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133-644: The first European settlers arrived at the Saanich Peninsula in 1852. Ten farmers soon met and form an Agricultural Society in 1867 to promote what it was like farming. At the time the peninsula was separated and was called North Saanich and South Saanich. Representatives of the society were Robert Brown, George Thomas, J. T. Mcllmoyle, and Peter Emrie from North Saanich; While William Thomson, Henry Simpson, Duncan Lidgate, Thomas Michell, William Turgoose and Captain George Stephen Butler of South Saanich. For

266-505: A Chimakuan -speaking people. Their traditional territory is in the western Olympic Peninsula, around the Quillayute and Hoh Rivers . The Willapa people are a traditionally Athabaskan -speaking people of southwestern Washington. Their territory was between Willapa Bay (named after them) and the prairie lands around the head of the Chehalis and Cowlitz Rivers . A related people, known as

399-678: A Francisco de Eliza to rebuild the fort . The expedition, composed of three ships, the Concepción , under the command of De Eliza , the San Carlos , under the command of Salvador Fidalgo and the Princesa Real , under the command of Manuel Quimper , sailed in early 1790 from San Blas in Nueva Galicia and arrived at Nootka Sound in April of that year. The expedition had many Catalan volunteers from

532-677: A fort in Friendly Cove , Nootka Sound , which was named Fort San Miguel . This territory was already considered as part of New Spain by the Spanish due to the previous explorations of the region. Upon Martinez's arrival, a number of British ships were seized, including those of Captain Meares. This originated the Nootka Crisis , which almost led to a war between Britain and Spain. Some months later, Manuel Antonio Flórez , Viceroy of New Spain , ordered

665-588: A Feast. Professionals existed for some communities, but music is taught and then rehearsed. For some nations, the tradition was those who made musical errors were punished, usually through shaming. Employing octave singing, but rather than running up and down the scale, it is not uncommon to jump notes and go from bottom to top or top to bottom in a couple of notes. Vocal Rhythmic patterns are often complex and run counter to rigid percussion beats. The tribes would dance in groups in circles. The creation of beautiful and practical objects (for all tribal communities) served as

798-563: A city of beauty in the wilderness’ and planned his city as an iconic visual metaphor for British dominance, ‘styled and located with the objective of reinforcing the authority of the Crown and of the robe’. Subsequent to the enactment of the Pre-emption Act of 1860, Moody settled the Lower Mainland . He selected the site and founded the new capital, New Westminster . He selected the site due to

931-409: A forum to display wealth within a tribe. In the potlatch ceremony, the chief would give highly elaborate gifts to visiting peoples to establish his power and prestige, and by accepting these gifts the visitors conveyed their approval of the chief. There were also great feasts and displays of conspicuous consumption, such as the burning of articles, or throwing things into the sea, purely as a display of

1064-564: A huge range of languages. British Columbia (BC) is divided by anthropological theory into three cultural areas: the Northwest Coast, the Plateau, and the North. First Nations in each area developed customs and approaches to living that fit the resources in the region. Through much of British Columbia, salmon formed a substantial part of the diet where available. The term pre-contact is used to describe

1197-614: A language related to Heiltsuk , Wuikyala or Oowekyala (they are dialects of a language that has no independent name; linguists refer to it as Heiltsuk-Oweekyala). Together with the Heiltsuk and Haisla, they were once incorrectly known as the Northern Kwakiutl because of their language's close relationship with Kwakʼwala . Greatly reduced in numbers today, like other coastal peoples they were master carvers and painters. They had an elaborate ritual and clan system. The focus of their territory

1330-536: A means of transmitting stories, history, wisdom and property from generation to generation. Art provided Indigenous people with a tie to the land by depicting their histories on totem poles the Big (Plank) Houses of the Pacific Northwest coast – the symbols depicted were a constant reminder of their birthplaces, lineages and nations. Due to the abundance of natural resources and the affluence of most Northwest tribes, there

1463-451: A museum in Canada is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This British Columbia -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . History of British Columbia#Early European settlement The history of British Columbia covers the period from the arrival of Paleo-Indians thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization,

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1596-554: A number of others. A very high degree of linguistic variation occurs in BC; a response to this was the development of a trade jargon, Chinook Jargon . Not a complete language, it was used in trade, governance, and some early writings, for example, hymns. By 1811 John Jacob Astor had founded Astoria, and ten years later the Hudson's Bay Company had established itself on the Columbia. In the meantime,

1729-576: A numerous tribe" but instead found "only of three men, three women" as well as the oldest of the men "marked with the small-pox", when referring to the Tlingit people in the North West Coast. Oral traditions of various tribes in the Pacific Northwest also refer to an epidemic of smallpox on the populations. There are many theories to how smallpox arrived in the Pacific Northwest. One theory is that an outbreak in central Mexico in 1779 spread north and infected

1862-580: A result of treaty complications at the end of the War of 1812 , this meant only there was a parallel US fort adjacent to the NWC one, which was the more prosperous of the two. Following the forced merger of the North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company in 1821, Fort Vancouver was established as the new regional headquarters. The arrival of Europeans began to intensify in the mid-19th century, as fur traders entered

1995-610: A ripple before us, except when a fish rose to the surface or broods of wild ducks fluttered away" . Moody designed the first Coat of arms of British Columbia . However, Lord Lytton 'forgot the practicalities of paying for clearing and developing the site and the town’ and the efforts of Moody's Engineers were continuously hampered by insufficient funds, which, together with the continuous opposition of Douglas, 'made it impossible for [Moody's] design to be fulfilled’. Throughout his tenure in British Columbia, Richard Clement Moody

2128-432: A series of propositions that provided the dynamic to the history of the province: the ongoing pull between maritime and continental forces; the opposition between a "closed", hierarchical model of society represented by the Hudson's Bay Company and colonial officials, and the "open", egalitarian vision of English and Canadian settlers, and regional tensions between Vancouver Island and the mainland, metropolitan Vancouver and

2261-518: A significant number of place names in British Columbia derive from Chinook and early anthropologists sometimes recorded stories using the jargon. At the time, the region was still not under formal colonial authority. Douglas, fearing challenges to the claim of British sovereignty in the region in the face of an influx of some 20,000 Americans, stationed a gunboat at the mouth of the Fraser in order to obtain licence fees from those seeking to head upstream. With

