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

DRAFT REPORT: Rights and Title Interests in the Columbia Valley Transmission Project Area
In his 1909 publication, ethnographer James Teit identified clusters of Secwepemc bands in the
mid and late 19th century as being grouped into seven "well recognized" tribal "divisions,"
including: 287
1. Fraser River Division: inhabiting the environs of the Fraser River from
High Bar to Soda Creek, including Clinton, the Empire valley and the
Green Timber Plateau. They claim as their hunting ground the west side of
the Fraser for as much as 30 miles back;
2. Canyon Division (territory now occupied by the Chilcotin): inhabiting the
west side of the Fraser River from Churn Creek to beyond Risky Creek,
including the Chilcotin River, below the canyon, and west to near
Hanceville. On the north and south they hunted over the same area as the
Fraser River Division;
3. Lake Division: inhabiting the interior plateau between Fraser and North
Thompson Rivers, including the Lac la Hache area, with hunting grounds
extending north to the Caribou Mountains opposite Yellowhead Pass;
4. North Thompson Division: inhabiting the North Thompson River east to
the Rocky Mountains. They are sometimes divided into two groups: one
about 50 miles north of the mouth of the river, and the other a nomadic
group residing in the Rocky Mountains around the headwaters of the
North Thompson;
5. Bonaparte Division: inhabiting the valley of the Bonaparte River to near
Ashcroft on the Thompson River, including Cache Creek, Loon Lake and
the lower Hat Creek area, through Marble Canyon to Pavilion and both
banks of the Fraser River near there;
6. Kamloops Division: inhabiting the environs of Kamloops Lake and
Savona. Their hunting grounds include part of the South and main
Thompson Rivers, the North Thompson as far as Louis Creek, all of
Deadman's Creek, and some of the headwaters of the Bonaparte;
7. Shuswap Lake Division: inhabiting the upper South Thompson, Shuswap
Lake and Spallumcheen River. They hunt south along Salmon River and
north on Adams Lake to the Columbia, and east to around Mabel and
Sugar Lakes.
287 Teit 1909, pp. 453-456.
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