Product Code Database
The Chilcotin War, the Chilcotin Uprising or the Bute Inlet Massacre was a confrontation in 1864 between members of the Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin) people in British Columbia and white road construction workers. Fourteen men employed by Alfred Waddington in the building of a road from Bute Inlet were killed, as well as a number of men with a pack-train near Anahim Lake and a settler at Puntzi Lake.
The Tsilhqot'in, along with many other First Nations of the Pacific Northwest, had just been devastated by the 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic. Some colonists saw the epidemic as an opportunity to take over First Nation lands. Many indigenous peoples, including the Tsilhqot'in, believed that the epidemic had been deliberately spread among native peoples for the purpose of stealing their land, a claim that has largely been corroborated through the historical written record.Swanky, Tom. 2012. The True Story of Canada's "War" Of Extermination On the Pacific: plus The Tsilhqot'in and other First Nations Resistance. British Columbia: Dragon Heart.Swanky, Tom. 2016. The Smallpox War In Nuxalk Territory. British Columbia: Dragon Heart.
Four miles further up the trail, the band came upon the foreman, William Brewster, and three of his men Trail blazing. All were killed. The band also killed William Manning, a settler at Puntzi Lake.
A pack train led by Alexander McDonald, though warned, continued into the area and three of the drivers were killed in the ensuing ambush. In all, nineteen men were killed.
In New Westminster, Governor Seymour, just a month into his term, received news of the attacks on May 14. The next day Chartres Brew and 28 men were sent to Bute Inlet aboard HMS Forward, but they were unable to make their way up the trail from the Homathko valley to the scene of the incident, and returned to New Westminster. A second party of 50 men under Gold Commissioner William Cox went to the area using an overland route, met an ambush and retreated. Brew, aboard HMS Sutlej, along with the Governor and 38 men, went out again to reach the Tsilhqot'in from Bentinck Arm. They arrived July 7 and met Cox. Donald McLean led a scouting party to reconnoitre. A guide, hearing a rifle click, urged him to get down; he did not heed the warning and was shot through the heart.
The incident cost the colony about $80,000. A petition to the Imperial Parliament to share this cost was declined. Donald McLean's widow was given a pension of £100 per year for five years. Waddington sought compensation of $50,000 from the colony, saying that his party had been given no protection. The colony declined, saying that none was requested, and no state could guarantee its citizens safety from murder.
Waddington was of the view that fears of the introduction of smallpox was the cause of the unrest. Frederick Whymper, an artist attached to Waddington's crew, attributed the unrest to the provision of firearms to the Tsilhqot'in at a time when they were suffering from lack of food. Judge Begbie concluded that the most important cause of the unrest was concern over title to land rather than "plunder or revenge". Others say that the native packers in Brewster's crew were starving while the white members of the crew were well supplied. There were also grievances about desecration of graves and interference with valuable spring waters.
In 1993 Judge Anthony Sarich wrote a report commissioned by the government of British Columbia (BC), on an inquiry into the relationship between the Aboriginal community in BC and the justice system. As a result of the recommendations in the report, the Attorney General apologized for the hanging of the Tsilhqot'in chiefs and provided funding for an archaeological investigation to locate their graves. The BC government also installed a commemorative plaque at the site of the hanging of the chiefs.
In 2014, the BC government exonerated the Tsilhqot'in leaders. Premier Christy Clark stated, "We confirm without reservation that these six Tsilhqot'in chiefs are fully exonerated for any crime or wrongdoing." This exoneration was reciprocally made by Prime Minister Trudeau, on behalf of the Government of Canada, on March 26, 2018, in a speech to Parliament. During the speech, the then-current Chiefs of the Tsilhqot'in Nation were invited onto the floor of the House of Commons and provided a drum song. This was the first time in Canadian history that an Indigenous nation was invited onto the floor of the House of Commons. Clark also acknowledged that "there is an indication that was spread intentionally."
On November 2, 2018, Trudeau fulfilled a promise made in his apology speech in March and became the first prime minister to visit the land of the Tsilhqot'in people, where he made another apology speech, this time to the Tsilhqot'in community and its leaders. Trudeau rode into the valley on a black horse, symbolizing the ones ridden by the wrongfully executed chiefs and participated in a smudging ceremony during his time there.
References
|
|