2394-732: Is a First Nations government in northern Vancouver Island in British Columbia , Canada, their main community is the community of Alert Bay in the Queen Charlotte Strait region. There are approximately 225 members of the Daʼnaxdaʼxw Nation. The Nation is a member of the Kwakiutl District Council and, for treaty negotiation purposes, the Winalagalis Treaty Group which includes three other members of

2527-572: Is a theory and some evidence that Sir Francis Drake may have explored the British Columbia Coast in 1579, it is conventionally claimed that it was Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra who completed the first documented voyage, which took place in 1775. In doing so, Quadra reasserted the Spanish claim for the whole of the Pacific coast, first made by Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513, who declared

2660-656: Is derived from the Haisla word x̣àʼisla or x̣àʼisəla , "(those) living at the rivermouth, living downriver". The Heiltsuk ( / ˈ h aɪ l t s ʊ k / HYLE -tsuuk ) are an indigenous Nation of the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, centred on the island communities of Bella Bella and Klemtu . The Heiltsuk are the descendants of a number of tribal groups who came together in Bella Bella in

2793-768: Is distinguished from the Chinook Jargon , which was partly based upon it, and is often called "Chinook." Close allies of the Nuu-chah-nulth , they are also a canoe people, and pre-European contact, Chinook Jargon arose as a trading language incorporating both Chinookan and Wakashan vocabulary. Recent attempts to keep Chinook Jargon or Chinook Wawa alive are helped by the corpus of songs and stories dictated by Victoria Howard to Melville Jacobs , published by him as Clackamas Chinook Texts. Selections from that corpus were also published as Clackamas Chinook Performance Art. The Chinookan peoples practiced slavery, likely learned from

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2926-460: Is in the Pacific Northwest on the west coast of Vancouver Island. In pre-contact and early post-contact times, the number of nations was much greater, but as in the rest of the region, smallpox and other consequences of contact resulted in the disappearance of some groups, and the absorption of others into neighbouring groups. They were among the first Pacific peoples north of California to come into contact with Europeans. Competition between Spain and

3059-506: Is largely used in the American context. At one point, the region had the highest population density of a region inhabited by Indigenous peoples in Canada . The Pacific Northwest Coast at one time had the most densely populated areas of indigenous people ever recorded in Canada. The land and waters provided rich natural resources through cedar and salmon, and highly structured cultures developed from relatively dense populations. Within

3192-718: Is named after him. It was established at the end of a trail that connected New Westminster with Burrard Inlet to defend New Westminster from potential attack from the US. By 1862, the Cariboo Gold Rush , attracting an additional 5000 miners, was underway, and Douglas hastened construction of the Great North Road (commonly known now as the Cariboo Wagon Road ) up the Fraser Canyon to the prospecting region around Barkerville . By

3325-563: Is now spoken by less than 5% of the population—about 250 people. Today 17 separate tribes make up the Kwakwakaʼwakw, who historically spoke the common language of Kwakʼwala . Some Kwakwakaʼwakw groups are now extinct. Kwakʼwala is a Northern Wakashan language , a grouping shared with Haisla, Heiltsuk and Oowekyala. The Nuu-chah-nulth ( / n uː ˈ tʃ ɑː n ʊ l θ / noo- CHAH -nuulth ; Salishan: [nuːt͡ʃaːnˀuɬ] ) are an Indigenous people in Canada. Their traditional home

3458-525: Is quite different from that of their coastal neighbours, though it contains a large number of Wakashan loan words. They are believed to have been more connected to Interior Salish peoples, before Athabaskan -speaking groups now inland from them spread southwards, cutting the Nuxalk off from their linguistic relatives. The Wuikinuxv , also known as the Owekeeno or Rivers Inlet people (after their location), speak

3591-574: The Colony of British Columbia . Richard Clement Moody was hand-picked by the Colonial Office, under Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton , to establish British order and to transform the newly established Colony of British Columbia (1858–66) into the British Empire's "bulwark in the farthest west" and "found a second England on the shores of the Pacific". Lytton desired to send to the colony 'representatives of

3724-691: The Copper River Delta north of the Alaska Panhandle . The vast majority currently live near the Alaskan city of Cordova . The Tlingit ( / ˈ k l ɪ ŋ k ɪ t / KLINK -it , / ˈ t l ɪ ŋ ɡ ɪ t / ; the latter is considered inaccurate) are one of the furthest north indigenous nations in the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their autonym is Lingít [ɬɪŋkɪ́t] , meaning "Human being". The Russian name for them, Koloshi ,

3857-489: The First Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia , commanded by Pere d'Alberní , a native of Tortosa . The expedition rebuilt the fort, which had been dismantled after Martínez abandoned it. The rebuilt fort included several defensive constructions as well as a vegetable garden to ensure the settlement had food supplies. The Catalan volunteers left the fort in 1792. The Nootka Crisis however ended very much in favour of

3990-613: The New Westminster British Columbian and future provincial premier , John Robson . A series of petitions requesting an assembly were ignored by Douglas and the colonial office until Douglas was eased out of office in 1864. Finally, the colony would have both an assembly and a resident governor. Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment was disbanded in July 1863. In the Moody family, only 22 men and 8 wives returned to England, while

4123-656: The North Straits Salish -speaking peoples in and around Victoria , the Halkomelem -speaking peoples in and around Vancouver , and the Lushootseed -speaking peoples in and around Seattle . Pre-European contact, the Coast Salish numbered in the tens of thousands, and as such were one of the most populous groups on the northwest coast The Chimakum people were a Chimakuan -speaking people whose traditional territory lay in

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4256-744: The North West Company , the three were primarily concerned with discovering a practicable river route to the Pacific, specifically via the Columbia River , for the extension of the North American fur trade . In 1793, Mackenzie became the first European to reach the Pacific overland north of the Rio Grande . He and his crew entered the region through the Rocky Mountains via the Peace River , reaching

4389-533: The Salish Sea in 2010. The Coast Salish cultures differ considerably from those of their northern neighbours. One branch, the Bella Coola, feature a patrilineal, not matrilineal, system. As a whole, the Coast Salish tribes generally have both a matrilineal and patrilineal system. They are also one of the few peoples on the coast whose traditional territories coincide with contemporary major metropolitan areas, namely

