Early Days
The Xatśūll First Nation is a member of the Great Secwepemc Nation, once known as the people of Xatśūll (on the cliff where the bubbling water comes out).
Xatśūll (Hat'sull) is the northern most Shuswap tribe of the Secwepemc Nation, which is the largest Nation within the interior of BC. The Xatśūll have stewarded territory ranging from the Coast Mountains to the west, east to the Rocky Mountains. Use of the land brought about contact with neighboring peoples.
The Xatśūll were known to celebrate and war with the neighboring Chilcotin Nation but were always wary of the Cree. There was a good relationship with the southern Carrier who referred to the Shuswap as the 'Atnah' meaning, "to live in underground dwellings". Inter-marriages between neighboring communities was an important survival strategy, for failure of the annual salmon could result in starvation or migration and these relations could be relied on to share hunting and fishing territories.
As with many other First Nations, the Xatśūll Nation followed a hunting and gathering lifestyle centered in family groups and focused on the Fraser River and the salmon. Patterns of land use were at harmony with the natural processes.
Winter
During the winter months storytelling was a popular event providing successive generations with an understanding of their history, culture and the relationship to the land. A celebration similar to what we know as Christmas occurred, but to the Xatśūll it was a celebration of thanks and praise to their deities. To prepare for the coming seasons, time-consuming tasks such as tanning hides, making clothes, and basket weaving were undertaken.
Spring
Spring was the time for celebration, giving thanks and asking for abundance in the offerings of the new seasons. The families set forth to gather staples and handicraft materials. Between Big Lake and Horsefly there is a place where a year long staple food can be found. The 'Spring Beauty' known also as the mountain potato or 'Suin-gwee-num' was available throughout the Douglas Fir biogeoclimatic zone. Spawning lake trout was available at Tyee Lake. The traditional name - 'Yucwt' describes the style of fishing. Roots and paper birch were available to make new basket containers.
Summer
As spring gave way to summer other roots that the Xatśūll people depended on became numerous, but mostly it was a time to prepare for the great Chinook salmon or the 'Geh gas so'. When the first spring salmon was caught it was a feast, a celebration, the return of life. Very soon after came the Sockeye. Meanwhile, saskatoons and soopalallie were everywhere for the gathering. The season for reaping the harvest had begun. Drying racks and life along the river came alive once again.
Fall
The time for hunters to test their skills and accuracy. Big Camp or 'Skooam', meaning trees falling this way and that way, was a favorite area for blueberries and hunting. It has been said, "You could get what you wanted, deer or moose were just like cattle". Hunting of Caribou took place in the Cariboo Mountains. Families spread out, preferring different areas including Quesnel Forks, Horsefly, Likely, and Forest Lake. Round birch bark boats were used to cross Quesnel Lake.
The communities as taught by the elders, practiced a harmonious relationship with natural processes. This included: rotating hunting, trapping, fishing, and gathering areas; organizing the timing of harvest; developing specific patterns of travel over the traditional area; periodic ground burning to remove forest litter accumulation; limiting village size to sustain the fish, wildlife and plants.
~The relationship to the land strengthened the culture.~
Gold Rush
The Cariboo, renamed by the European, was the center of the Gold Rush. Ironically, unsuspecting Secwepemc and Carrier guides led a party of five Europeans to the gold. Thousands of miners came into Xatśūll territory. Lower Soda Creek, just a couple miles from Xatśūll, became a boom town. It was the final stop on the stagecoach route, that came through Deep Creek from Ashcroft, and the start of the steam boat journey which took people north on the Fraser.
Once the natives provided the Europeans with what they needed to survive, the European attitude of superiority dismissed any honor or justice from their relationships with the native people. What native people felt then and still feel today can be summed up by a quote from Sara Sam, a Xatśūll Elder, who turned 99 on July 29, 1995. She said, 'The Indians saved lots of them white people. They didn't know how to get around and now they think the Indians are no good.'
European Contact
The early years of European contact set the tone for aboriginal\white relations which, for the most part, continues today. In Williams Lake and the surrounding area native people are still treated as second or third class citizens. This of course began with the original settlers, continued with the churches, particularly in the residential schools (today's parents are the first generation in a 100 years legally able to keep their children at home with them) and was institutionalized in all aspects of aboriginal/white relationships. The findings of the Sarich Inquiry are further proof that racism is alive and well in the fabric of white society in Xatśūll traditional area.
The area around Soda Creek was squatted upon by many of the Europeans who came looking for gold. Land belonging to Xatśūll was claimed by settlers with the approval of white governments and their various bureaucracies who pretended to be looking after the interests of Xatśūll. Leaders of Xatśūll tried in vain to get the government to settle land claims in an honorable way. The people of Xatśūll, weakened by disease and other European vices, watched helplessly as the European society took control of their land, their resources and their lives.
Reserve Established
In 1865, James Douglas established a reserve for the Xatśūll people. The original reserve was 22 miles long and 8 miles wide. Settlers wanted the land and over a number of years the people of Xatśūll ended up with one mile square on a rocky hillside, for all their needs. Deals made on behalf of the Xatśūll usually ended up far more beneficial for those wanting what little Xatśūll had left. These deals were usually made without the knowledge or understanding of the people of Xatśūll. They protested but were not heard, until 1895 when the settlers and missionaries in the area protested as well. It was only then that a second reserve at Deep Creek was made available to the Xatśūll, for planting wheat and barley. The British Columbia Preemption Act prevented Xatśūll people (and all natives in B.C.) from acquiring and owning land.
The history of the intrusion of white authorities upon the lives of Xatśūll is not one to be proud of, yet still continues today. This intrusion affected every area of the our people's lives from birth to death. Traditional native names were changed for the convenience of the non-natives. If a native person left a will the government can override it they did not agree with it. There isn't a single aspect of the lives of the Xatśūll which remains untouched by governments who assume authority and all too often abuse it.
Compensation
Prime examples of this abuse of authority are the trespasses on Xatśūll by BC Rail, BC Hydro, BC Telephone, West coast Transmission (BC Gas), and the Ministry of Transportation and Highways among many others. Xatśūll got very little, and in some cases no compensation, for the transportation and utility corridors negotiated on their behalf by the Federal government. For the still existing trespasses and the extraction of the many renewable and non-renewable resources, Xatśūll has received nothing. This is the same for all other First Nation's communities.
Future
This brings us to the present. We have to begin somewhere to right the wrongs that have been done to the people of Xatśūll. A beginning that can set the tone for positive future aboriginal/non-aboriginal relations, is the honorable and fair Treaty negotiation process between Xatśūll, as a member of the Northern Shuswap Tribal Council, and the Provincial and Federal governments. We cannot change history, but we can learn from it. We can adopt the principles upon which all relationships should be based: Mutual Respect and Dignity.
We, the people of Xatśūll, look forward to a future where distinct cultures live side by side, each respecting the other.
Experience Our Culture
You are invited to visit the Xatśūll Heritage Village. First of its kind in North America, Xatśūll Heritage Village (pronounced hat-sull) is located in the heart of the historic Cariboo region of British Columbia, Canada. It is a place for all cultures to experience the traditional Shuswap lifestyle. Spend a day or two weeks learning the old ways, the crafts and skills of the native elders.
Visit our Xat'súll Heritage Site for more information.