Wet'suwet'en

Last updated
This page is for the people. For the language they speak, see Babine-Witsuwit'en language.
Wet'suwet'en
Moricetown Canyon Rapids.jpg
Total population
2,447 (2001) [1]
Regions with significant populations
Canada (British Columbia)
Languages
English, Babine-Witsuwit'en
Religion
Christianity, traditional beliefs
The Wet'suwet'en's bridge across the Bulkley River, Hagwilget, 1872 Hagwilget First Bridge.gif
The Wet'suwet'en's bridge across the Bulkley River, Hagwilget, 1872

Wet'suwet'en (also known as Hwotsotenne, Witsuwit'en, Wetsuwet'en, Wets'uwet'en) are a First Nations people who live on the Bulkley River and around Burns Lake, Broman Lake, and Francois Lake in the northwestern Central Interior of British Columbia. The name they call themselves, Wet'suwet'en, means ″People of the Wa Dzun Kwuh River or Bulkley River″. [2]

In Canada, the First Nations are the predominant indigenous peoples in Canada south of the Arctic Circle. Those in the Arctic area are distinct and known as Inuit. The Métis, another distinct ethnicity, developed after European contact and relations primarily between First Nations people and Europeans. There are 634 recognized First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia.

Bulkley River river in Canada

The Bulkley River in British Columbia is a major tributary of the Skeena River. The Bulkley is 257 kilometres (160 mi) long with a drainage basin covering 12,400 square kilometres (4,800 sq mi).

Burns Lake Village in British Columbia, Canada

Burns Lake is a rural village in the North-Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, incorporated in 1923. The village has a population of 1,779 according to the 2016 Census.

Contents

The Wet'suwet'en are a branch of the Dakelh or Carrier people, and in combination with the Babine people have been referred to as the Western Carrier. They speak Witsuwit'en, a dialect of the Babine-Witsuwit'en language which, like its sister language Carrier, is a member of the Athabaskan family.

Dakelh ethnic group

The Dakelh or Carrier are the indigenous people of a large portion of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada.

In its broader sense, Babine refers to the Athabascan indigenous peoples who speak the Babine dialect of the Babine-Witsuwit'en language in the vicinity of the Babine River, Babine Lake, Trembleur Lake, and Takla Lake in the central interior of British Columbia, Canada.

The Carrier language is a Northern Athabaskan language. It is named after the Dakelh people, a First Nations people of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, for whom Carrier is the usual English name. People who are referred to as Carrier speak two related languages. One, Babine-Witsuwit'en is sometimes referred to as Northern Carrier. The other, Carrier proper, includes what are sometimes referred to as Central Carrier and Southern Carrier.

Their oral history, called kungax, recounts that their ancestral village, Dizkle or Dzilke, once stood upstream from the Bulkley Canyon. This cluster of cedar houses on both sides of the river was said to be abandoned because of an omen of impending disaster. The exact location of the village has not yet been discovered. [3] The neighbouring Gitxsan people of the Hazelton area have a similar tale, though the village in their version is named Dimlahamid (Temlahan). [4] [5]

Gitxsan ethnic group

Gitxsan are an indigenous people of Canada whose home territory comprises most of the area known as the Skeena Country in English. Gitksan territory encompasses approximately 53,000 km2 (20,000 sq mi) of land, from the basin of the upper Skeena River from about Legate Creek to the Skeena's headwaters and its surrounding tributaries. Part of the Tsimshianic language group, their culture is considered to be part of the civilization of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, although their territory lies in the Interior rather than on the Coast. They were at one time also known as the Interior Tsimshian, a term which also included the Nisga'a, the Gitxsan's neighbours to the north. Their neighbours to the west are the Tsimshian while to the east the Wetʼsuwetʼen, an Athapaskan people, with whom they have a long and deep relationship and shared political and cultural community.

Hazelton, British Columbia Village in British Columbia, Canada

Hazelton is a village located at the junction of the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers in northern British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1866 and has a population of 305 (2011). The nearby larger community of New Hazelton is the northernmost point of the Yellowhead Highway, a major interprovincial highway which runs from Prince Rupert, British Columbia to Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.