4522-505: The Shoshone in 1781, allowing the disease to spread into the lower Columbia River and Strait of Georgia via trade between the Flathead , Nez Perce , Walla Walla , and other various tribes. Spanish expeditions to the Northwest Coast from Mexico in 1774, 1775, and 1779 are also attributed to spreading smallpox to the local tribes in the area, with many documented outbreaks correlating to where

4655-624: The Stikine . The influx of gold miners into BC's economy led to the creation of basic infrastructure in BC, most notably, the creation of the Cariboo Wagon Road which linked the Lower Mainland to the rich goldfields of Barkerville. However, the enormous costs of the road, and its predecessor the Douglas Road and services such as the Gold Escort , left BC in debt by the mid-1860s. In 1866, because of

4788-677: The Thompson River and north of California was named by the company the Columbia District , and was administered first from Fort Vancouver (present-day Vancouver, Washington ). Throughout the 1820s and 1830s, the HBC controlled nearly all trading operations in the Pacific Northwest , based out of the company headquarters at Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River. Although authority over

4921-535: The Thompson River just east of what is now Lytton, British Columbia , triggering the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush . When word got out to San Francisco about gold in British territory, Victoria quickly transformed into a tent city as prospectors , speculators, land agents, and outfitters flooded in from around the world, mostly via San Francisco . The Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Langley burgeoned economically as

5054-399: The aboriginal peoples there. In 1788, John Meares , an English navigator and explorer, sailed from China and explored Nootka Sound and the neighbouring coasts. He bought some land from a local chief named Maquinna and built a trading post there. Two years later, in 1789, the Spanish commander Esteban José Martínez , a native of Seville , established a settlement and started building

5187-520: The 19th century. They generally prefer the autonym Heiltsuk . Anthropology labelled them the Bella Bella, which is how they are more widely known. The Nuxalk (pronounced [nuχalk] ), also known as the Bella Coola, are an Indigenous people of the Central Coast , as well as the furthest north of the Coast Salish cultures. Linguists have classified their Salishan language as independent of both Interior and Coast Salish language groups. It

5320-541: The Alabama claims for cash. When a false report circulated in April, soon after the Alaska news, that the British government was considering settling the claims by ceding the colony, a substantial annexation movement appeared supported by many residents and three of the colony's six newspapers. Anti-confederationists, who were not necessarily annexationists, were the majority on Vancouver Island. That said, annexationists argued that

5453-895: The American Fort Hall , 483 km (300 mi) to the east. In 1837, it purchased Fort Hall, also along the route of the Oregon Trail , where the outpost director displayed the abandoned wagons of discouraged settlers to those seeking to move west along the trail. Fort Vancouver was the nexus for the fur trade on the Pacific Coast; its influence reached from the Rocky Mountains to the Hawaiian Islands, and from Alaska into Mexican-controlled California. At its pinnacle, Fort Vancouver watched over 34 outposts, 24 ports, six ships, and 600 employees. Also, for many primarily American settlers,

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5586-591: The American-born colonists did. Residents of the mainland almost unanimously supported confederation with the rest of British North America; they argued that this would benefit the colony as Canada would soon negotiate another reciprocity treaty. Many British-born colonists were on both sides. Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and practices, such as

5719-463: The British Columbia interior, establishing several forts ( Hudson's Hope , Trout Lake Fort , Fort George , Fort Fraser , and Fort St. James ). Fraser's expedition took him down the river that now bears his name, to the site of present-day Vancouver. Although both Mackenzie and Fraser reached the Pacific, they found the routes they took impassable for trade. It was David Thompson who found the Columbia River and followed it down to its mouth in 1811. He

5852-401: The British after the Spanish capitulated to British terms. Spanish influence in the region ended in 1795 after the Nootka Convention came into force. Subsequently, European explorer-merchants from the east started to discover British Columbia. Three figures dominate the early history of mainland British Columbia: Sir Alexander Mackenzie , Simon Fraser , and David Thompson . As employees of

5985-482: The Clatskanie ( / ˈ k l æ t s k ɪ n aɪ / ) or Tlatskani, lived on the south side of the Columbia River in northwestern Oregon . The Chinookan peoples were once one of the most powerful and populous groups of tribes on the southern part of the Northwest Coast. Their territories flank the mouth of the Columbia River and stretch up that river in a narrow band adjacent to that river, as far as Celilo Falls . Their group of dialects are known as Chinookan . It

6118-420: The Colonies Lord Granville stated his wish that British North America "would propose to be independent and annex themselves". The Times ' view was the British consensus: British Columbia is a long way off. ... With the exception of a limited official class it receives few immigrants from England, and a large proportion of its inhabitants consists of citizens of the United States who have entered it from

6251-496: The Columbia River. The British position was that a fair division of the Columbia District was a boundary at the Columbia River. In 1844, the United States Democratic Party asserted that the US had a legitimate claim to the entire Columbia District or Oregon Country , but President James Polk was prepared to draw the border along the 49th parallel , the longstanding US proposal. When the British rejected this offer, Polk broke off negotiations, and American expansionists reasserted

6384-400: The Crown Colony of Vancouver Island was created; and in 1851, James Douglas was appointed Governor. Douglas, known as the father of British Columbia, established colonial institutions in Victoria. He started the process of expanding the economic base of the new colony by signing 14 treaties between 1850–1854 to purchase land for settlement and industrial development (coal deposits were known by

6517-438: The HWBC in the vicinities of Nanaimo and Fort Rupert ). Subsequent native population crashes later in the 19th century along with economic upheaval and native wars allowed his political successors to be much less consistent with British principles, treaties, and laws . Meanwhile, on the mainland, New Caledonia continued to focus on the fur trade with few non-native inhabitants (mostly HBC employees and their families) under

6650-430: The Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast, the music varies in function and expression. Though some groups have more cultural differences than the rest (like the Coast Salish and the more northern nations), there remain many similarities. Some instruments used by the Indigenous were hand drums made of animal hides, plank drums, log drums, box drums, along with whistlers, wood clappers, and rattles. A great deal of

