the Coldwater River valley to the Nicola Nlaka’pamux “Coldwater Indians” who had been displaced by settlers from their village at the confluence of the Coldwater and Nicola Rivers. However, he also needed grazing land in the Nicola Valley for other Nlaka’pamux groups, and his final minute stated that the reserve was allotted to the Lower Nicola and “mixed Indians.” In the 1890s, Indian Agent Joseph MacKay distinguished between the original Coldwater people and the Boston Bar newcomers in his description of the Coldwater Band.

Although the official reserve schedules followed Sproat’s final minute in stating that the Coldwater reserves were held by mixed Indians from several other Nlaka’pamux groups, in practice Indian Affairs officials treated the residents of these reserves as a distinct Band by at least 1885. They referred to this band as the “Quinshattan Band” or the Coldwater Band. This is the case with respect to the Indian Affairs Annual Reports (except for the Schedules of Reserves) and the Royal Commission on Indian Affairs for the Province of British Columbia (1913-1916). The Indian Affairs Branch did not formally recognize the existence of the Coldwater Indian Band until 1956.

Information obtained in interviews of twelve Coldwater Nlaka’pamux Knowledge Holders and Resource Users in 2015 identified 175 traditional use sites and areas that detail the continued importance of the Coldwater Valley and other areas of Nlaka’pamux territory for harvest of resources for materials, food, medicine and cultural purposes. Although urbanization, ranching,

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Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview and Traditional Use Study forestry and other industrial activities, and road infrastructure have impacted many areas, people still return to the harvest areas, if intact, where they went as children with their grandparents and parents. Many areas, however, have been obliterated or opened to access to others by industrial activities forcing people to find alternate areas for harvesting.

Coldwater families still rely heavily on food gathered from the land including deer, elk and moose, numerous berries and plant foods, medicines and materials, and fish including trout and salmon. Salmon, once a plentiful resource, are now much diminished in numbers in the Coldwater River and people now travel to the Fraser River to harvest or trade to get it. Foods are eaten fresh as harvested over the seasons and preserved for later use. These traditional foods are also traded and served at cultural events including the sun dance held at two sites on Coldwater Reserve No.1. Materials are also harvested for building sweat lodges, the sun dance ring, for use at funerals and for other traditional items including drums and cradle boards. Traditions of using the land for spiritual purposes are still maintained. Streams and rivers are used for cleansing and ritual bathing. Cradle boards are hung in special areas after single use. Spirit beings in lakes and at waterfalls and in other areas are honoured.

Traditional use sites and areas are part of the cultural fabric of being a member of the Coldwater Indian Band. For Coldwater members, being out in the territory connects the present to the past and to generations of ancestors. These activities are part of their identity, an expression of being a Coldwater Indian Band member. They are what bind families together. Their territory, not just selected areas, is part of their lives, in every sense. Most of the interviews could be characterized in large part as a life lived on the territory continuing the land use pattern of past generations of their ancestors.

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Appendix A. CV of Report Author

Richard I. Inglis

Education

Honours BA, Anthropology, Trent University, 1970

MA, Anthropology, University of Toronto, 1972

Professional Experience

Inglis Consulting

2003 – present

Position: Sole proprietor company

Archival and community based anthropological and historical research and presentations for First Nations, Governments and Industry; Traditional Use Studies; Specific Claims.

Traditions Consulting Services, Inc.

2003 – present

Position: Associate

Archival and community based research and presentations for First Nations, Governments and Industry; Traditional Use Studies; Specific Claims.

Treaty Negotiations Office, Province of British Columbia

1992 – 2003

Position: Negotiator

Member of the provincial teams that negotiated the Nisga’a Agreement-in-Principle (1996) and Nisga’a Final Agreement (1998) and the Sliammon Agreement-in Principle (2003).

Royal B.C. Museum, Victoria

1980 – 1992

Positions: Museum Curator – Archaeology Division and Ethnology Division; Head of Anthropology

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Canadian Museum of Civilization, Ottawa

1972 – 1980

Position: Archaeological Researcher

Expert Witness

1988. Regina v NTC Smokehouse Ltd. et al., [1996] 2 S.C.R. 672

2006. Witness and expert opinion report, Overview of Tsimshian Indian Reserves and Fisheries, 1830-1923. Lax Kw’alaams Indian Band v. Canada (Attorney General), 2011 SCC 56, [2011] 3 S.C.R. 535, July 2006.

