British Columbia First Nations

History

Brief History of the Coast Salish

    The term “Coast Salish” is a designation which includes many tribes and bands in British Columbia and beyond. It refers to a cultural group rather than a single tribe.
    These culturally similar groups occupied both sides of Puget Sound in present day Washington state, extending northward on both sides of the Georgia Strait and east to the coastal mountains.
    The diseases introduced to the native races by the Europeans traveled across the continent and afflicted these tribes before first contact.
    The first explorers in the area reportedly had minimal contact with the Salish tribes, as they were less likely to come in contact with them. They did not establish forts or settlements. . Fur traders established forts from the mouth of the Columbia River northward in the early 1800’s. By the 1820’s, the Hudson’s Bay Company explored the area and established Ft. Langley (1827), Ft Victoria (1843), and others.
     The establishment of Fort Victoria, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, brought drastic change to the inhabitants of the area. They were offered employment by the company. Many of them moved to the area around the fort, disrupting traditional cultural and lifestyle activities.
     Estimates of the population before first contact are unreliable. It is unknown how the diseases that preceded first contact reduced the population. The smallpox epidemic in the early 1820’s is estimated to have reduced the population by half. Another one in the late 1800’s reduced it much more.
     In 1846, the Treaty of Washington divided the area into British and American territories. The closely related tribes of the Coast Salish fell under different political systems. The Canadian government created small, local reserves. The American government created large, consolidated reservations.
     The first schools were established by missionaries. They began as day schools. By the late 1800s and into the 1900s, the schools were residential, teaching industrial labor. Although the missionaries retained the management of the schools until the early 1900’s,the federal government was responsible for funding.
     The Coast Salish are presently organized into tribal councils to more efficiently provide services to their members.

Tribes and Bands (First Nations) of British Columbia

Map depicting general distribution of tribes in British Columbia can be found at British Columbia Ministry of Education

Important Web Sites

List of Indian Tribes in British Columbia and other locations in Canada and the United States, from the University of British Columbia Library.

A timeline of historic events is located at British Columbia History