6783-459: The Kwakiutl District Council (the Quatsino First Nation , the Gwaʼsala-ʼNakwaxdaʼxw Nations , and the Tlatlasikwala Nation ). The area referred to as the Northwest Coast has a very long history of human occupation, exceptional linguistic diversity, population density and cultural and ceremonial development. Noted by anthropologists for its complexity, there is emerging research that the economies of these people were more complex and intensive than

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6916-493: The North Coast of British Columbia, and the southernmost corner of Alaska on Annette Island . There are about 10,000 Tsimshian, of whom about 1,300 live in Alaska. Succession in Tsimshian society is matrilineal, and one's place in society was determined by one's clan or phratry (defined as four equal parts). Four main Tsimshian clans form the basic phratry. The Laxsgiik (Eagle Clan) and Ganhada (Raven Clan) form one half. Gispwudwada (Killer Whale Clan) and Laxgibuu (Wolf Clan) form

7049-453: The Northwest Coast harvested root crops through a process of digging and tilling. Using a digging stick made from hard wood, First Nations people would work the ground between tree roots and in bulb and rhizome patches, which loosened the compacted soil. Loosened soils made it easier to remove root crops whole and undamaged, and allowed roots, bulbs and rhizomes to grow more freely and abundantly with increased production. Native peoples of

7182-408: The Nuu-chah-nulth as it was more common to the north, and cranial deformation . Those without flattened heads were considered to be beneath or servile to those who had undergone the procedure as infants. One likely reason for the cultural prominence of the Chinookan peoples was their strategic position along the Columbia River , which acted as a massive trade corridor, as well as near Celilo Falls ,

7315-500: The Nuu-chah-nulth. Their territory is concentrated in the southern portion of Vancouver Island. The Makah are a Southern Wakashan people and are closely related to the Nuu-chah-nulth . They are also noted as whalers . Their territory is around the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula . The Coast Salish are the largest of the southern groups. They are a loose grouping of many tribes with numerous distinct cultures and languages. Territory claimed by Coast Salish peoples spans from

7448-412: The Pacific Northwest also used to eat a variety of fruit and berries. A favorite food was the salmonberry Rubus spectabilis , which derives its name from the fact that it was traditionally eaten with salmon and salmon roe. Blackberries Rubus , and evergreen huckleberries Vaccinium ovatum (which was eaten fresh or dried and made into cakes) were also popular. Red huckleberry Vaccinium parvifolium

7581-399: The Pacific Northwest by European and American migrants. In current times the political and current context of life for these indigenous peoples varies, especially considering their relationship to Canada and the United States. In Canada Indigenous peoples are one of the fastest growing groups with a young and increasing population. Significant issues persist as a result of colonial laws and

7714-501: The Pacific Northwest, many different nations developed, each with their own distinct history, culture, and society. Some cultures in this region were very similar and share certain elements, such as the importance of salmon to their cultures, while others differed. Prior to contact, and for a brief time after colonization, some of these groups regularly conducted war against each other through raids and attacks. Through warfare they gathered captives for slavery . The Eyak people reside in

7847-430: The Queen Charlotte Islands) also share a common border with other Indigenous peoples, such as the Tlingit and the Tsimshian. The Haida were also famous for their long-distance raiding and slaving, going often to California for trading. The Tsimshian ( / ˈ s ɪ m ʃ i ə n / SIM -shee-ən ), translated as "People Inside the Skeena River ," are indigenous people who live around Terrace and Prince Rupert on

7980-484: The Royal Engineers, and the British Columbia Historical Association, are flattering. Moody and the Royal Engineers also built an extensive road network, including what would become Kingsway , connecting New Westminster to False Creek , the North Road between Port Moody and New Westminster, and the Cariboo Road and Stanley Park . He named Burnaby Lake after his private secretary Robert Burnaby and named Port Coquitlam's 400-foot "Mary Hill" after his wife. As part of

8113-450: The Skeena River", were known with the Nisga'a as Interior Tsimshian. They speak a closely related language to Nisga'a, though both are related to Coast Tsimshian . This is the English term for Tsimshian spoken on the coast. Although inland, their culture is part of the Northwest Coast culture area, and they share many common characteristics, including the clan system, an advanced art style, and war canoes. They share an historic alliance with

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8246-427: The Spanish crown. There is some evidence that the Greek-born Juan de Fuca , who sailed for Spain and explored the West coast of North America in the 1590s, might have reached the passageway between Washington State and Vancouver Island – today known as the Strait of Juan de Fuca . (A later British explorer named Charles William Barkley named the passage after Juan de Fuca's reputed visit.) While there

8379-563: The Spanish made landfall. Another theory describes the outbreak originating in the Kamchatka Peninsula in 1769 and spreading via Russian explorers to South Alaska and the Aleutians , thus through the Alaska panhandle and down the Pacific Coast. There were a number of later smallpox epidemics, such as the devastating 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic . Due to the native population having no prior exposure to Old World diseases, local tribes may have lost as much as 90% of their population. This depopulation enabled an easier colonization of

8512-411: The Spanish navigator Juan José Pérez Hernández , a native of Mallorca , sailed from San Blas , Nueva Galicia (modern-day Nayarit ), with instructions to reach 60° north latitude to discover possible Russian settlements and take possession of the lands for the Spanish Crown. Hernández reached 55° north latitude, becoming the first European to sight Haida Gwaii and Vancouver Island . He traded with

8645-474: The Tillamook language was a Coast Salish language, it was somewhat divergent from its more northerly cousins; likewise, the Tillamook culture was substantially different from that of other Coast Salish cultures, apparently influenced by its southern neighbors. They, and their southern neighbors, were less reliant on salmon runs and more reliant on fish trapping in estuaries, hunting, and shellfish gathering. The Daʼnaxdaʼxw Nation , or Da'naxda'xw/Awaetlatla Nation

8778-443: The United Kingdom over control of Nootka Sound led to a bitter international dispute around 1790, which was settled when Spain agreed to abandon its claim of exclusivity to the North Pacific coast, and to pay damages for British ships seized during the dispute. The Nuu-chah-nulth speak a Southern Wakashan language and are closely related to the Makah and Ditidaht. The Ditidaht are a Southern Wakashan speaking people related to

