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26-730: Farwell Canyon (known to the local Tsilhqot'in First Nation as Nagwentled - 'place of landslides') is a canyon on the Chilcotin River in the Chilcotin District of British Columbia , Canada , located around the confluence of Farwell Creek and the Chilcotin, between the confluence of Big Creek and the Fraser River . This location has been significant to First Nations for countless generations as an important salmon fishing site. In

52-451: A fur trade post at Fort Alexandria on the Fraser River , at the eastern limit of Tsilhqotʼin territory. This became the tribal people's major source for European goods. Contact with Europeans and First Nations intermediaries led to the introduction of Eurasian diseases, which were endemic among the Europeans. As they had long been exposed, some had developed acquired immunity , but

78-587: A so-called "formal" education. The program continued for the next six decades until a point when Indigenous children were allowed into the public school system. Ninety years after the start of the residential school program, the mission school closed circa 1981. Throughout that period, Indian agents were empowered to remove children from homes to attend St. Joseph's Mission School in Williams Lake, British Columbia . This led some to attempt to hide their children by sneaking out to hunting grounds or fields. Children fled

104-575: A strong warrior nation with political influences from the Similkameen region in southern British Columbia , the Pacific coast in the west, and the Rocky Mountains in the east. They were part of an extensive trade network centred around the control and distribution of obsidian , the material of choice for arrowheads and other stone tools. The Tsilhqotʼin first encountered European trading goods in

130-415: A threat. In contrast to the 160 to 640 acres per family set aside in other treaties at the time in the prairies, the federal government opted for 80 acres per indigenous family to be set aside in reserve, while the provincial government was keen on 10 acres per family. Catholic Missionaries were sent to convert First Nations children to Christianity. By 1891, the first group of students were sent to receive

156-568: Is called Tŝilhqotʼin Nen . For more information about the 2014 landmark court case that established Indigenous land title for the Tsilhqotʼin Nation and demanded that colonial provinces engage in meaningful and prior consultation before engaging in extractive industries on Tsilhqot'in lands, see Tsilhqotʼin Nation v British Columbia . The Tŝilhqotʼin Nation before contact with Europeans were

182-900: Is the Nemiah Valley , and the Xeni-Gwetʼin . Aside from the indigenous communities, there are only two small unincorporated towns in the whole region: Alexis Creek and Anahim Lake , the largest, with 522 people. Numerically, at least, the Tsilhqotʼin still dominate the Chilcotin plateau. Tsilhqotʼin First Nations belong to two tribal councils : Carrier-Chilcotin Tribal Council (two Carrier/Dakelh bands, one Tsilhqotʼin band, and one mixed Carrier/Dakelh-Tsilhqotʼin band) Tsilhqotʼin National Government (all Tsilhqotʼin bands without

208-799: The Cheslatta Carrier Nation . The flooding of Nechako Canyon destroyed their traditional hunting and fishing grounds and their homes. In the late 1940s, University of British Columbia professor Charles Edward Borden shifted his attention toward urgent salvage archaeology in the Nechako Canyon after learning that ALCAN planned on flooding the Nechako Canyon to supply power for their smelter in Kitimat (known as Kemano I Project). In 1951 Borden and his protégé, anthropology student, Wilson Duff located over 130 sites of importance to Cheslatta T'en history. They conducted more intensive investigations prior to

234-600: The Chilcotin Plateau , characterized by undulating grasslands , expansive forests of lodgepole pine and Douglas fir , a scattering of lakes, rivers, creeks and ponds, volcanic and glaciated landforms, and a magnificent backdrop of snow-covered peaks. Nechako Reservoir The Nechako Reservoir , sometimes called the Ootsa Lake Reservoir , is a hydroelectric reservoir in British Columbia, Canada that

260-476: The Chilcotin War . Governor James Douglas supported a system of reserves and indoctrination to "civilized" practices such as subsistence agriculture up until his retirement in 1864. Joseph Trutch , the chief commissioner of lands and works, abandoned the reserve policy, and set Indian policy as their having no rights to the land. By 1866, BC colonial rule required indigenous peoples to request permission from

286-624: The 1780s and 1790s when British and American ships arrived along the northwest coast seeking sea otter pelts. By 1808, a fur-trading company from Montreal called the North West Company had established posts in the Carrier (Dene) territory just north of the Tsilhqotʼ;in. They began trading directly and through Carrier intermediaries. In 1821, what was then the Hudson's Bay Company established

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312-536: The 1840s. Furniss in The Burden of History states that "there is no direct evidence that these smallpox epidemics reached the central interior of British Columbia or the Secwepemc, Carrier, or Tsilhqotʼin". However, in the epidemic of 1836–38, the disease spread to Ootsa Lake and killed an entire Carrier band. Oral history of the bands has continued to recount the effects of the many deaths in these epidemics. By

338-451: The 1860s, miners panned along the Fraser, Quesnel , and Horsefly rivers and their tributaries. Various business operators and merchants followed the miners and business was booming. Farmers and ranchers developed land to provision the mining towns that developed around the merchants. This led to competition for resources between the Chilcotin and Europeans, leading to a stream of events known as