2007. Witness and expert opinion report, Nuu-chah-nulth Sociopolitical Organization, Settlements and Economy: The View from Historical Documents Contact to ca.1890. Ahousaht Indian Band and Nation v. Canada (Attorney General), 2009 BCSC 1494.

2007. Witness and expert opinion report, Overview of Nuu-chah-nulth Fisheries 1871-1930s. Ahousaht Indian Band and Nation v. Canada (Attorney General), 2009 BCSC 1494.

2007. Witness and expert opinion report, Response to ‘The Ahousaht Indian Band and Others v. The Attorney General of Canada and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of British Columbia’ by Joan Lovisek. Ahousaht Indian Band and Nation v. Canada (Attorney General), 2009 BCSC 1494.

2008. Witness and expert opinion report, Response to Ahousaht – Ancient Explorer Records by Joan Lovisek (Lovisek Second Report). Ahousaht Indian Band and Nation v. Canada (Attorney General), 2009 BCSC 1494.

(2013). “Squamish Fishing on the Fraser River.” Opinion Report for Ratcliff and Co., 30 July 2013; Response Report, 11 October 2013.

2013-4. Member of the expert witness panel for BC Hydro for the Site C Environmental Assessment.

Selected Publications and Reports

Allaire, Louis, George F. MacDonald and Richard I. Inglis

“Gitlaxdzawk – Ethnohistory and Archaeology.” In Skeena River Prehistory. National Museum of Man, Archaeological Survey of Canada, Mercury Series No. 50, Ottawa 1979.

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Haggarty, James C. and Richard I. Inglis

“West Coast Sites: An Archaeological and Macroenviromental Synthesis." In Archaeological Place Names on the Southern Northwest Coast, Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum Report 4, edited by Robert Greengo, 33. Seattle: University of Washington, 1983.

“Coastal Site Survey: Theoretical Implications of a New Methodology.” Paper presented at the 17th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Archaeological Association, 1984.

“Preliminary Results of the Archaeological Survey of Pacific Rim National Park.” The Midden Vol.XVI, No.3 (1984, July 5): 6.

Historical Resources Site Survey and Assessment, Pacific Rim National Park. Environment Canada, Parks, Microfiche Report Series. Calgary, 1985.

Hebda, Richard J., James C. Haggarty and Richard I. Inglis

“Brooks Peninsula Refugium Project.” Chapter 1, Brooks Peninsula: An Ice Age Refugium on Vancouver Island. Occasional Paper No. 5, B.C. Parks, Victoria, 1997.

Hoover, Alan and Richard Inglis

“Acquiring and Exhibiting a Nuu-chah-nulth Ceremonial Curtain.” Curator: 4: 272-288, 1990.

Inglis, Richard I.

(1974). Archaeological Impact Study: Prince Rupert Bulk Loading Facility Environmental Assessment, North Coast, B.C. (2 volumes), 1974. A precis was published in 1975 by the federal-provincial joint committee on Tsimpsean Peninsula port development.

(1992). “The Spanish on the North Pacific Coast: An Alternative View from Nootka Sound.” In, Spain and the North Pacific Coast, Essays in Recognition of the Bicentennial of the Malaspina Expedition 1791-1792, edited by Robin Inglis. Vancouver Maritime Museum, Vancouver, 1992.

(1997). “Ethnographic History of the Brooks Peninsula Region.” Chapter 13, Brooks Peninsula: An Ice Age Refugium on Vancouver Island, edited by R. J. Hebda, J.C. Haggarty and R. Inglis. Victoria, B.C.: Ministry of Environment, B.C. Parks, Occasional Paper No. 5, Victoria.

(2006). “Protecting Cultural Heritage.” In Making Peace and Sharing Power: A National Gathering on Aboriginal Peoples and Dispute Resolution. Victoria.

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(2008). “Overview History of the Aboriginal Occupation and/or Use of the Harrison Lake Region.” Report prepared for Canada and British Columbia, Treaty Negotiation Offices.