8911-458: The United States , or to confederate with the newly formed Dominion of Canada. In Britain, many Little Englanders expected, or even hoped, that its North American colonies would depart from the British Empire. Admiral Joseph Denman told the Admiralty that British Columbia did not deserve Royal Navy protection, and advised the British government to "divest herself of these possessions by any means consistent with honor". Secretary of State for

9044-415: The accompaniment of any person or drum. Usually slow in tempo and accompanied by a drum. Principal function of music in this area is spiritual; music honors the Earth, Creator, Ancestors, all aspects of the supernatural world. Sacred songs are not often shared with the wider world. Women and men, families own their own songs as property which can be inherited, sold or given as a gift to a prestigious guest at

9177-438: The adjacent Gulf Islands . The Gulf Islands and Strait of Juan de Fuca are the access point to Puget Sound as well as a fallback position in preparation for the "worst-case" scenario settlement of the dispute, in the face of manifest destiny . Increasing numbers of American settlers arriving on the Oregon Trail gave rise to the Oregon boundary dispute . The Hudson's Bay Company dominated and controlled all territory north of

9310-468: The administrative oversight of Douglas, who was also the HBC's regional chief executive. The Hudson's Bay Company like the previous French colony and North West Company of Montreal still officially discouraged settlement because it interfered with the lucrative fur trade. The fur trade was a mutually beneficial relationship between the local HBC trading fort and adjacent native tribes. American expansion and control of territory were predicated primarily by

9443-403: The area of Port Townsend . Beset by warfare from surrounding Salish peoples, their last major presence in the region was eradicated by the Suquamish under Chief Seattle in the mid-19th century. Some survivors were absorbed by neighbouring Salish peoples, while some moved to join the Quileute on the southeast side of the Olympic Peninsula. The Quileute ( / ˈ k w ɪ l i uː t / ) are

9576-641: The area of forest conservation. The vast forests of cedar and spruce where the Haida make their home are on pre-glacial land, which is believed to be almost 14,000 years old. The Haida were widely known for their art and architecture, both of which focused on the creative embellishment of wood. They decorated utilitarian objects with depictions of supernatural and other beings in a highly conventionalized style. Haida communities located in Prince of Wales Island , Alaska and Haida Gwaii , British Columbia (previously referred to as

9709-617: The area to harvest sea otters . Although technically a part of British North America , British Columbia was largely run by the Hudson's Bay Company after its merger with the North West Company in 1821. The Central Interior of the region was organized into the New Caledonia District, a name that came to be generally attributed to the mainland as a whole. It was administered from Fort St. James, about 150 kilometres (93 mi) northwest of present-day Prince George . The Interior south of

9842-596: The best of British culture, not just a police force’: he sought men who possessed ‘courtesy, high breeding and urbane knowledge of the world’ and he decided to send Moody, whom the Government considered to be the archetypal 'English gentleman and British Officer’ at the head of the Columbia Detachment , which was created by an Act of the British Parliament on 2 August 1858. The Engineers were believed to exemplify

9975-398: The centrality of salmon as a resource and spiritual symbol, and many cultivation and subsistence practices. The term Northwest Coast or North West Coast is used in anthropology to refer to the groups of Indigenous people residing along the coast of what is now called British Columbia , Washington State , parts of Alaska , Oregon , and Northern California . The term Pacific Northwest

10108-541: The claim, coining slogans (most famously " Fifty-Four Forty or Fight! "). With the outbreak of the Mexican–American War diverting attention and resources, Polk was again prepared to compromise. The Oregon boundary dispute was settled in 1846 Treaty of Washington . The terms of the agreement established the border between British North America and the United States at the 49th parallel from the Rocky Mountains to

10241-450: The clouds there is a sublimity that deeply impresses you. Everything is large and magnificent, worthy of the entrance to the Queen of England’s dominions on the Pacific mainland. [...] My imagination converted the silent marshes into Cuyp -like pictures of horses and cattle lazily fattening in rich meadows in a glowing sunset. [...] The water of the deep clear Frazer was of a glassy stillness, not

10374-566: The coast. " the Indian history of British Columbia... began at least a hundred centuries before the Province itself was born...." Wilson Duff On the northwest coast of North America, the mild climate and abundant natural resources made possible the rise of a complex Aboriginal culture. The people who lived in what are today British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon were able to obtain a good living without much effort. They had time and energy to devote to

10507-480: The colony would never be able to negotiate with the United States a free trade agreement similar to the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 , and that annexation would end the disadvantage of the American tariff. Most Canadian-born residents supported confederation with their land of origin but were not very popular, as many in the colony believed that they sent their money home instead of spending it in British Columbia as

10640-636: The descendant of the Hawks industrial dynasty and the Boyd merchant banking family, wrote on 4 August 1859 "it is not pleasant to serve under a Hudson's Bay Factor" and that the "Governor and Richard can never get on". In letter to the Colonial Office of 27 December 1858, Richard Clement Moody boasts that he has ‘entirely disarmed [Douglas] of all jealously" Douglas repeatedly insulted the Engineers by attempting to assume their command and refusing to acknowledge their value in

10773-455: The development of fine arts and crafts and to religious and social ceremonies. The indigenous populations were devastated by epidemics of infectious diseases, especially smallpox , brought in by European explorers and traders. Prior to European colonization, various reports from European explorers describe the tribes in the area bearing signs of smallpox . Nathaniel Portlock , a British ship's captain, described as having "expected to have seen

10906-469: The diet of the Northwest Native Americans was the bulb Camassia , a member of the asparagus family. Indigenous peoples engaged in the active management and cultivation of camassia by clearing land, by tilling and weeding, and by planting bulbs. Camas plots were harvested by individuals or kin-groups, who were recognized as a particular plot's cultivators or stewards. Indigenous peoples of

11039-432: The dried or smoked salmon over the winter, so the first fresh fish caught in the spring was welcomed with great ceremony. Hunting, both on land and sea, was also an important source of food. At sea this involved hunting whales, sea lion, porpoise, seal and sea otter, while deer, moose and elk were pursued on land. The plentiful supply of all these animals meant that the tribes became prosperous. The most important plant in

