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

Shuswap. However, he was told by Louis Joseph that “The Columbia Lakes were never attacked by
Shuswap shamans” [Vol. VI, p. 52]. This indicates an amicable sharing of territory began after the
Ktunaxa agreed to their settling in the Windermere area.
Schaeffer’s work does not appear to be a comprehensive examination of traditional territory but his
field notes alone indicate that the Ktunaxa had a strong interest in the upper Columbia down to Boat
Encampment and were known to pass through the Yellowhead Pass to the plains east of the Rockies.
4. Harry Holborn Turney-High
Perhaps the best known published ethnography of the Kutenai was written by Turney-High in 1941
following several summers of detailed field work primarily among the Upper Ktunaxa. The model
adopted by Turney-High for determining traditional territory was essentially based on whether the
Ktunaxa could travel and collect food in a place without fear of attack by another tribe. This
contrasts with the delineation of Salish territory based on place names employed by Teit and Ray.
The author summarizes the limits of Kutenai territory largely as given to him by Chief Paul of
Tobacco Plains [p. 23], noting “His description was so accurate that verification among the other
bands contributed only minor corrections.” According to his map [Figure 6], the northern boundary
on the east appears to be held at the Blaeberry River a short distance north of Golden and on the west
in the vicinity of Revelstoke.
On the north the Kutenai considered their land to be marked by a small stream which runs into the
Columbia on the other side of Golden, or at about Donald, B.C.
The eastern boundary was clearly marked by the Rocky Mountains. Once on the other side, Kutenai
parties were challenged by the Blackfoot bands. The Kutenai did consider the eastern face of the
Rockies theirs, however, and maintained their right to hunt there…
He accepts the more conservative word of the Bonner’s Ferry Ktunaxa in placing the southern
boundary at Flat Head Lake in Montana, beyond which they would be challenged by the Pend
d’Oreille Indians. The western boundary, according to his informants, extended to the western shore
of the Arrow Lakes.
With reference to this map of Ktunaxa territory [Figure 9], Turney-High’s informants told him that
they were free to range throughout the area shown. The dotted areas in the southern and western
portions of the range indicate traditional lands claimed by his Ktunaxa informants but questioned by
authorities such as Ray. His own doubts lead to follow up interviews, after which he wrote:
With but one exception they all claimed Arrow Lake and its shores, although admitting there were no
Kutenai villages there. They said that the lake was one of their important sources of fish, that their
fathers regularly visited it by canoe, and that they expected to find no enemy or rival there or on the
way there…While the majority opinion is the one represented on the map in this work, it must be
considered a moot point.
38
Page 182 of 200