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Indigenous Peoples of BC

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Working With Indigenous Communities

The First Peoples of British Columbia have lived here for thousands of years, and they are still here today – not in museums but alive and well and celebrating the renaissance of their cultures. They welcome travellers from around the world and share their cultures, values, and relationship with the land, water, and all living things.

Authentic Indigenous cultural experiences not only create memories for BC visitors, but they are also transformative. They restore the feeling of connection with all things and become the highlight of a traveller’s experience.

British Columbia is home to more than 200 First Nations, each with its unique language, dialect, and traditions.

 

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Indigenous Peoples of BC

British Columbia is home to the largest and most diverse assembly of Indigenous peoples in the world. This provides an opportunity for a wealth of unique experiences and stories. Many First Nations belong to the same language families, developed over thousands of years for trade and social functions, but all have distinct cultures born from their territories.

When travelling into any of the distinct BC regions, you will find new ways of understanding the world and new ways to experience it. The relationships to the traditional and ancestral territories of the many Nations of BC have developed over centuries and can bring guests closer to the very spirit of these places.

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Peoples of the Coast

Coast Salish, Nuu-chah’nulth, Kwakwaka’wakw, Haisla, Heiltsuk, Wuikinuxv, Nuxalk, Tsimshian, Nisga’a, Gitxsan, Haida, Tlingit
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A narrow strip of land between British Columbia’s Coast Mountains and the Pacific Ocean is the home of the peoples of the Northwest Coast, a rich and varied group of cultures and languages. The terrain is rugged and the coastline is broken up by bays, inlets, deep channels and islands. There are dense stands of Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, western hemlock and western red cedar trees. Food, building materials and other natural resources were abundant in many parts of the Northwest Coast. The peoples of the Northwest Coast built permanent villages and carved massive totem poles, sea- going canoes and ceremonial masks. They held potlaches and other ceremonies in which dances and singing played an important role. The peoples living here are rich materially and spiritually.

Peoples of the Plateau

St’at’imc, Secwepemc, Okanagan, Nlaka’pamux, Ktunaxa, Kinbasket
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Between the Coast Mountains and the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia live the people of the plateau. This land ranges from semi-desert to forests with mountains and rivers. It is rich in salmon-bearing streams and has deer, moose, elk and mountain goats. The homes of the plateau people depended upon the time of year. In the summer, lodges, tents, tipis or lean-to’s were used. In winter, a semi-underground pit-house provided protection from the winter cold. Today, it is possible to seek the sunken remains of these pithouses and hear stories of traditional villages.

Peoples of the Sub-Arctic

Tsay Key Dene, Kaska Dene, Dunne-za, Tahltan, Dakelh-ne, Wetsuwet’en, Ts’ilh’aot’in, Inland Tlingit
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British Columbia includes a sub-arctic region - this is forest, muskeg, mountains, lakes and rivers. This harsh climate required extensive travel in search of food and other resources. Summer was a time for small family groups to converge at good fishing sites. As many as one hundred people might live in a single camp. They constructed shelters covered with caribou hides or spruce boughs along riverbanks or lakes. Fish weirs and nets were used to trap fish that were then dried for eating later in the year. Berries were gathered and preserved. In the fall, the large group broke into smaller family groups and headed to their hunting territories to spend the winter. Men hunted big game animals such as caribou, moose and mountain sheep that were used for food and clothing.

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