11172-735: The environment around them in order to encourage greater production of a resource for sustained harvesting. The Pacific salmon in particular played a central role in the diet and culture of the Northwest, so much so that the Native Nations of the region define themselves as the Salmon People. The salmon were caught with hook and line or small nets, and then pierced with cedar skewers and roasted or smoked over open pit fires. Other methods of catching them could also be used however, such as traps, baskets, spears and lures. The tribe would have to rely on

11305-602: The expedition, de Heceta returned to Nueva Galicia, while Quadra kept on a northward course, ultimately reaching 59° North in what today is Sitka, Alaska . During this expedition, the Spanish made sure to land several times and formally claim the lands for the Spanish Crown, while verifying the absence of Russian settlements along the coast. Three years later, in 1778, the British Royal Navy captain James Cook arrived in

11438-538: The explorers and traders had been coming by land. Somewhere and sometime during this period the existence of the (Chinook) Jargon became known. All the Indians talked it to each other and resorted to it in their conversations with the whites. Knowledge of this trade language became a necessary part of the trader's equipment. Fort Victoria was established as a trading post in 1843, both as a means to protect HBC interests, as well as to assert British claims to Vancouver Island and

11571-692: The first four years, annual Fall Exhibitions were held in different locations until 1873. By then the Society purchased five acres of land donated by Henry Simpson Who also owned the Prairie Tevern (Later replaced in 1893 by the Prairie Inn)This was the site of social gatherings. The museum was built in 1933 when the Saanich Pioneers' Society was given permission by the Fair Society to erect a log cabin on

11704-647: The fort became the last stop on the Oregon Trail as they could get supplies before starting their homestead. By 1843 the Hudson's Bay Company operated numerous posts in the Columbia Department, including Fort Vancouver, Fort George (Astoria), Fort Nisqually , Fort Umpqua , Fort Langley , Fort Colville , Fort Okanogan , Fort Kamloops , Fort Alexandria , Flathead Post , Kootanae House , Fort Boise , Fort Hall , Fort Simpson , Fort Taku , Fort McLoughlin (in Milbanke Sound ), Fort Stikine , as well as

11837-428: The foundation of a capital city, but upon his arrival at Fort Langley, he learned of an outbreak of violence at the settlement of Hill's Bar. This led to an incident popularly known as " Ned McGowan's War ", where Moody led 22 Engineers and Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie to Yale to face down a group of rebellious American miners. Order was restored without further strict pain. In British Columbia, Moody ‘wanted to build

11970-481: The gold now gone, most of the American miners had left, and the economic future did not look promising unless BC could join the very rapidly growing, rich economies of the Pacific states. While American residents of British Columbia celebrated the United States' purchase of Alaska in 1867, having American territory to their north and south caused British residents' fears for the future of their colony to grow. Alaska

12103-420: The great wealth of the chief. Groups of dancers put on elaborate dances and ceremonies. These dancers were members of secret "dancing societies". Watching these performances was considered an honor. Potlatches were held for several reasons: the confirmation of a new chief; coming of age; tattooing or piercing ceremonies; initiation into a secret society; marriages; the funeral of a chief; and battle victory. Among

12236-572: The grounds. Originally the grounds were the first Saanich Fair, which opened in 1868, thanks to ten farmers of the peninsula. In 1993, the Saanich Fair later moved to Stelly's Cross Road where it currently is today. The location of the original fair grounds was turned into a park known as Polo Park. The log cabin also still stands which houses the archives of Saanichton. 48°35′50″N 123°25′06″W  /  48.5972°N 123.4183°W  / 48.5972; -123.4183 This article related to

12369-471: The hinterland interior. Human history in what has come to be known as British Columbia dates back thousands of years. Archaeology finds in British Columbia have been dated to as early as 13,543 years ago, with some exciting potential for underwater sites beginning to be detected. The geography of the land influenced the cultural development of the peoples, and in places allowed for the cultural development of permanent villages, complex social institutions, and

12502-477: The instruments were used mostly in the potlatch , but also carried over in to other festivities throughout the year. The songs employed are used with dancing, although it is also for celebration, which at times may not be accompanied by dancing. Most singing is community based. There are some solo parts, often the lead singer would begin in the first line of each round of a song, but not long solos. For some ceremonies, solo songs would be used by men and women without

12635-511: The lands encompassing present-day British Columbia were inhabited for millennia by a number of First Nations . Several European expeditions to the region were undertaken in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. After the Oregon boundary dispute between the UK and US government was resolved in 1846, the colonies of Vancouver Island and colony of British Columbia were established; the former in 1849 and

12768-577: The latter in 1858. The two colonies were merged to form a single colony in 1866, which later joined the Canadian Confederation on 20 July 1871. An influential historian of British Columbia, Margaret Ormsby , presented a structural model of the province's history in British Columbia: A History (1958); that has been adopted by numerous historians and teachers. Chad Reimer says, "in many aspects, it still has not been surpassed". Ormsby posited

12901-496: The longest continuously inhabited site in the Americas, used as a fishing site and trading hub for 15,000 years by a wide range of indigenous peoples. The Tillamook or Nehalem peoples were a Coast Salishan -speaking group of tribes living roughly between Tillamook Head and Cape Meares on the northern Oregon Coast . The term 'Tillamook' itself is in fact an exonym, from the neighbouring Chinook-speaking Kathlamet people. Although

13034-526: The massive debt leftover from the gold rush, the mainland and Vancouver Island became one colony named British Columbia , with its capital in Victoria. On Vancouver Island settlement and industrial development took place along the shorelines. For example, see the 19th-century settlement in Comox or Colony of Vancouver Island . In 1867, there were three options open: to continue as a British colony, to be annexed by

13167-453: The nascent colony. Margaret A. Ormsby, the author of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography entry for Moody (2002), condemns Moody for a contribution to the abortive development of the city. However, most other historians have exonerated Moody for the abortive development of the city and consider his achievement to be impressive, especially with regard to the perpetual insufficiency of funds and

13300-639: The natives near Estevan Point , although apparently without landing. The expedition was forced to return to Nueva Galicia, due to the lack of provisions. Since Pérez Hernández's first expedition failed to achieve its objective, the Spanish organized a second expedition in 1775 with the same goal. This expedition was commanded by Bruno de Heceta on board the Santiago , piloted by Pérez Hernández, and accompanied by Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra in La Sonora. After illnesses, storms, and other troubles had affected