364-536: The 1970s, Alcan proposed expanding the generating capacity at their Kemano Powerhouse by diverting more water from the Nechako Reservoir. At that time, it was envisioned that no additional dams would be required, and there would be no additional flooding. However, the project faced challenges and was ultimately canceled by the Provincial Government in 1995 due to significant environmental concerns related to

390-411: The First Nations peoples were devastated by epidemics of these new diseases. Infectious disease outbreaks with high fatalities for Tsilhqotʼin populations: The geographically isolated position of the Tsilhqotʼin may have protected them from the first of the smallpox epidemics , which spread up from Mexico in the 1770s. They may have been spared the smallpox epidemic of 1800 and the measles of

416-455: The Nechako River. Recent developments indicate that efforts were made to address the energy needs while considering environmental impacts. A second power tunnel between the reservoir and the powerhouse was planned for this purpose. It was intended to serve as a backup to the original tunnel, enhancing the sustainability of the project. In December 2017, there was a significant development when

442-597: The US-$ 473 million Kemano second tunnel project received the go-ahead, as reported by the Kitimat Northern Sentinel. This project likely aimed to improve the efficiency and reliability of power generation while mitigating environmental impacts, in line with contemporary environmental standards and regulations. However, the completion date for this project was scheduled for 2020, according to available information. The "out-of-date" template remains in place to indicate

468-539: The biggest reservoirs built in Canada until the completion of the Columbia Treaty Dams and the W.A.C. Bennett Dam that created Lake Williston . The water level may swing 10 feet between 2790 and 2800 feet. The damming "linked the rivers and lakes of Ootsa, Intata, Whitesail, Chelaslie, Tetachuck, Tahtsa and Natalkuz into the reservoir with a surface area of over 90,000 hectares." "The water of these lakes and rivers

494-494: The flooding of the area. The damming triggered "devastating changes for First Nations communities whose traditional territories lay in their path, including the destruction of Aboriginal gravesites, territories, livelihoods, and archaeological sites." In 1957, Alcan opened the gate of the spillway to Skin's Lake desecrating Cheslatta graves, which came to public attention during the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples . In

520-757: The governor to use lands. Newspapers supported the preempting of indigenous lands, seeing settlers ploughing indigenous burial grounds. Indigenous peoples who requested redress from a justice of the peace were refused. In the 1870s, the loss of hunting territories, and crashes of the salmon runs placed more dependence on agricultural produce such as grains, hay, and vegetables. Activities migrated to cutting hay, constructing irrigation ditches, and practicing animal husbandry . Settlers however assumed water rights , making agriculture ever more fragile. Indigenous peoples were huddled in on small acreages, such as in Canoe Creek , 20 acres for 150 indigenous people. Starvation became

546-535: The mixed Carrier/Dakelh-Tsilhqotʼin band) Despite its small population and isolation, the region has produced an impressive collection of literature mixing naturalism with Indigenous and settler cultures. The area is accessed by Highway 20 , which runs from the City of Williams Lake to the port town of Bella Coola . Highway 20 westbound from Williams Lake crosses the Fraser River at Sheep Creek - thereby entering Tsilhqotʼin traditional territory. The highway passes over

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572-876: The same area along the Chilcotin are the Farwell Rapids . 51°50′00″N 122°34′00″W  /  51.83333°N 122.56667°W  / 51.83333; -122.56667 This article about a location in the Cariboo Regional District , Canada is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Tsilhqot%27in Their name, Tŝilhqotʼin, makes reference to the Chilko River , which means "red ochre river," from tŝi(lh) "rock" + -qu "river" + -t'in "people". Tsilhqot'in people also use another word to refer to themselves: Nenqayni , from: nen "land" + -qay "surface" + -ni "person/people", and their country

598-548: The schools, and within the first 30 years, three investigations on the physical abuse and malnutrition were conducted. Voting rights in Canadian federal elections were denied until 1960, and in provincial elections until 1949. Today, some 5,000 Tsilhqotʼin people live in Alexandria , north of Williams Lake , and in a string of five communities accessible from Williams Lake on Highway 20 (from east to west), and south from Highway 20

624-436: The south arm Eutsuk Lake, Natalkuz Lake, Chedakuz Arm, Knewstubb Lake , Tetachuck Lake and others. Because Ootsa Lake is the largest of the original lakes its name is sometimes used for the whole reservoir, though the official name remains Nechako Reservoir. Tweedsmuir North Provincial Park and Protected Area and Entiako Provincial Park both border the reservoir. For many generations, the shores of Ootsa Lake were home to

650-669: Was diverted westward to the Pacific Ocean, instead of eastward to the Fraser River." The creation of the reservoir flooded the series of lakes which typified the upper Nechako basin and in the process rendered the Quanchus Range , which lies between the north and south arms of the reservoir, a virtual island. The names of lakes amalgamated into the reservoir are perpetuated as names for the various stretches of water. The north arm includes Ootsa Lake , Whitesail Lake, and Whitesail Reach,

676-624: Was formed by the Kenney Dam making a diversion of the Nechako River through a 16-km intake tunnel in the Kitimat Ranges of the Coast Mountains to the 890 MW Kemano Generating Station at sea level at Kemano to service the then-new Alcan aluminum smelter at Kitimat . When it was constructed on the Nechako River in 1952, it resulted in the relocation of over 75 families. It was one of

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