The Declaration of the Lillooet Tribe is an important document in the history of relations between First Nations and the governments of the Dominion of Canada and the Province of British Columbia. Signed in Spences Bridge on May 10, 1911 by a committee of the chiefs of the St'at'imc peoples, taken down by anthropologist James Teit, a resident of Spences Bridge who lived among the Nlaka'pamux, it is an assertion of sovereignty over traditional territories as well as a protest against recent alienations of land by settlers at Seton Portage, British Columbia.
Like the Nisga'a Declaration and other documents from the same period, the Declaration of the Lillooet Tribe points to the rising organization of native politicians in the lead-up to World War I, climaxing in the federal government's 1922 potlatch law, which banned the potlatch any assemblies of more than three First Nations males as a political meeting.
That group included the N'quat'quaFirst Nation at D'Arcy on Anderson Lake but they are now independent of both organizations and are completely self-governing, though as with the In-SHUCK-ch maintaining cultural and family links with the other communities of the St'at'imc peoples. Chiefs of communities of the In-SHUCK-ch in the following list are those from the Tenas Lake Band, the Samakwa Band (see Samahquam) the Skookum Chuck Band and the Port Douglas Band; (the Tenas Lake Band, near Samahquam, is now integrated with the others.)
The text of the Declaration
To Whom It May Concern:
We the underwritten chiefs of the Lillooet tribe (being all the chiefs of said tribe) declare as follows:
We speak the truth, and we speak for our whole tribe, numbering about 1400 people at the present time.
We claim that we are the rightful owners of our tribal territory, and everything pertaining thereto. We have always lived in our Country; at no time have we ever deserted it, or left it to others. We have retained it from the invasion of other tribes at the cost of our blood. Our ancestors were in possession of our Country centuries before the whites came. It is the same as yesterday when the latter came, and like the day before when the first fur trader came. We are aware the B.C. government claims our Country, like all other Indian territories in B.C.; but we deny their right to it. We never gave it nor sold it to them. They certainly never got the title to the Country from us, neither by agreement nor conquest, and none other than us could have any right to give them title. In early days we considered white chiefs like a superior race that never lied nor stole, and always acted wisely and honorably. We expected they would lay claim to what belonged to themselves only. In these considerations we have been mistaken, and gradually have learned how cunning, cruel, untruthful and thieving some of them can be. We have felt keenly the stealing of our Lands by the B.C. government, but we could never learn how to get redress. We felt helpless and dejected but lately we begin to hope. We think that perhaps after all we may get redress from the greater white chiefs away in the King's Country, or in Ottawa. It seemed to us all white chiefs and governments were against us, but now we commence to think we may yet get a measure of justice.
We have been informed of the stand taken by the Thompson River, Shuswap, and Okanagan tribes, as per their declaration of July 16th, 1910. We have learned of the Indian Rights Association of B.C., and have also heard the glad news that the Ottawa government will help us to obtain our rights. As we are in the same position in regard to our lands, etc., and labour under the same disadvantages as the other tribes of B.C., we resolved to join with them in their movement for our mutual rights. With this object, several of our chiefs attended the Indian meeting at Lytton on Feb. 13th, 1910, and again the meeting at Kamloops on the 6th Feb. last. Thereafter we held a meeting ourselves at Lillooet on the 24th Feb. last, when the chiefs of all the Lillooet bands resolved as follows:
First - That we join the other interior tribes affiliated with the Indian Rights Association of the Coast.
Second - That we stand with them in the demand for their rights, and the settlement of the Indian land question.
Third - That we agree unanimously with them in all the eight articles of their Declaration, as made at Spences Bridge, July, 1910.
In conclusion, we wish to protest against the recent seizing of certain of our lands at "The Short Portage," by white settlers on authority of the B.C. government. These lands have been continually occupied by us from time out of mind, and have been cultivated by us unmolested for over thirty years. We also wish to protest against the building of railway depots and sidings on any of our reservations, as we hear is projected. We agree that a copy of this Declaration be sent each to the Hon. Mr. Oliver, the superintendent of Indian Affairs, the Secretary of the Indian Rights Association, Mr. Clark, K.C., and Mr. McDonald, Inspector of Indian Agencies.
(Signed) JAMES NRAITESKEL, Chief Lillooet Band JAMES STAGER, Chief Pemberton Band PETER CHALAL, Chief Mission Band JAMES JAMES, Chief Seaton Lake Band JOHN KOIUSTGHEN, Chief Pasulko Band DAVID EKSIEPALUS, Chief No. 2 Lillooet Band CHARLES NEKAULA, Chief Nkempts Band JAMES SMITH, Chief Tenas Lake Band HARRY NKASUSA, Chief Samakwa Band PAUL KOlTELAMUGH, Chief Skookum Chuck Band AUGUST AKSTONKAIL, Chief Port Douglas Band JEAN BABTISTE, Chief No. 1 Cayuse Creek Band DAVID SKWINSTWAUGH, Chief Bridge River Band THOMAS BULL, Chief Slahoos Band THOMAS JACK, Chief Anderson Lake Band CHIEF FRANSOIS THOMAS ADOLPH, for La Fountain Indians Spences Bridge, B.C. May 10th, 1911
The Stʼatʼimc, also known as the Lillooet, St̓át̓imc, Stl'atl'imx, etc., are an Interior Salish people located in the southern Coast Mountains and Fraser Canyon region of the Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia.