The traditional government of the Wet'suwet'en comprises 13 hereditary chiefs, organized today as the Office of the Hereditary Chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en, or the Office of the Wet'suwet'en in BC government terminology (the government does not recognize their hereditary rights). The Office of the Hereditary Chiefs is the main political body of the Wet'suwet'en and is involved in the negotiating process for an eventual treaty with the British Columbia government. In the past, they were co-complainants in the Delgamuukw v. British Columbia case, which sought to establish recognition of the hereditary territorial rights of the Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en Confederacy. [6]

Like most of the First Nations peoples of BC they have never signed a formal treaty and are in the process of negotiating a treaty now. [7]

Today's Wet'suwet'en First Nations

Carrier Sekani Tribal Council [8]

Independent First Nations

Clans

There are five Wet'suwet'en clans:

See also

Notes

Witsuwit'en is the correct spelling in the writing system in general use.[ citation needed ] In non-technical publications it is usually misspelled as Wits'uwit'en, Wit'suwit'en, Wets'uwet'en, or Wet'suwet'en due to the difficulty of distinguishing glottalized [ts] from plain [ts] and official spellings with <ts'> and <t's> in the name of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation and the Office of the Wet'suwet'en. In point of fact the [ts] is not glottalized. Older spellings include Hotsot'en and Hwotsot'en. Whutsowhut'en is the Carrier name in the Carrier Linguistic Committee writing system in general use for that language. In the feast hall they work as four clans with the Tsayu (Beaver) and Laksamshu (Fireweed) working together.

Related Research Articles

Skeena River river in Canada

The Skeena River is the second-longest river entirely within British Columbia, Canada. Since ancient times, the Skeena has been an important transportation artery, particularly for the Tsimshian and the Gitxsan—whose names mean "inside the Skeena River" and "people of the Skeena River," respectively. The river and its basin sustain a wide variety of fish, wildlife, and vegetation; and communities native to the area depend on the health of the river. The Tsimshian migrated to the Lower Skeena River, and the Gitxsan occupy territory of the Upper Skeena.

Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako regional district of British Columbia

The Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako (RDBN) is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Canada. As of the 2016 census, the population was 37,896. The area is 73,419.01 square kilometres. The regional district offices are in Burns Lake.

Babine–Witsuwitʼen or Nadotʼen-Wets'uwetʼen is an Athabaskan language spoken in the Central Interior of British Columbia. Its closest relative is Carrier. Because of this linguistic relationship together with political and cultural ties, Babine–Witsuwitʼen is often referred to as Northern Carrier or Western Carrier. Specialist opinion is, however, that it should be considered a separate, though related, language.

François Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located at the east end of Francois Lake. Total park area is 7,214 hectares. It is about 12 km off BC Highway 16, southwest of the town of Fraser Lake. There is no potable water at the site so campers should bring their own.

The Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation is a First Nations band located outside of the village of Burns Lake, British Columbia, Canada. It was formerly known as the Broman Lake Indian Band and is still usually referred to as Broman Lake although this is no longer its official name. Its members speak the Wetʼsuwetʼen dialect of Babine-Witsuwitʼen, a Northern Athabaskan language. The main community is on Palling Indian Reserve No. 1.

Bulkley Valley valley in British Columbia, Canada

The Bulkley Valley is located in the northwest Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada.

Witset human settlement in British Columbia, Canada

Witset is a Wet'suwet'en village in Central British Columbia, Canada on the west side of the Bulkley River on Coryatsaqua (Moricetown) Indian Reserve No. 2, and on Moricetown Indian Reserve No.1. The current village was built during the early 1900s. Evidence of inhabitants date back to around 5,500 years ago.

Skeena Mountains mountain in Canada

The Skeena Mountains, also known as the Skeenas, are a subrange of the Interior Mountains of northern British Columbia, Canada, essentially flanking the upper basin of the Skeena River. They lie just inland from the southern end of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains, and also of the northern end of the Kitimat Ranges. Their southern limit is described by the Bulkley River and the upper northwestern reaches of Babine and Takla Lakes, and on their northeast by the upper reaches of the Omineca River.

