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

DRAFT REPORT: Rights and Title Interests in the Columbia Valley Transmission Project Area
So they talked it over and then they started over, you know, the women.
And they took the same route, you know, through the Columbia River.
So they got, they had their camp at Kinbasket Lake, you know. And
when they arrived, the mosquitoes were so thick that they had to be all
covered….[mosquito incident]
And then the next year, by golly, they said they were going home, you
see. And my grandfather said, well, it was so nice here and everything
was plentiful and they better stay. But oh no, they just got ready and they
went [back to Shuswap Lake country] and left the men folks. So then
of course, afterwards, the men had to follow and the next year they came
over and they said they were going to take a shorter route to come over.
……………….
But anyway, they came through there, where the railroad came through
afterwards [through Three-Valley Gap] and it was shorter, all right. But
then they brought horses along and there were places where they had to
make ladders, you know, over the cliffs and they brought their... Well,
not straight drop but you know, difficult for horses to come over. 157 Well,
then they'd make these sort of ladder things and they tie them together
with willows and they'd bring the horses over this and it too them so long
to come over.
So then they settled around the Kinbasket Lakes and then the men folks
would come down to this valley you know. And one summer they saw
tracks of, you know, people had been around. So of course they were
worried that it may be the Prairie Indians, you see. So they were a little
leery and they went back to camp and told the others about it. So I think
it was in the fall, in the late fall, that they were coming down the slough
with their bows and arrows. And then all of a sudden the Kootenays came
out of the bush and my great-grandfather wanted to, well, kill them, I
guess. And his son took away the arrow, the bow and arrow from him,
and told him these people are, haven't shown any signs of being hostile.
So then he didn't like it when they took away his bow and arrow and he
ran back to camp. And so when these Kootenays, they lined up in front of
them and of course they got in line on this side, themselves. And so one
of the Kootenay showed his arrow, you know, like he wanted to give it to
this Shuswap. So the Shuswap exchanged arrows with him and then they
all did the same down the line. And so then they tried to make signs to
157 To this view should be added the comments of an old man met by Alexander Ross while near Nakusp in
1825: “I and several of my people have likewise been to the ‘She-waps’ which lies northwest from this, but the road
leading there is two days journey from this and it takes eight days to accomplish. We have no horses, nor is the
country suitable for them.”Alexander Ross (1849). Adventurers of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia
River . . .with an account of some Indian Tribes on the Coast of the Pacific. Smith, Elder, and Company: London.
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