Aboriginal hangings 143 years ago sour some B.C. natives on treaty negotiations

Fri Nov 23, 5:50 PM

By Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press

VICTORIA - The aboriginal war chiefs thought they were invited to peace talks after the bitter and bloody Chilcotin War 143 years ago.

Instead, they were arrested, tried for murder and hanged. The hangings and the still-strong cultural belief that the chiefs were betrayed by non-aboriginal leaders hangs over modern-day treaty talks like an angry ghost.

The bad blood from 1864 squeezed to the surface again this week as members of a B.C. aboriginal band that makes its home in the rugged but remote plateau lands near Williams Lake spoke about betrayal at the treaty table.

The band had just been handed a victory by a B.C. Supreme Court judge following a case that dragged on almost five years. The band had chosen the court route, rather than talks at a treaty table.

Joe Alphonse, a government member of the Xeni Gwet'in First Nation, said his people have never forgotten what happened when their ancestors were invited to negotiate with non-aboriginals.

"We've had six war chiefs that were hung at the conclusion of the Chilcotin War," said Alphonse, staring straight ahead and barely concealing his anger.

"They were hung shortly after they were asked under a flag of truce to come join, enter into peace talks.

"So, we've been at the treaty table. It cost us dearly. It cost us six war chiefs in 1864. We've been to that table and we choose not to this time around."

The Xeni Gwet'in who are the Tsilhqot'in people went to court to prove their ownership of about 2,000 hectares of land in the Nemiah Valley near Williams Lake.

Justice David Vickers ruled the Xeni Gwet'in established their aboriginal title to much of what they call their traditional territory.

The Chilcotin War is known as Western Canada's deadliest attack by aboriginals on non-aboriginal settlers.

It started in April 1864, and by the end of May, 19 roadbuilders and one farmer were dead.

The aboriginals, decimated by small pox and fearing an influx of settlers into their territory, put up an armed resistance to workers that were attempting to punch a road from the coast mountains through their territory and into the gold fields of the Cariboo.

A militia army of more than 100 people was sent into the area to find the aboriginals, but the almost inaccessible high plateau, bordered by mountain peaks and raging rivers, made the task near impossible.

After three months, the area's police chief invited the aboriginals to a meeting, where the aboriginals - believing they were being summoned for peace talks - were arrested and later hanged.

Five were hanged in Quesnel and another in New Westminster.

The Tsilhqot'in children learn at an early age about the Chilcotin War. Alphonse said the hangings are a part of his peoples' history.

"I think the hope for Canada and B.C. back then was to shut us Chilcotins up," he said.

"What they did was create a stronger bond among us as Chilcotin people."

He said the court ruling is an opportunity to now consider entering treaty talks because the aboriginals will come to the table with a set of guarantees about rights and ownership.

"Since the hanging of our war chiefs, we've never really felt a part of Canada or B.C.," said Alphonse. "We look at ourselves as Tsilhqot'in people not British Columbians and not Canadians.

"I think this gives us hope," he said.

"There's a willingness on our end to enter the negotiating table, but is there a willingness for Canada and B.C.?"

The Chilcotin hangings have left a legacy of historical mistrust for some aboriginals to reject treaty negotiations, said Chief Edward John, spokesman for the First Nations Summit, the largest aboriginal organization in British Columbia.

There are only about 20 aboriginal treaties in British Columbia among the more than 200 First Nations, and the majority of those treaties were signed in the mid 1800s when British Columbia was still a colony.

The B.C. government has recently reached two treaty settlements with the Vancouver area Tsawwassen First Nation and five Vancouver Island aboriginal nations known as the Maa-nulth First Nations.

The two treaties have yet to be ratified by the federal government.

John said the Xeni Gwet'in court case suggests aboriginals should negotiate their land-claims issues, but it doesn't say they should go to the treaty table.

Many of the aboriginal nations that reject treaty negotiations with the B.C. and federal governments are located in the B.C. Interior, an area near the Xeni Gwet'in.

"It's (the hangings) are still an issue," said John.

"There was some reconciliation efforts that were made," he said.

"Still, the Chilcotin people, as are other First Nations in British Columbia, are fighting for the protection of their lands and the recognition of their rights. When you go back and think about it, it's significant."

Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian chiefs, said the Tsilhqot'in people proved in court they have the rights to their land without giving up their aboriginal rights - a compromise aboriginals nations face at treaty tables.

He said the Chilcotin War hangings have left a scar on aboriginals and the federal and provincial governments.

"They sent in construction crews. It provoked an uprising," said Phillip, whose organization rejects the current government-to-government treaty talks.

"It's a significant issue for the Chilcotin people."

In 1993, a justice inquiry revisited the Chilcotin War and Judge Anthony Sarich wrote: "Whatever the correct version, that episode of history has left a wound in the body of Chilcotin society. It is time to heal that wound."

In October 1999, 135 years after the hangings, a plaque was unveiled by a Tsilhqot'in chief at Quesnel's G.R. Baker Memorial Hospital.

It says in English and Tsilquot'in: "We meant war, not murder!"

They were the last words of one of the hanged chiefs, who is buried nearby.