First Nations

First Nations and Metis

The Akisqnuk First nation, population 250, is one of five bands that make up the Ktunaxa/Kinbasket Tribal Council. The reserve incorporates roughly 3,500 hectares (ha.) of land between Fairmont Hot Springs and Windermere.

Four of the bands, the Akisqnuk First Nation, Tobacco Plains, Lower Kootenay and St. Mary's, are Ktunaxa people, while the fifth band, the Kinbasket Shuswap, are Shuswap people, originally from the Shuswap region (central interior) of B.C.

The Shuswap Indian Band Reserve, population 224, is located between Invermere and Dry Gulch and incorporates an area of about 900 ha. "In ancient times the Shuswap people from the north would periodically travel into the Columbia Valley to hunt and fish. Around 1800, a band of 50 or 60 Shuswap, mostly the extended family of Chief Kenpesket (Kinbasket), settled permanently in the Columbia Valley," writes Denise Lemaster in her Columbia Valley Guide.

The Ktunaxa people have a history with the region that dates back roughly 10,000 years. Salmon, which used to swim to the region from the Pacific Ocean to spawn, were the main draw for indigenous peoples for likely thousands of years before the "white man" arrived. Things took a turn for the worse for the Kootenai when European (white) civilization began to encroach in the valley.

The first "white man" known to set foot in this area was North West Company explorer, fur trapper and cartographer David Thompson, who established Kootenae House along Lake Windermere in 1807. "The 19th Century witnessed the "invasion" of traditional Kootenai territory by successive waves of fur traders, missionaries and prospectors. As was their custom, the native people shared the wealth of their lands. Explorers such as David Thompson were saved from starvation more than once by receiving donations of fish and vegetable foods. The early contacts were thus characterized by friendship and mutual respect", Lemaster writes.

"Later European arrivals were not so supportive of native culture. The missionaries were intent on "civilizing the savages" and the miners just wanted wealth. It was in the best interest of both to have the native people "under control" and so reservations near Windermere and Invermere were created in 1887."

Today the Indian bands are an integral part of the valley community.

Shuswap Band Administration
  Phone:  250-342-6361
  Fax:  250-342-2948

Akisqnuk First Nation
  Phone:  250-342-6301
  Fax:  250-342-9693

http://www.ktunaxa.org/who/creation.html

Kootenay Region Metis Association
  32A ?V 11th Avenue South
  Cranbrook, BC   V1C 2P1
  Phone: 250-426-0854
  Fax: 250-426-2741
  Toll  Free: 1-800-521-5119  Website: www.members.shaw.ca/krma
  Email:  krma@shaw.ca