(2015) “Encounters: View of the Indigenous People of Nootka Sound from the Cook Expedition Records.” In Arctic Ambitions: Captain Cook and the Northwest Coast, edited BY James K. Barnett and David L. Nicandri. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2015: 131-147.

Inglis Consulting

(2011). History of the Establishment of Kitkatla (Gitxaała) Indian Reserves. Research report prepared for the Lax Kw’alaams Indian Band (lead author).

(2012). Historical Report: Toquaht and Uchucklesaht Reserve-Based Fishing Rights Specific Claims. Report prepared for Toquaht Nation and Uchucklesaht Tribe (lead author).

(2013). Historical Report: Kwikwetlem Indian Reserve Creation, 1858-1930. Specific Claim report prepared for Kwikwetlem First Nation (lead author).

(2013). Creation of Indian Reserves for the Toquaht Nation and Uchucklesaht Tribe. Supplemental Specific Claim Report prepared for the Toquaht Nation and Uchucklesaht Tribe, 12 December 2013. Co-author.

(2014). Gitga’ata First Nation Traditional Use and Occupancy Study Prince Rupert Region: Preliminary Results Report. Report for the Gitgat First Nation, Hartley Bay, B.C, 7 July 2014.

(2014). Gitga’ata First Nation Traditional Use or Occupancy Study Project for the Proposed LNG Carrier Shipping Route: Preliminary Report. Report for the Gitgat First Nation, Hartley Bay, B.C, October 2014.

(2015). Final Report: Gitga’at First Nation Traditional Use and Occupancy Study Prince Rupert Harbour and Lower Skeena River Regions. Part I: Traditional Use and Occupancy Report. Report for the Gitgat First Nation, Hartley Bay, B.C., 27 January 2015.

(2015). Final Report: Gitga’at First Nation Traditional Use and Occupancy Study Prince Rupert Harbour and Lower Skeena River Regions. Part II: Ethnographic Research Report. Report for the Gitgat First Nation, Hartley Bay, B.C., 5 February 2015.

(2015). Gitga’ata First Nation Traditional Use or Occupancy Study Project for the Proposed LNG Carrier Shipping Route: Final Report. Report for the Gitgat First Nation, Hartley Bay, B.C, 31 March 2015.

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(2015). Historical Study of Xsi Miin Anhl Gii, Groundhog Area, Upper Skeena River, British Columbia. Confidential Preliminary Report for the House of Geel.

(2015). Coldwater Indian Band: Preliminary Ethnographic and Historic Overview Study. Report for the Coldwater Indian Band related to the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Expansion Project, 25 May 2015.

Inglis, Richard I. and James C. Haggarty

“Archaeological Investigation of the Yuquot Whaler's Shrine: Nootka Island.” Report submitted to the Mowachaht Band, Gold River and the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, Port Alberni, 1983.

Pacific Rim National Park Ethnographic History. Environment Canada, Parks, Microfiche Report Series 257. Calgary, 1986.

“Cook to Jewitt: Three Decades of Change in Nootka Sound.” Paper presented at the Fifth North American Fur Trade Conference, Montreal 1985. Re-published in Huupukwanum Tupaat: Nuu-chah-nulth Voices, Histories, Objects and Journeys, edited by Alan L. Hoover. Victoria, B.C.: Royal B.C. Museum, 2000 (reprint of 1987 article)

Inglis, Richard I., James C. Haggarty and Kevin Neary

“Yuquot National Historic Site: Commemorative Integrity Statement.” Gold River B.C. and Victoria B.C.: Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation and Canadian Heritage, 1998.

“Balancing History: An Emerging First Nations Authority.” In Nuu-chah-nulth Voices, Histories, Objects and Journeys. A.L. Hoover, ed., Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, 2000.

Inglis, Richard I. and George F. MacDonald, editors

Skeena River Prehistory. National Museum of Man, Archaeological Survey of Canada, Mercury Series No. 50, Ottawa 1979.

Ingelfinger, Sarah Shurcliff, and Alice W. Shurcliff

Captive of the Nootka Indians: The Northwest Coast Adventure of John R. Jewitt, 1802- 1806. Boston: Back Bay Books: Distributed by Northeastern University Press, 1993. Introduction by Richard Inglis.

Jonaitis, Aldona

The Yuquot Whalers’ Shrine (with research contributions by Richard I. Inglis). Seattle & London: University of Washington Press.

