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

13. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
i) With one disputable exception, there is a consensus among authoritative ethnographers that the
study area, extending from Golden to the Columbia Lakes, is wholly within Ktunaxa traditional
territory.
ii) The archaeological and historical information located indicates that the study area has been a
focal point of the regular seasonal round of the Ktunaxa, in particular those from the Columbia Lakes
area, for at least many centuries and probably far longer.
iii) Lands and waters in the subject area have been historically very rich in fauna, with large numbers
of ungulates [deer, elk, moose, mountain goat, sheep], fur bearing animals [beaver, marten, bear],
fish [salmon, bull trout, burbot] and birds [ducks, geese].
iv) The Kinbasket Shuswap people began migrating towards northern portions of traditional Ktunaxa
territory in the early 1800s, encouraged in part by the Hudson Bay Company and its free traders.
Initially fearful of reprisals for encroaching on Ktunaxa territory, they eventually settled in the area of
Windermere Lake in the mid-1800s with the permission of the Ktunaxa.
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