A Tribal Council is an association of First Nations bands in Canada, generally along regional, ethnic or linguistic lines.
Seton Portage is a community located on a narrow strip of land between Anderson Lake and Seton Lake in Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, British Columbia. The community is home to two Seton Lake First Nation communities at either end of the portage and a non-native recreational community between them. Local services include a post office, fire department, library, and general store, among other small businesses. The community is also the location of Seton Portage Historic Provincial Park, a small provincial park protecting a historically significant stretch of railway.
The Skatin First Nations, aka the Skatin Nations, are a band government of the In-SHUCK-ch Nation, a small group of the larger St'at'imc people who are also referred to as Lower Stl'atl'imx. The Town of Skatin - the St'at'imcets version of the Chinook Jargon Skookumchuck- is located 4 km south of T'sek Hot Spring- alt. spelling T'sek Hot Spring - commonly & formerly named both St. Agnes' Well & Skookumchuck Hot Springs The community is 28 km south of the outlet of Lillooet Lake on the east side of the Lillooet River. It is approximately 75 km south of the town of Pemberton and the large reserve of the Lil'wat branch of the St'at'imc at Mount Currie. Other bands nearby are Samahquam at Baptiste Smith IR on the west side of the Lillooet River at 30 km. and Xa'xtsa First Nations; the latter is located at Port Douglas, near the mouth of the Lillooet River where it enters the head of Harrison Lake. The N'Quatqua First Nation on Anderson Lake, between Mount Currie and Lillooet, was at one time involved in joint treaty negotiations with the In-SHUCK-ch but its members have voted to withdraw, though a tribal council including the In-SHUCK-ch bands and N'Quatqua remains, the Lower Stl'atl'imx Tribal Council.
N'Quatqua, variously spelled Nequatque, N'quat'qua, is the proper historic name in the St'at'imcets language for the First Nations village of the Stl'atl'imx people of the community of D'Arcy, which is at the upper end of Anderson Lake about 35 miles southeast of Lillooet and about the same distance from Pemberton. The usage is synonymous with Nequatque Indian Reserve No. 1, which is 177 ha. in size and located adjacent to the mouth of the Gates River.
The Lillooet Tribal Council is the official English name of the largest tribal council of what is also known as the St'at'imc Nation, though not including all governments of St'at'imc peoples - the term St'at'imc Nation has another context of all St'at'imc peoples, not just those within this tribal council or the tribal council itself, as the term can be used for. The Lillooet Tribal Council a.k.a. the St'at'imc Nation is the largest tribal council of the St'at'imc people, though a pan-St'at'imc organization, the St'át'timc Chiefs Council includes all St'at'imc bands.
The Bridge River Indian Band also known as the Nxwísten First Nation, the Xwisten First Nation, and the Bridge River Band, is a First Nations government located in the Central Interior-Fraser Canyon region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is a member of the Lillooet Tribal Council, which is the largest grouping of band governments of the St'at'imc people.
The In-SHUCK-ch Nation, also known as Lower Lillooet people, are a small First Nations Tribal Council on the lower Lillooet River south of Pemberton-Mount Currie in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The communities of the In-SHUCK-ch are of the St'at'imcets-speaking St'at'imc people, but in recent years seceded from the Lillooet Tribal Council to form their own organization. The name In-SHUCK-ch is taken from Gunsight Peak, a distinctive mountain near the south end of Lillooet Lake.
Mount Currie is a small, mostly First Nations, community in British Columbia, 164 kilometres north of Vancouver and 40 kilometres north-east of Whistler along Highway 99. "The Mount Currie settlement and mountain were named after Scottish settler John Currie, who located to Quebec in 1851. After failure as a gold seeker in California and the Cariboo, Currie turned to ranching and finally settled near Pemberton with his Lillooet Indian wife in 1885." The area is traditional territory of the Lil'wat, a subgroup of the St'at'imc people who with the communities of Skatin, Samahquam and Xa'xtsa to the south comprise the Lower St'at'imc or Lower Lillooet. The Mount Currie Indian Reserve hosts most of the population of Mount Currie, who are known as the Lil'wat, their name for the spot, but west of the reserve there are non-native farms, industrial sites and tourist resorts, and on the mountain shoulder immediately north of the reserve is Owl Creek, the site of the original Catholic mission school which drew the Lil'wat from their former homebase at Pemberton Meadows so as to be close to their children. Owl Creek today is the name of a modern subdivision of mostly non-natives, though Owl Creek remains on the rail crossing on the CNR just outside the reserve.