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Jonaitis, Aldona and Richard Inglis

“Power, History and Authenticity: The Mowachaht Whalers Washing House.” South Atlantic Quarterly 91: 193-214, 1992.

MacDonald, George F. and Richard I. Inglis

The Dig: an archaeological reconstruction of a west coast village. National Museum of Man, Ottawa, 1976.

“An Overview of the North Coast Prehistory Project.” B.C. Studies, 48: 37-63, 1981.

Moziño, José Mariano, edited by Iris Wilson Engstrand.

Noticias De Nutka: An Account of Nootka Sound in 1792. 1st paperback ed. Seattle Vancouver: University of Washington Press; Douglas & McIntyre, 1991. Introduction by Richard Inglis.

Traditions Consulting Services Inc.

(2005). Cowichan Title and a Cultural Heritage Assessment of the Shawnigan Lake Area. Report prepared for Cowichan Tribes (lead author).

(2005). Mowachaht Aboriginal Title. Report prepared for the Mowachaht/ Muchalaht First Nation (lead author).

(2010). Skwxwú7mesh Occupation and Use of iyélmexw (Jericho) and the Southwestern Burrard Inlet Region. Report prepared for Skwxwú7mesh Nation Chiefs and Council (lead author), September 2010. Co-author.

(2012). Wet’suwet’en First Nation Traditional Land Use and Occupancy Study. Report prepared for Wet’suwet’en First Nation and Pacific Trails Pipeline. Co-author.

(2013). Historical Report: Dominion Government Telegraph Service Line, Tsimpsean I.R. No. 2, Specific Claim. Report prepared for Lax Kw’alaams Indian Band (lead author).

(2013). BC Hydro. Summary ethnographic reports for EIS submission, Site C Clean Energy Project (lead author on 24 reports).

(2013). Overview History of Upper Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) Territory. Report prepared for Skwxwú7mesh Nation Chiefs and Council, 31 March 2013. Co-author.

(2013). Wet’suwet’en First Nation Preliminary Socio-Economic Baseline Study. With Silverking Consulting Ltd. Report prepared for the Wet’suwet’en First Nation and TransCanada Pipelines Ltd., July 2013. Co-author.

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(2013). Wet’suwet’en First Nation Traditional Land Use and Occupancy Study. Report prepared for Wet’suwet’en First Nation and Coastal GasLink, TransCanada Pipelines, December 2013. Co-author.

(2014). Specific Claim Historical Research Report: Telegraph Line and Trail across Hesqiaht Reserves. Specific claim report prepared for the Hesquiaht First Nation, 25 March 2014. Co-author.

(2014). Skwxwú7mesh Occupation and Use of Kw’ech’tenm (McNab Creek) and the Western Howe Sound Region. Report prepared for Skwxwú7mesh Nation Chiefs and Council. Co-author.

(2014). Skwxwú7mesh Occupation and Use of Swiyat (Woodfibre/Mill Creeks) and Northern Howe Sound and Indian River Regions. Preliminary Report prepared for Skwxwú7mesh Nation Chiefs and Council relating to the Woodfibre LNG and associated Eagle Mountain Gas Pipeline Projects, 27 July 2014. Co-author.

(2014). Internal Consultation Report: Squamish Environmental Assessment Process Relating to Proposed Woodfibre LNG and Eagle Mountain-Woodfibre Gas Pipeline Projects. Report prepared for Skwxwú7mesh Nation Chiefs and Council, 15 December 2014. Co-author.

(2015). Data Report on Saulteau Traplines Ground-Truthing 2014. Internal report for BC Hydro, Site C First Nations Engagement Team, January 2015.

(2015). Squamish Occupation and Use of Swiyat (Woodfibre/Mill Creeks) and Northern Howe Sound and Indian River Regions. Final Report prepared for Squamish Nation Chiefs and Council relating to the Woodfibre LNG and associated Eagle Mountain Gas Pipeline Projects, 7 April 2015. Co-author.

(2015). Squamish Traditional Use and Occupation Study, Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Expansion Project: Final Report. Prepared for Squamish Nation Chiefs and Council, 25 May 2015. Co-author.

I have also presented numerous public and University lectures, and conference papers.

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