The Moricetown Indian Band is a First Nations band government of the Wet'suwet'en people of Witset, British Columbia, Canada. Their mailing address is in Smithers but their main community is at Moricetown.

Ts'il Kaz Koh First Nation or the Burns Lake Indian Band is a Wetsuweten band government whose main community is located on Burns Lake, near the divide between the Bulkley and Nechako River basins, approximately 220 km west of Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. Ts'il Kaz Koh as a name is derived from the Carrier name for the creek that runs through the area. The band has four reserves, totalling about 184.6 hectares, and as of August 2007, they had 114 band members. As of 2013, the Burns Lake Band has about 129 members on and off reserve.

The Nee-Tahi-Buhn Band is a First Nation located in the Interior of British Columbia near Burns Lake.

The Skin Tyee First Nation, also known as the Skin Tyee Indian Band is a First Nations band government located in the Central Interior of British Columbia near François Lake, in the Omineca Country to the west of the City of Prince George.

The status of the First Nations, Aboriginal people of British Columbia, Canada, is a long-standing problem that has become a major issue in recent years. In 1763 the British Crown declared that only it could acquire land from First Nations through treaties. Historically only two treaties were signed with the First Nations of BC. The first of which was the Douglas Treaties, negotiated by Sir James Douglas with the native people of southern Vancouver Island from 1850-1854. The second treaty, Treaty 8, signed in 1899 was part of the Numbered Treaties that were signed with First Nations outside of British Columbia. British Columbian Treaty 8 signatories are located in the Peace River Country or the far North East of BC. For over nine decades no more treaties were signed with First Nations of BC; many Native people wished to negotiate treaties, but successive BC provincial governments refused until the 1990s. A major development was the 1997 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in the Delgamuukw v. British Columbia case that Aboriginal title still exists in British Columbia and that when dealing with Crown land, the government must consult with and may have to compensate First Nations whose rights are affected.

The Hagwilget Village First Nation is a First Nations band government of the Wet'suwet'en subgroup of the Dakelh (Carrier) people, located at Hagwilget, British Columbia, Canada, which is just east of Hazelton, British Columbia. The band is one of the 13 member governments of the Hereditary Chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en, which functions as a tribal council in alliance with the 35 members of the Hereditary Chiefs of the Gitxsan.

Office of the Wetʼsuwetʼen is a political organization represented the hereditary chieftaincies of the Wetʼsuwetʼen people, based in the British Columbia Interior near Hazelton, British Columbia, Canada. Also known as the Office of the Hereditary Chiefs of the Wetʼsuwetʼen, it takes part in the BC Treaty Process through the two Indian Act band governments which contain the 13 hereditary chieftaincies. Often referred to as a tribal council, it is actually a traditional-governance organization.

Takla Landing, also known as McLaing Landing is an unincorporated locality and former steamboat landing on the east side of Takla Lake in the Omineca Country of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. In the days of the Omineca Gold Rush, Takla Landing was a port for steamboats connecting trails from Hazelton, British Columbia via Babine Lake to trails leading from Takla Landing eastwards to the area of the gold strikes in the lower Omineca River.

Highway 62, also known as High Level Road, is a 7.45 km (4.63 mi) spur located in northern British Columbia, running from the junction of the Yellowhead Highway in New Hazelton to downtown Hazelton. Highway 62 is an unofficial highway.

References

  1. ↑ "Office of the Wet'suwet'en". Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation. Archived from the original on 2006-04-27. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
  2. ↑ A History of the Wet'suwet'en Village of Tse-kya
  3. ↑ See also Rocher Déboulé Range.
  4. ↑ [Death Feast at Dimlahamid, Terry Glavin]
  5. ↑ [The Downfall of Temlahan, Marius Barbeau]
  6. ↑ [Death Feast at Dimlahamid, Terry Glavin]
  7. ↑ BC Treaty Net page
  8. ↑ The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council Society (CSTC)
  9. ↑ Hagwilget Village First Nation
  10. ↑ Moricetown Indian Band
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