Chief Hunter Jack was a 19th-century chief of the Lakes Lillooet. His name in St'at'imcets, the Lillooet language, was In-Kick-Tee. Irene Edwards, long-time storekeeper at D'arcy and later at Seton Portage, gives another Indian name for him, Tash Poli.
The Seton Lake First Nation, a.k.a. the Seton Lake Indian Band, is a First Nations government located in the Central Interior-Fraser Canyon region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is a member of the Lillooet Tribal Council, which is the largest grouping of band governments of the St'at'imc people. Other St'at'imc governments include the smaller In-SHUCK-ch Nation on the lower Lillooet River to the southwest, and the independent N'quatqua First Nation at the farther end of Anderson Lake from Seton Portage, which is the location of three of the band's reserve communities.
Xaxli'p, also known as the Fountain or the Fountain Indian Band, is a First Nations government located in the Central Interior-Fraser Canyon region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is a member of the Lillooet Tribal Council, which is the largest grouping of band governments of the St'at'imc people.
The Lil'wat First Nation, a.k.a. the Lil'wat Nation or the Mount Currie Indian Band, is a First Nation band government located in the southern Coast Mountains region of the Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is a member of the Lillooet Tribal Council, which is the largest grouping of band governments of the St'at'imc or Stl'atl'imx people. Other St'at'imc governments include the smaller In-SHUCK-ch Nation on the lower Lillooet River to the southwest, and the independent N'quatqua First Nation at the near end of Anderson Lake from Mount Currie, which is the main reserve of the Lil'wat First Nation, and also one of the largest Indian reserves by population in Canada.
The T'it'q'et First Nation also known as the T'it'k'it First Nation, the Tl'itl'kit First Nation and as the Lillooet Indian Band, is a First Nations government located in the Central Interior-Fraser Canyon region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is a member of the Lillooet Tribal Council, which is the largest grouping of band governments of the St'at'imc people. Other St'at'imc governments include the smaller In-SHUCK-ch Nation on the lower Lillooet River to the southwest, and the independent N'quatqua First Nation at the farther end of Anderson Lake from Seton Portage, which is the location of three of the reserve communities of the Seton Lake First Nation, another member of the Lillooet Tribal Council.
The N'Quatqua First Nation, also known as the N'quatqua Nation, the N'Quatqua Nation, the Nequatque First Nation, the Anderson Lake Indian Band, the Anderson Lake First Nation and the Anderson Lake Band, is a First Nations government of the St'at'imc people, located in the southern Coast Mountains region of the Canadian province of British Columbia at the community of D'Arcy, where the British Columbia Railway meets the head of Anderson Lake, about midway between the towns of Pemberton and Lillooet.
Skatin is a community of under 100 persons in Skatin First Nations, aka the Skatin Nations, a Band government of the larger Band of the In-SHUCK-ch Nation, part of the St'at'imc people who are also referred to as Lower Stl'atl'imx. Skatin, the official new name, reverts to the traditional pre-colonial/pre-Columbian name. The alternate past name still commonly used by outsiders, Skookumchuck, is the St'at'imcets version of the Chinook Jargon Skookumchuck, meaning Strong Waters, i.e. rapids. The town site is 4 km south of T'sek Hot Spring, formerly named both Saint Agnes Well and Skookumchuck Hot Springs. The community is 28 km south of the outlet of Lillooet Lake on the east side of the Lillooet River. It is approximately 75 km south of the town of Pemberton and the large reserve of the Lil'wat branch of the St'at'imc at Mount Currie, British Columbia. See Skatin First Nations for details about the complicated Band(s) structure.
The Bridge River Rapids, also known as the Six Mile Rapids, the Lower Fountain, the Bridge River Fishing Grounds, and in the St'at'imcets language as Sat' or Setl, is a set of rapids on the Fraser River, located in the central Fraser Canyon at the mouth of the Bridge River six miles north of the confluence of Cayoosh Creek with the Fraser and on the northern outskirts of the District of Lillooet, British Columbia, Canada.
The Douglas First Nation, aka the Douglas Indian Band, Douglas Band, or Xa'xtsa First Nation, are a band government of the In-SHUCK-ch Nation, a subgroup of the larger St'at'imc people, also referred to as Lower Stl'atl'imx. The Douglas, Skatin and Samahquam communities are related through familial ties as well as culturally and linguistically. The In-SHUCK-ch are the southernmost of the four divisions making up the Lillooet ethnographic group. The Douglas First Nation's main community is at Xa'xtsa, a village on their main reserve at the head of Harrison Lake, near the former gold rush port-town of Port Douglas.
The St'át'timc Chiefs Council is an organization comprising the chiefs of all bands of the St'at'imc people, aka the Lillooet people. It is not a tribal council and includes chiefs from bands not part of the Lillooet Tribal Council. The council's mandates include issues of aboriginal title and rights and control over land and resources in St'at'imc territory.
The Ma’amtagila First Nation', formerly known as Mahteelthpe or Matilpi, are an Indigenous nation and part of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples. Their territory is located in the Queen Charlotte Strait-Johnstone Strait area in the Discovery Islands between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland in Canada.
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