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

DRAFT REPORT: Rights and Title Interests in the Columbia Valley Transmission Project Area
their assertion of Aboriginal Title and Rights and to re-instate themselves
as Yecweminmen Sexqéltk (Caretakers/ Stewards of the Lakes Region).
While this historical group of people would have included both the
communities of Little Shuswap and trhe Shuswap (or Kinbaskets) these
communities have not decided at this time to join the present Lakes
Division protocol. 314
As reviewed in section 2.2, some accounts of the Kinbasket migration indicate that this band
originated from a small group who came from the South Thompson River area. Walter Moberly,
who met and talked with Chief Kinbasket in 1866, is one of those who said that Chief Kinbasket
came from Little Shuswap Lake. 315 Others, such as Shuswap Band elder Mrs. Shelagh Dehart
said that her research indicated that her Kinbasket ancestors came from Adams Lake, 316 and her
uncle, Moses Kinbasket is said to have mentioned their origin from “near Kamloops,” 317 which
could possibly be his reference to the Adams Lake/Little Shuswap Lake/Shuswap Lake area.
Others were of the view that they came from the North Thompson. 318 In this section, we will
address only the relationship between the Kinbasket and the Shuswap Lake division to the west,
and comment on the Shuswap Lake Division’s use of the Columbia Lakes for hunting.
The Kinbasket family oral history is that hunters are said to have come upon the Big Bend of the
Columbia while out hunting and then began to use the area on a seasonal basis. At some time in
the 1820s to 1850s period they moved east, eventually settling near Lake Windermere. The
evidence is fragmentary. Mrs. Dehart in her 2006 book said that the hunters were at the start
“exploring” and went farther east than usual, taking them to a new area in the environs of
Kinbasket Lake that was rich in game and fur-bearing animals. Once discovered, they continued
travelling seasonally to this area, sometimes staying away from home for long periods of time.
Certainly, Father P.J. DeSmet met Shuswap hunters in the Columbia Lakes area in 1845 in the
company of a Canadian trapper. It is known from fur trade records that Kootenae House
remained a summer depot in at least 1841, so it was certainly known as a rendezvous place, if not
a settlement, for the trading of furs. 319
314 LeBourdais 2009, page 13.
315 Walter Moberly (1866). In, British Columbia (1869). Columbia River Exploration, 1866: Reports and
Journals Relating to the Government Exploration of the Country Lying Between the Shuswap and Okanagan Lakes
and the Rocky Mountains. Government Printing Office: Victoria BC. Journal of the second year’s work…[28 March
1866-13 September 1866. Pp. 17-18.
316 Dehart 2006, page 28.
317 Atkins n.d.
318 Dawson 1892, page 5.
319 Chance 1981, pp. 53, 93.
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