Lillooet Tribal Council

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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 (a.k.a. the Lillooet people), though a pan-St'at'imc organization, the St'át'timc Chiefs Council includes all St'at'imc bands. [1]

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Member Bands and First Nations

Declaration of the Lillooet Tribe, 1911

The formal beginnings of the modern Lillooet Tribal Council are to be found in the Declaration of the Lillooet Tribe of 1911, which asserted the sovereignty of the St'at'imcets-speaking communities and disputed recent pre-emptions of land at Seton Portage by white settlers.

Non-Lillooet Tribal Council St'at'imc groups

Other St'at'imcets-speaking groups within the traditional territory of the St'at'imc people are incorporated separately as

The member bands of In-SHUCK-ch, plus the N'quatqua Band, comprise the Lower Stl'atl'imx Tribal Council. These were all formerly part of the Lillooet Tribal Council but being all smaller rural reserves opted out to make their own way through the land claims process, despite maintaining close family and cultural ties to the larger communities at Mount Currie and Lillooet.

See also

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Lillooet, known in the language itself as St̓át̓imcets / Sƛ’aƛ’imxǝc, is the language of the St’át’imc, a Salishan language of the Interior branch spoken in southern British Columbia, Canada, around the middle Fraser and Lillooet Rivers. The language of the Lower Lillooet people uses the name Ucwalmícwts, because St̓át̓imcets means "the language of the people of Sat̓", i.e. the Upper Lillooet of the Fraser River.

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.

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.

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 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.

D'Arcy is an unincorporated community in the Canadian province of British Columbia, approximately 150 kilometres northeast of the city of Vancouver. Located at the head of Anderson Lake, D'Arcy, also known as Nequatque or N'Quatqua in the St'at'imcets (Lillooet) language, is partly a recreational and resource community and also the territory and residential area of the N'Quatqua First Nation.

The Pavilion Indian Band or Ts'kw'aylaxw First Nation or Tsk'waylacw First Nation or Tsk'weylecw First Nation, and also known in the plural e.g. Ts'kw'alaxw First Nations, is a First Nations government, located in the Fraser Canyon region of the Central Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was created when the government of the then-Colony of British Columbia established an Indian reserve system in the 1860s.

Seton Lake First Nation

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.

Lilwat First Nation First Nation band government

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 Lower Stl'atl'imx Tribal Council is a First Nations tribal council in British Columbia, Canada, comprising four band governments of the St'at'imc people:

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.

Samahquam First Nation, a.k.a. the Semahquam First Nation are a band of the In-SHUCK-ch Nation, a subgroup of the larger St'at'imc people. The Douglas, Skatin and Samahquam communities are related through familial ties as well as culturally and linguistically. They are the southernmost of the four divisions making up the Lillooet ethnographic group.

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.

Stlʼatlʼimx Tribal Police Service

The Stlʼatlʼimx Tribal Police Service (STPS) is the police force for St'at'imc aboriginal peoples of British Columbia. The STPS is the only aboriginal police service in British Columbia. Their officers are appointed as designated provincial constables, and have full police powers on and off-duty throughout the province. They are based in Lillooet and Mount Currie.

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