Skatin

Last updated
Skatin
Skookumchuk
Community
Skatin First Nations
Nickname: 
Skatin Nation
Canada British Columbia location map 2.svg
Red pog.svg
Coordinates: 50°4′0″N122°41′6″W / 50.06667°N 122.68500°W / 50.06667; -122.68500
CountryFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Province Flag of British Columbia.svg  British Columbia
Region Fraser Valley
Skatin First Nations 562
Government
[1]
 • TypeElected Band Council
 • Governing bodyBand Council
 • ChiefWilliams, Patrick
Population
 (2011)
 • Total105
Time zone PST
 • Summer (DST)PDT
Postal code
V0N
Area code N/A
Website www.inshuckch.com/skatin.html

Skatin is a community of under 100 persons in Skatin First Nations, [2] aka the Skatin Nations, [3] 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 (alt. spelling T'sik 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.

Contents

Skatin is geographically an extension of both the Pemberton and Harrison Valleys, but by legal fiction is officially part of the Fraser Valley for Provincial and Federal administrative purposes.

Population

Skatin community includes about 30 houses, a church, band office, fire hall, a new school and gymnasium built in 2003. The population living at Skatin is 65 at the town site, which varies according to season; 74 on other Reserves; and 275 off Reserves; [4] the majority living in the Fraser Valley and lower mainland, including Vancouver.

Language

The Skatin First Nations speak Ucwalmícwts/Lower St̓át̓imc: fluent speakers: 7, understand or speak somewhat: 51, learning speakers: 51. [5]

European Contact

The town church was built by members of the Douglas, Skatin and Samahquam Bands between 1895 and 1906. The Oblate Fathers established a mission there and demanded the native people in the surrounding wilderness to settle there. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate instructed the natives in Christianity, and to this day the Church of the Holy Cross, Skatin, stands as a stunning example of the North American architectural style known as Carpenter Gothic/Wood Gothic. In 1981, the church was designated as a National Historic Site by Heritage Canada. A community-based group, Ama Liisaos Heritage Trust Society, is working on conservation of the church. Prominent features are the simple but elegant stained glass windows, consisting of a checkerboard pattern of bright red mercuric glass and alternating bright blue cobalt glass squares. The glass was imported from Europe and brought in by mule, by a gold prospector who had struck it rich in the Cariboo Gold Rush, on his return to the goldfields.

The Gold Rush Era

In 1858 the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush began and some 30,000 miners began the trek through traditional Lil'wat and upper St'at'imc territory to the goldfields at Lillooet, then known as Cayoosh Flat Trail.

Flood control

In 1947 the Pemberton Dyking District, for flood control in the adjacent Pemberton Valley, lowered Lillooet Lake, permanently altering the character of the rapids and the water level in the Lillooet River. Conversely, Little Lillooet Lake earlier was raised by the Royal Engineers in their improvements to the route to the gold fields, turning it into a lower arm of Lillooet Lake proper, eliminating the portage and resulting in moving south the former Port Lillooet - down to what had been the south end of Little Lillooet Lake.

Telephone service

There are no landlines or cellular service in the area; radio telephones and satellite phones only. First Nations, loggers, roadbuilders and government officials all rely extensively on the use of VHF radios.

Electricity

Ironically, though adjacent to high tension power lines for more than half a decade, Skatin was not connected to the grid until January 2011, when BC Hydro crews disconnected the community diesel generating station. [6]

Logging

Agriculture

There were several native and European homesteads with mixed farms with livestock, small orchards, groves of nut trees including hazels ( C. avellana and C. sieboldiana) and filberts ( C. maxima ), walnuts and Northern pecans, and small vineyards ranging from three to 15 acres. These farms were very abundant because of rich alluvial soils in a sheltered valley system that runs in a general East-West direction, so the north shore of the river and lake have full sun year round and minimal shading. The waters also moderate the climate toward more temperate conditions with warm summer nights: i.e. able to grow tree fruits: peaches and apricots as the Okanagan Valley and Niagara Peninsula, and traditionally almonds such as fleshy almond/Northern almond/Hungarian almond var. Balaton/sweet kernel apricot (Prunus armeniaca var. Balaton). [7] Oral tradition holds that BC Hydro removed (or stole) the soil from all the farms along and south of Lillooet Lake, for building the service road used to install the high tension power lines to feed California.