13433-541: The neighboring Wetʼsuwetʼen , a subgroup of the Dakelh (or Carrier people). Together they waged a battle in the courts against British Columbia known as Delgamuukw v British Columbia , which had to do with land rights. The Haisla (also Xaʼislakʼala, X̄aʼislakʼala, X̌àʼislakʼala, X̣aʼislakʼala) are an indigenous nation living at Kitamaat in the North Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The name Haisla

13566-643: The northern end of the Strait of Georgia , along the east side of Vancouver Island, covering most of southern Vancouver Island, all of the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast , all of Puget Sound except (formerly) for the Chimakum territory near Port Townsend , and all of the Olympic Peninsula except that of the Quileute , related to the now-extinct Chemakum. The Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound were officially united as

13699-544: The now infamous Canadian Indian residential school system . Many of the most repressive elements of the Indian Act (federal legislation governing First Nations) were removed in 1951, and the right for First Nations to vote was granted in 1960. The 1951 amendment to the Indian Act lifted the potlatch ban , though the ban was never fully effective - it had pushed traditional culture underground. Since 1951 ceremonial practices and

13832-486: The ocean at North Bentinck Arm , near present-day Bella Coola . Shortly thereafter, Mackenzie's companion, John Finlay , founded the first permanent European settlement in British Columbia, Fort St. John , located at the junction of the Beatton and Peace Rivers. Simon Fraser was the next to try to find the course of the Columbia. During his expedition of 1805–09, Fraser and his crew, including John Stuart , explored much of

13965-466: The other half. Prior to European contact, marriage in Tsimshian society could not take place within a half-group, for example between a Wolf and a Killer Whale. It was considered to be incest even if there was no blood relationship. Marriages were only arranged between people from clans in different halves: for example, between a Killer Whale and a Raven or Eagle. The Gitxsan or Gitksan, meaning "people of

14098-831: The period prior to contact between First Nations and European explorers. The precise time of contact varied according to circumstance but took place on the coast during the 1770s. In places in the Interior, it occurred later. British Columbia, before the arrival of the Europeans, was home to many Indigenous peoples speaking more than 30 different languages, including Babine-Witsuwit'en , Danezaa (Beaver) , Carrier , Chilcotin , Cree , Dene language , Gitxsan , Haida , Haisla , Halkomelem , Kaska , Kutenai , Kwak̓wala , Lillooet , Nisga'a , Nuu-chah-nulth , Nuxalk , SENCOTEN , Sekani , Shuswap , Sinixt , Squamish , Tagish , Tahltan , Thompson , Tlingit , Tsetsaut , and Tsimshian . There

14231-458: The personally motivated opposition of Douglas, whose opposition to the project continually retarded its development. Robert Edgar Cail, Don W. Thomson, Ishiguro, and Scott have praised Moody for his contribution, the latter accusing Ormsby of being ‘adamant in her dislike of Colonel Moody’ despite the evidence, and almost all biographies of Moody, including those of the Institute of Civil Engineers,

14364-563: The potlatch have re-emerged widely along the coast. One development in recent times is the revival of ocean-going cedar canoes. Beginning in the late 1980s with early Haida and Heiltsuk canoes, the revival spread quickly after the Paddle to Seattle in 1989 and the 1993 'Qatuwas canoe festival in Bella Bella . Many other journeys to different places along the coast have occurred; these voyages have come to be known as Tribal Canoe Journeys . Both

14497-556: The qualities sought by the Government. Moody arrived in British Columbia in December 1858, commanding the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment . He was sworn in as the first Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia and appointed Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for British Columbia. On the advice of Lytton, Moody hired Robert Burnaby as his personal secretary, and the two became close friends. Moody had hoped to begin immediately

14630-519: The quality of the "archetypal English gentleman and British Officer", his family was "eminently respectable": he was the son of Colonel Thomas Moody (1779-1849) , one of the wealthiest mercantilists in the West Indies, who owned much of the land in the islands where Douglas's father owned a small amount of land and from which Douglas's mother, "a half-breed", originated. Governor Douglas's ethnicity made him ‘an affront to Victorian society’. Mary Moody,

14763-533: The region was nominally shared by the United States and Britain through the Anglo-American Convention of 1818 , company policy, enforced via Chief Factor John McLoughlin of the company's Columbia District , was to discourage any settlement, including US settlement, of the territory. The company's effective monopoly on trade virtually forbade any settlement in the region. It established Fort Boise in 1834 (in present-day southwestern Idaho) to compete with

14896-643: The region, searching for the Northwest Passage and landed at Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island , where he and his crew traded with the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation . Upon trading his goods for sea otter pelts, his crew in turn traded them for an enormous profit in Macau on their way back to Britain. This led to an influx of traders to the British Columbian coast, and ongoing economic contact with

15029-588: The resolution of the Oregon Boundary Dispute, British interests, primarily the HBC, lost the governance of all territory between the 49th Parallel and the Columbia River, where there had been a sudden influx of American settlers 8 years previous. When news of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush reached London, the Colonial Office established the mainland as a Crown colony on 2 August 1858, naming it

15162-499: The rest, 130 sappers, elected to remain in BC. Scott contends that the departure of the Engineers 'doomed' the development of the settlement and the fruition of Lord Lytton's dream. Chartres Brew replaced Moody as land commissioner. A second major gold rush in the Cariboo region of the colony occurred in 1861–64, in the midst of smaller ones , notably in the Omenica , Big Bend and on

15295-560: The sea and the land provided important sources of food and raw materials to Indigenous Peoples of the Northwest Coast, and many of these resources needed to be managed to ensure continual harvest. Historians and ethnographers provide evidence of cultivation practices and environment management strategies that have been used by First Nations peoples for centuries along the Northwest Coast. Practices like digging and tilling, pruning, controlled burning , fertilizing, streamscaping and habitat creation allowed Indigenous groups to intentionally manage

15428-553: The sea, the original American proposal, with all of Vancouver Island retained as British territory. This effectively destroyed the geographical logic of the HBC's Columbia Department, since the lower Columbia River was the core and lifeline of the system. The US soon organized its portion as the Oregon Territory. The administrative headquarters of fur operations, and of the Columbia Department, then shifted north to Fort Victoria , which had been founded by James Douglas . In 1849,

