T00752735

Hist 3991

Melissa Schayes

01/30/2024

Dr. Norman J Freeman

Welcome to Ts’elxwéyeqw (Ch-ihl-kway-uhk)

I would like to start by acknowledge that I am privileged to live, work, learn and be with family on the unceded traditional territory of  the Ts’elxweyeqw ^[1] First Nations people. Within this paper I will be using some Halq’eméylem ^[2] words. This was the language of the Sto:lo ^[3] people. I will be using the upriver dialect as where I live that is the language the Sto:lo use.

My name is Melissa Schayes and I live at 6 5571 Lindys dr Chilliwack British Columbia. Chilliwack is a larger city and I live on the Sardis side right next to the Vedder River. Chilliwack is part of the Fraser Valley and if you would keep taking the highway 1 east for about 100kms you will be in Vancouver.  This is Chilliwack after contact, after the settlers came and changed the name, the land, the resources and the way the Sto:lo in particular Ts’elxweyeqw tribe lived.

Life was very different Ts’elxweyeqw before for the Xwelitem ^[4] came and settled on their land. Before the Xwelitem came the Sto:lo people connected and respected their home with the views of always looking out for their “tomiyeqw”^[5]. The first traces of people living in the Fraser valley date back to about 4000- 10000 years ago. It has been said that they have been there since time immemorial ^[6]. The Ts’elxweyeqw passed down, knowledge, traditions and the ways of the land orally from generation to generation. Looking into pre-contact with a focus on plants, wildlife and settlements keeps this idea of “tomiyeqw” in your mind.

The Ts’elxweyeqw had settlements along the Central Fraser River with different spots used for different resources.  Salmon the main food source^[7] would be baked, wind and smoked dried (and after contact was canned) which meant storage throughput the winter. While each season brought different fish it also brought a variety of plant, fruits and vegetables that would be eaten, dried, made into cakes as well as some used for medicine. Sometimes the plants, fruits and vegetables were gathered  in different areas other times plots of land were used with different gardening techniques.^[8] With all this the Ts’elxweyeqw had intricate tools and techniques used for all their hunting and gathering made out of rocks, bones, and wood.

The Ts’elxweyeqw tribe depended on the river. The “river was the vessel for transportation. villages were mostly concentrated on the waterway. Longhouses made out of Cedar would house whole families. Depending on the season, families would leave their longhouses and go to different dwellings situated by prime fishing or gathering spots. These dwellings were usually small pit houses made out of timber and built into the ground” (Mission Museum 2024) Cedar was one of the most widely used resources for the  Ts’elxweyeqw people. The cedar tree was not only used for their housing it was also used for clothing, baskets, diapers, hats, tools, fishing nets and also used for trading. Cedar and the river were two very important ecological commodities for the Ts’elxweyeqw’s way of life and soon a major commodity for the European settlers.

Although it was in 1808 that Simon Fraser came with his Europeans and set foot on the Sto:lo land^[9] and they stayed for a few days. It really wasn’t until fur trade started in Fort Langley 1827 ^[10]that the Ts’elxweyeqw people had real contact with the Xwelitem. This started the fur trade. Although the Ts’elxweyeqw were not new too trading^[11], The Ts’elxweyeqw economy differed from the way Europeans were used to trading in that they focused on resource redistribution where the Europeans did not focus on the ““tomiyeqw”. With the rise of Fort Langley and Ts’elxweyeqw being on the  river this was the beginning of resource extraction. Starting with beavers and quickly working its way to the salmon. From here on the lives of the Ts’elxweyeqw changed. From the Europeans coming in and using resources, trading posts built, to the gold rush. Being where the river is located and having forts  built along made for easy trading f and quicker access to good for Europeans. This

^[1]  Ts’elxweyeqw – The First People of the Chilliwack River Watershed. Ts’elxweyeqw Tribe. Being Ts’elxweyeqw (Chilliwack. Harbour Publishing.2017 ) p 10

^[2] Halq’emeylem – The upriver dialect of the Sto:lo people’s language spoken by Ts’elxweyeqw. Ts’elxweyeqw Tribe. Being Ts’elxweyeqw (Chilliwack. Harbour Publishing.2017 ) p 10

^[3] Sto:lo – “River People” are the Indigenous habitants of the lower Fraser River. Carlson.K et al. Towards a New Ethnohistory (Manitoba.  University gf Manitoba press.2018)p  5

^[4] Xwelitem – non native new comers of European descent. Carlson.K et al. Towards a New Ethnohistory (Manitoba.  University gf Manitoba press.2018)  p 109

^[5]  Tomiyeqw – It places those of us living “know” in the middle of a relationship connected to the past and the future. It was a way that when the Sto:lo people did anything they did it with this in mind. Ts’elxweyeqw Tribe. Being Ts’elxweyeqw (Chilliwack. Harbour Publishing.2017 )p 16

^[6] Time immemorial – this is the time the Sto:lo knowledge keepers explain how long the people have been on the land. Carlson.K et al. Towards a New Ethnohistory (Manitobis when everything started to change to Chilliwack as we know it now.

into the ground.a.  University gf Manitoba press.2018) p 5

^[7] Salmon was the main food source but they also hunted deer, duck, grouse eulachon Carlson.K et al. Towards a New Ethnohistory (Manitoba.  University of Manitoba press.2018) p 157

^[8] They partly cleared out plots of weeds, stones, and brush by controlled burning. Carlson.K et al. Towards a New Ethnohistory (Manitoba. University gf Manitoba press.2018) p 158

^[9] Simon Fraser the first European to set foot on Sto:lo lands in 1808. Carlson.K et al. Towards a New Ethnohistory (Manitoba.  University gf Manitoba press.2018)p 6

^[10] This was when the Xwelitem permanently permanently settled on Sto:lo territory  Carlson.K. You are asked to Witness.(Canadian cataloguing Chilliwack 1997) p 49

^[11]The ethnographic record shows that the Sto:lo were experienced traders long before the arrival of Europeans. Carlson.K. You are asked to Witness.(Canadian cataloguing Chilliwack 1997) p 44

Mission Museum.The Stó:lō “People of the River.(Mission BC. 2024) https://missionmuseum.com/local-history/stolo