Several raised vegetable beds have been successfully started at the nearby hot springs. Discussions have been begun about using the geothermal source for district heating and greenhouses. The area has the potential to supply all temperate fruit and hothouse needs extending to Whistler. [8]

Transportation

There are no rail or public transit buses, though there is a daily school bus for children. The Band maintains mini-buses for transport of seniors and others needing medical and other services in and beyond Pemberton.

Roads

Work is slowly proceeding on the 7 Nations Highway re-connecting Harrison Hot Springs with Pemberton. The last 20 miles at the head of Harrison Lake leading to Port Douglas are in very poor repair ever since the sawmill closed at Port Douglas, around 1995. Work on the Harrison Lake section was disrupted by the Wood Lake Wildfire in summer 2015. [9] The westernmost section of road was improved in the spring of 2015; In-SHUCK-ch Forest Service Road/FSR was widened from 1 to 1½ lanes to 2 lanes and two ½-lane shoulders (3 lanes in toto) for the length of Lillooet Lake. Drivers are advised to take a basic back-roads tool kit including flares, flashlights, shovel, jacks, tire iron, at least 1 spare tire (2 is better), water for people and vehicle, refillable water cans, and several cans of run flat aerosols to re-inflate tires. In the winter, add an axe, shovel, studs and/or chains/other traction devices to the list. Check latest updates before heading out. [10]

Air

There are charter helicopter flights, weather/visibility permitting. The closest airport is Pemberton Regional Airport. Seaplanes can be chartered out of Whistler/Green Lake Water Aerodrome and "land" nearby at the south end of Lillooet Lake.

Education

The elementary and junior high school (grades K-9), formerly known as the Head of the Lake School, now called Skatin Community School, is for the children of In-SHUCK-ch members, the majority of which are from Skatin and Tipella. 44 students currently attend this school. [11]

The Xit'olacw School in Xit'olacw Village (Mount Currie New Site) has 244 students, grades K-12. [12]

School District 48 Sea to Sky operates public schools in Pemberton.

Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique operates one Francophone primary school in Pemberton: école de la Vallée-de-Pemberton. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stʼatʼimc</span> Salishan ethnic group of British Columbia, Canada

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lillooet River</span> River in British Columbia, Canada

The Lillooet River is a major river of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia. It begins at Silt Lake, on the southern edge of the Lillooet Crown Icecap about 80 kilometres northwest of Pemberton and about 85 kilometres northwest of Whistler. Its upper valley is about 95 kilometres in length, entering Lillooet Lake about 15 km downstream from Pemberton on the eastern outskirts of the Mount Currie reserve of the Lil'wat branch of the St'at'imc people. From Pemberton Meadows, about 40 km upstream from Pemberton, to Lillooet Lake, the flat bottomlands of the river form the Pemberton Valley farming region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lillooet Lake</span>

Lillooet Lake is a lake in British Columbia, Canada about 25 km in length and about 33.5 square kilometres (22 mi²) in area. It is about 95 km downstream from the source of the Lillooet River, which resumes its course after leaving Little Lillooet Lake, aka Tenas Lake. Immediately adjacent to the mouth of the upper Lillooet River is the mouth of the Birkenhead River and just upstream along the Lillooet is the confluence of the Green River, which begins at Green Lake in the resort area of Whistler.

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 Birkenhead River, formerly known as the Portage River, the Pole River and the Mosquito River, is a major tributary of the Lillooet River, which via Harrison Lake and the Harrison River is one of the major tributaries of the lower Fraser River. It is just over 50 km long from its upper reaches in the unnamed ranges south of Bralorne, British Columbia ; their western area towards the named Bendor Range east of Bralorne is sometimes called the Cadwallader Ranges.

