Abbotsford
June 12, 2022 By: Brett
Location:
I live, work, learn, and play on the traditional and unceded land of the Stó:lō people, which has two Nations in it, the Semá:th First Nation and Mathxwí First Nation. This area has a grand history and has seen much environmental change in the past few centuries, as well as the past few months. The two nations’ land overlapped, that is where my current home is located, but it is more in the area of old Abbotsford and the Semá:th nation so that is what this paper will focus on. The land looks and is used much differently now than it did pre-contact. The Semá:th people were living around Semá:th lake (now called Sumas lake), it was a major part of their way of life and ecosystem. It was a fertile area, home to all sorts of life, they fished for salmon, sturgeon, trout, crayfish, freshwater mussels and would hunt for deer on the small islands.
Settlers arrived in the 1860s and were forced to settle on the higher ground around the lake, this led to all sorts of issues for them and the small amount of liveable land space. The 10 000 acre lake was then drained in the 1920s and made into farmland, about 3000 people then lived in the area and the people of Semá:th First Nation were forced onto a reserve. Semá:th First Nation Chief Dalton Silver said that ““Our people at the time couldn’t comprehend why someone would want to drain a lake and change or alter Mother Nature in such a way,” he told Global News. “That would be a disaster.”” 100 years later the decision to drain the lake ended up in the massive floods of fall 2021, which the land is currently in the process of healing from.
The wildlife in the area was destroyed by the draining, it had basically been eradicated and then replaced with farm land. It is now mainly used for grain, corn, dairy cows, and chickens. The flood of last fall killed over 600 000 animals. So 100 years ago wild life was erased and replaced with domesticated farm animals, which were just again wiped out. Today the land is slowly being refilled with farm animals and life is returning to the post drain/pre flood normal. The main resource that the settlers extracted was land, the farmland has built and shaped the economy of Abbotsford over the last century.
There are many invasive species in my area of Abbotsford, these range from many kinds of weeds to a variety of animals, some are harmful to plant life, and some even to human health. There are many invasive plants in my neighborhood that have been classified as noxious weeds under the Weed Control Regulation of the BC Weed Control Act. As my neighborhood has struggled with aggressive noxious weeds they have implemented a Good Neighbor By-Law, commanding all people to control noxious weeds on their property. As a gardener myself, I have noticed the massive spread of weeds in my garden and have joined the struggle against them. On top of encouraging citizens to do their part through the Bt-Law, the city relies on the Fraser Valley Regional District Noxious Weed Program to target the following noxious weeds: Wild Chervil, Giant Hogweed, Tansy Ragwort, and Japanese Knotweed. The Japanese Knotweed was brought to Canada in the early 20th century for ornamental purposes and has since spread far and wide whilst creating much damage. As far as invasive plants go, this one is especially harmful to my area. It causes structural damage to building foundations, sewage treatment, and water plants. It colonizes large areas with just a small amount of root, it grows 10 feet high and outcompetes native plants. Giant Hogweed is another very problematic invasive plant, this one is harmful to human health and has been known to burn human skin, sadly this often happens to kids’ eyes and mouths’ as they play and craft with them. Abbotsford warns its inhabitants that the sap has the power to blind a human permanently. Both of these invasive plants, along with many others, are an ongoing issue in my community that began decades prior. As for animals as insects, the main two invasive species are the Bullfrog and Spotted Wing Drosophila. The Spotted Wing Drosophila was first found in my community in 2009, it is a fruit fly that is known to penetrate underneath the skin of thin skinned fruit. In the last decade and a bit it has grown vastly in my community and the BC area in general. The Bullfrog was brought to BC in the early 20 century so people could farm them for their meaty legs, they quickly spread and reproduced throughout BC and are often seen in my community. Some other invasive animals in my community are the European Chafer beetle, which is known to damage lawns and fields in my neighborhood, and the Asian Giant Hornet, these prey on honey bees and have only been found in my community in the last few years, thankfully these are not often seen and are in low numbers (hopefully it stays that way).
Downtown Abbotsford, often called Old Abby, was the main area of urban development in the early years of settlement. It has since spread and grown into a vast city holding over 150 000 people. Old Abby was built for the gold miners in 1858, slowly it began to build more as more settlers came, largely because of the gold mining work, but then also production in railway building between Abbotsford and Seattle, and the growth of tobacco, milk, and butter that became prominent after the lake was drained. For better or for worse, the history of Abbotsford is directly accountable to the draining of the Lake, it was the environment and manipulation of the environment that has made my home what it is.
Currently, the City of Abbotsford takes pride in its environmentally conscious actions that they claim make Abbotsford a sustainable city (I am skeptical). One of the main advertisements is the storm sewers, which go directly back into Abbotsford streams without being treated, and sanitary sewers, which clean the water and distribute it into the Fraser River. My neighborhood is home to many gardens and wild parks with old and large trees. The city also has begun a compost bin system that everyone in my neighborhood uses. If you walk around my neighborhood you will see many flowers, plants, and trees in the front yards, as well as many squirrels, raccoons, and birds.
Sources:
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/sumas-lake-sumas-prairie-barrowtown-pump-station-abbotsford-flooding
https://www.abbynews.com/news/sumas-first-nation-explores-compensation-claim-for-loss-of-sumas-lake/
https://globalnews.ca/news/8385289/sumas-lake-reflection-first-nations/
http://xtremetalent.ca/history-abbotsford-b-c/
https://www.onthisspot.ca/cities/abbotsford/downtown
http://xtremetalent.ca/history-abbotsford-b-c/
https://www.abbotsford.ca/community-events/environment