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Shuswap History-The First 100 Years of Contact

Introduction

Shuswap Nation
Traditional Territory

exploiting the land, but also diseases. The 30,000 miners drove the
Indians from the rivers and prevented the annual salmon fishing.
In 1862, a severe epidemic of �!!!allpox hit the Shuswap Nation,
wiping out thirteen villages. The'l 7'Bands that now exist represent
the survivors. The shift in population balance between Indians and
whites meant that power and control was now in the hands of the
newcomers.
Around the same time, the Hudson's Bay Companys' charter to the
mainland was revoked and British Crown authority was established
to maintain order and regulate settlement. The gold rush hastened
the process of colonization. The settlers claimed the land and Indians
were soon seen as obstacles to progress. The age of tolerance and
equality between Indian and white had come to an end.
Racial discrimination practiced by miners, missionaries and
settlers inflicted long lasting damage in the Shuswap's ability to live
a balanced life.

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Legend
Present Shuswap Bands
Extinct Shuswap Bands
Traditional Shuswap Territory
Territory occupied by the Chilcotin
after 1880

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Territory shared with other
Indian nations

The new intolerant Victorian ideas brought by immigrants were
reflected in government policy. One policy was to "educate and
civilize" Indian people according to British standards.
The missionaries had the most drastic effect on the Shuswaps. In
1842, Father Desmet met the Shuswap people for the first time. The
goal of the missionaries was to convert the Indian people to Christianity
and a European way of life-to "civilize". They didn't understand that
the Shuswaps held beliefs that provided a harmonious life. Instead,
they believed that they could force Indian children to adopt a totally
new and foreign way of living. By the tum of the century, several
residential schools were built. Children were forced to attend and on
threat of punishment, had to adopt the British customs and language.
The colonial idea that Indians were not equal citizens can be seen
in government policy. In dividing up the wealth of the province, the
Shuswap were limited to small reserves, while the homesteaders
claimed large parts of Shuswap traditional territory. The Shuswap
protested, but to no avail. In 1876, the Indian Act was passed which
reduced Indians to wards of the state, with no means of defending
their land.

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The strength of the Shuswap people has been severely tested over
the last 150 years. Through the effects of the gold rush, residential
schools, and epidemics, the Shuswap lost their status as equal
partners and were pushed to the margins of white society. Since the
1970s, the influences of the government and the church have been
reduced and the Shuswap Nation is once again flourishing.

The Old One and Coyote created a balanced world for the Shuswap
people to inhabit. They, in turn, were made responsible for the earth's
care and were instructed to respect all living things.

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