Evidence on the Adequacy of First Nations Consultation - BC Hydro ...

the Tobacco Plains area for three more years 31 , gathering information. Their route through the
Rockies appears to have been through Howse Pass 32 and was described by Fidler: 33
In going out they crossed over the Mountain near the Source of the Saskatchewan in an oblique
direction the latter place was more easy to pass than the former across the Mountain. Beyond the
Mountain opposite to the head of the Saskatchewan a thick woody country – they passed thro’ it along
an old Track formerly cut by the Cottonahaws, being the Northern most track they have; it was now
very troublesome to pass thro’ it on account of the long time they have not passed that way, being much
encumbred with Wind fall wood &c.
Following the path of his deputies La Gasse and LeBlanc over Howse Pass, David Thompson finally
crossed the Rockies in 1807, seeking to trade directly with the Ktunaxa and to explore a route
westward to the sea. He soon realized that there were two distinct groupings of Ktunaxa, the Upper
and Lower “Kootenai”, 34 which reflected their relative positions on the Columbia and Kootenay
Rivers and different occupational emphasis. The Upper Ktunaxa they found to be more active traders
with an orientation toward horses and the plains buffalo hunt which they pursued with regular
seasonality. The Lower Ktunaxa, whom Thompson describes in his Journals as “Lake” Indians and
later traders named “Flatbows” 35 , were found to be less active in this regard, with more orientation
toward boats and fisheries of the territory’s lakes and rivers. Despite these differences in their
respective economies, Thompson often found them encamped together. 36
In that first summer of 1807, Thompson established, as noted previously, a trading post called
Kootenae House, just north of present day Invermere, and spent much of the next four years
exploring the Columbia Plateau, including residing there during the winters of 1807-1808 and 1808-
1809. Unfortunately, Thompson was not much of an ethnographer and neither his Journals nor his
later Narrative provide much illumination in the way of delineating aboriginal territory particularly
with respect to the subject area of this study. Most of his travels in the area concerned the exploring
the Kootenay River system [which he first believed to be the Columbia] down into present day states
of Washington, Idaho and Montana, although he made one foray in 1808 to the southern portion of
Kootenay Lake, where he encountered a band of Lower Ktunaxa. 37 In 1811 he travelled along what
eventually came to be known by the fur brigades as the “Columbia Express”, from Jaspers House in
Alberta over the Athabaska Pass then down the Wood River to Boat Encampment 38 , thence down the
Columbia in canoes via the Arrow Lakes to Fort George at the mouth of the Columbia. His last
travels in the region were around the Flathead Lake area of present-day Idaho and Montana in 1812,
after which he performed survey work in eastern Canada.
31 See also Schaeffer, LeBlanc and LeGassé: Predecessors of David Thompson in the Columbian Plateau.
32 Belyea, Columbia Journals, David Thompson, p. 194
33 HBCA E3/2, from Belyea, p. 194. This passage is interesting in that it suggests that the Ktunaxa may have been
shifting their buffalo hunting efforts southward, likely in response to the effective arming of their enemies east of the
Rockies by fur traders and the added protection afforded by cooperative hunting with the more southerly Flathead Salish.
34 Other anglicized spellings encountered include Kutenai, Kootanais and Kootenae
35 From the shape of their hunting bows. The name may have originated with Quebecois “free” traders who called them
“Arc-des-Plattes”.
36 For example, David Thompson’s Narrative, ed. Burr [p. 388]. This is consistent with Turney-High, who points out in
his Ethnography of the Kutenai that such differences should not be over-interpreted as both groups were seen as skilled
hunters and each would visit the other’s regions for hunting buffalo or fishing for trout and salmon.
37 Op cit, p. 386
38 The historic Boat Encampment was on the right bank of the Columbia, just below the mouths of the Canoe and Wood
Rivers. The site now lies beneath the Kinbasket Reservoir formed by the Mica Dam.
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