15561-464: The settlement of the land not commercial relationships with the existing local population. The British made virtually no effort to assert sovereignty over the aboriginal peoples of the area. In accordance with the Royal Proclamation of 1763 , large-scale settlement by non-aboriginal people was prohibited until the lands were surrendered by treaty . In 1858, gold was found along the banks of

15694-521: The south. Suppose that the colonists met together and came to the conclusion that every natural motive of contiguity, the similarity of interests, and facility of administration induced them to think it more convenient to slip into the Union than into the Dominion. ... We all know that we should not attempt to withstand them. Financially, becoming officially part of the United States made sense since British Columbia

15827-530: The staging point for many of the prospectors heading by boat to the Canyon. A wide range of linguistic diversity among First Nations and explorers/traders made communication difficult. Trade jargon, initially used by First Nations expanded and changed to include words from English and French to become the Chinook Jargon . Not a complete language, the jargon became widespread among First Nations and early Europeans to enable communication and trade. Though little used today

15960-514: The strategic excellence of its position and the quality of its port. He was also struck by the majestic beauty of the site, writing in his letter to Blackwood, "The entrance to the Frazer is very striking—Extending miles to the right & left are low marsh lands (apparently of very rich qualities) & yet fr the Background of Superb Mountains-- Swiss in outline, dark in woods, grandly towering into

16093-442: The surveying effort, several tracts were designated "government reserves", which included Stanley Park as a military reserve (a strategic location in case of an American invasion). The Pre-emption act did not specify conditions for distributing the land, so large parcels were snapped up by speculators, including 3,750 acres (1,517 hectares) by Moody himself. For this he was criticized by local newspapermen for land grabbing . Port Moody

16226-402: The time of this gold rush, the character of the colony was changing, as a more stable population of British colonists settled in the region, establishing businesses, opening sawmills , and engaging in fishing and agriculture. With this increased stability, objections to the colony's absentee governor and the lack of responsible government began to be vocalized, led by the influential editor of

16359-445: The west. San Francisco's population in the 1860s exceeded 60,000, while Victoria's never rose above 4,000. All mail from British Columbia went through San Francisco, forcing the colony's post office to keep large quantities of American postage stamps. The opening of the American transcontinental railroad in 1869 made it possible to travel by ship from Victoria to San Francisco, then by train to Ottawa or Washington in just 24 days. With

16492-516: The whole of the Pacific and its shores as part of the Spanish Empire. Quadra sailed over Sonora Reef, named after his boat, on Destruction Island in 1775. Some of his crew were murdered by the cannibal natives on the beach, and they attempted to board his ship until his remaining crew destroyed them with cannon fire. Quadra left the coast of Washington and sailed to Sitka, Alaska, but he did not make landfall or "discover" British Columbia. In 1774,

16625-494: Was Owikeno Lake , a freshwater fjord above a short stretch of river at the head of Rivers Inlet. The Kwakwakaʼwakw are an indigenous people, numbering about 5,500, who live in British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island and the mainland. The autonym they prefer is Kwakwakaʼwakw . Their Indigenous language, part of the Wakashan languages family, is Kwakʼwala . The name Kwakwakaʼwakw means "speakers of Kwakʼwala". The language

16758-457: Was both eaten and used as fish bait on account of its resemblance to salmon eggs. The Oregon grape Mahonia nervosa was sometimes eaten, mixed with sweeter berries to counteract its sour flavor. A potlatch is a highly complex event where people gather to commemorate a specific event (such as the raising of a totem pole or the appointment/election of a new chief). These potlatches would usually be held in competition with one another, providing

16891-533: Was derived from an Aleut term for the labret ; and the related German name, Koulischen , may be encountered in older historical literature. The Tlingit are a matrilineal society. They developed a complex hunter-gatherer culture in the temperate rainforest of the Alaska Panhandle and adjoining inland areas of present-day British Columbia. The Haida people ( / ˈ h aɪ d ə / HY -də ) are well known as skilled artisans of wood, metal and design. They have also shown much perseverance and resolve in

17024-399: Was economically essentially a satellite of San Francisco — the most important city of the entire American West and North America's Pacific coast — Washington, and Oregon, which provided all of the colony's supplies despite a substantial American tariff. American currency circulated widely in the colony, whose nearest British neighbours were Red River 2,000 miles to the east, and Hong Kong to

17157-503: Was engaged in a bitter feud with Sir James Douglas , Governor of Vancouver Island , whose jurisdiction overlapped with his own. Moody's position as Chief Commissioner and Lieutenant-Governor was one of ‘higher prestige [and] lesser authority than that of Douglas, despite Moody's vastly superior social position in the eyes of the Engineers and the British Government: Moody had been selected by Lord Lytton due to his possession of

17290-529: Was frequent contact between bands, and voyages across the straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca were common. The abundance of natural resources, such as salmon and cedar, enabled the development of a complex hierarchical society within coastal communities. With so much food being available, the peoples of the coastal regions could focus their time on other pursuits such as art, politics, and warfare. The first European visitors to present-day British Columbia were Spanish sailors and other European sailors who sailed for

17423-501: Was part of American Secretary of State William H. Seward 's plan to incorporate the entire northwest Pacific Coast, chiefly for the long-term commercial advantages to the United States in terms of Pacific trade. Seward believed that the people in British Columbia wanted annexation and that Britain would accept this in exchange for the Alabama claims . In the event, Seward dropped the idea of exchange and accepted an arbitration plan that settled

17556-413: Was previously assumed. Coast Salish peoples' had complex land management practices linked to ecosystem health and resilience. Forest gardens on Canada's northwest coast included crabapple, hazelnut, cranberry, wild plum, and wild cherry species. Many groups have First Generation Stories - family stories that tell of the origin of the group, and often of humans themselves arising in specific locations along

17689-463: Was unable to establish a claim, however, for the American explorers Lewis and Clark had already claimed the territory for the United States of America six years earlier. The American Fur Company of John Jacob Astor had founded Fort Astoria just months before Thompson arrived, though within a year the local staff at Astoria sold the fort and others in the region to the North West Company, which renamed it, Fort George. Though "returned" to US hands as

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