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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pemberton, British Columbia</span> Village in British Columbia, Canada

Pemberton is a village municipality in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia. This Pemberton Valley community is on the southwest shore of the Lillooet River and northeast shore of Pemberton Creek. On BC Highway 99, the locality is by road about 153 kilometres (95 mi) north of Vancouver, 33 kilometres (21 mi) northeast of Whistler, and 100 kilometres (62 mi) southwest of Lillooet.

Mount Currie is in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia. On BC Highway 99, the locality is by road about 160 kilometres (99 mi) north of Vancouver, 39 kilometres (24 mi) northeast of Whistler, and 92 kilometres (57 mi) southwest of Lillooet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lil'wat First Nation</span> 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 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of the Holy Cross (Skatin)</span> Building in Canada

The Church of the Holy Cross is a National Historic Site of Canada, located on one of the Indian reserves of the Skatin First Nation, in southwestern British Columbia. It is located on the east side of the Lillooet River on BC's first inland Gold Rush trail, the Douglas Road. Skatin Nations is the St'at'imcets language rendition of the reserve-town's usual name in English, Skookumchuck Hot Springs.

Skookumchuck Hot Springs is a thermal spring in British Columbia. Its pre-colonial Native and preferred name is Tsek Hot Spring or T'sek Hot Spring. The former name is Saint Agnes Well. The springs are located near the First Nation community of Skookumchuck and more recently renamed /reverted to traditional name of Skatin ("ska-TEEN") is on the historic Harrison Lillooet Gold Rush trail in the Lillooet River valley, south of Lillooet Lake, in British Columbia, Canada.

Cayoosh Pass is a mountain pass in the Lillooet Ranges of the Pacific Ranges of the southern Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. It lies just west of Duffey Lake on BC Highway 99 between the towns of Lillooet and Pemberton, formed by the headwaters of Cayoosh Creek to the east, flowing to the Fraser River at Lillooet, and Joffre Creek to the west, flowing steeply downhill to Lillooet Lake just southeast of the Mount Currie Indian Reserve.

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 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 New Westminster Land District is one of 59 land districts of British Columbia, Canada, which are the underlying cadastral divisions of that province, created with rest of those on Mainland British Columbia via the Lands Act of the Colony of British Columbia in 1860. The British Columbia government's BC Names system, a subdivision of GeoBC, defines a land district as "a territorial division with legally defined boundaries for administrative purposes". All land titles and surveys use the Land District system as the primary point of reference, and entries in BC Names for placenames and geographical objects are so listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stlʼatlʼimx Tribal Police Service</span>

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.

References

  1. ↑ Section 11 Band, Election System: Custom Electoral System
  2. ↑ Archived June 21, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ "First Nation Detail". Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada . Government of Canada. 2014-08-26. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  4. ↑ "Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada : Registered Population : Skatin Nations" (PDF). Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada . Government of Canada. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  5. ↑ "Skatin Nations". Maps.fphlcc.ca. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  6. ↑ "GRID Connection : Project Update : BC Hydro Remote Community Electrification Program" (PDF). Inshuckch.com. January 2011. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  7. ↑ "The Almond and the Sweet Kernel Apricot". Songonline.ca. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  8. ↑ "Tree Nut Species, Varieties and Cultivars for Canada". Treenuts.ca. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  9. ↑ Tarannum, Farah. "Public access restricted near Harrison Lake wildfire". Globalnews.ca. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  10. ↑ "Road Information - Sea to Sky District - Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations - Province of British Columbia". For.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  11. ↑ "Xit'olacw Community School Newsletter" (PDF). Lilwat.ca. January 14, 2011. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  12. ↑ "Welcome to the Lil'wat Nation, Mount Currie B.C. - Education, Xit'olacw Community School". Lilwat.ca. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  13. ↑ "Carte des écoles Archived 2015-08-17 at the Wayback Machine ." Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britanique . Retrieved on 22 January 2015.

Sources

Further reading

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