The Terror of the Coast. Chris Arnett
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Hul’qumi’mum First Nations place names mentioned in the text.
The Terror of the Coast
Land Alienation and Colonial War on
Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands,
1849–1863
Chris Arnett
To my taua (grandmother), Jane Mere Arnett and to my father and mother, John and Norma Arnett.
ki mua ki muri
We look to the past (ki mua) and take that with us into the unknown future (ki muri)
Contents
The Entire Property of the White People Forever
Pay the Indians for the Land or We’ll Have an Indian War
Much Indebted to the Roman Catholic Bishop
Suspended Between Heaven and Earth
Come! I, Hulkalatkstun go to kill um!
Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge the following individuals whose input and interest facilitated the creation of this book: Bob Akerman, Dennis Alphonse, Grahame Brazier, Anne Cullingham, the late Tommy Paul, Chief Jill Harris, Bob and Emily Rice, Oshiane Mitchell, Roy Edwards, Henry Edwards, Rocky Wilson, Mary Joe, Lawrence George, Herb George, Frank Norris, Robert Daniels, April Miller, Mark Kiemele, Cindy Johnny, Charles Kahn, Les Laronde, Beth Lischeron, Paul Schmid, James Hendrickson, Brenda Timbers, Grant Keddie, Andrew Loveridge, Bruce Watson, Harry Conn, Wayne Suttles, and Audrey Ginn. Special thanks to my neighbour Lawrie Neish for his assistance in guiding me through the intricacies of the Tandy 1000 personal computer to produce the original manuscript. The following individuals and institutions also provided invaluable assistance: Mary Daisy Day of the Reprographic Section of the Public Records Office in London, Mary Davidson and staff of the Salt Spring Island Archives, staff of the British Columbia Archives and Records Service, staff at the Surveyors General Branch in Victoria, Dan Savard of the Royal British Columbia Museum, Lynn Maranda of the City of Vancouver Museum, and Vera McIver of the Diocese of Victoria Archives.
I thank Karl Siegler and Christy Siegler of Talonbooks for their ongoing support of this project and their assistance, with the valuable editing skills of Ryan Wadsworth, in transforming “a veritable babble of tongues” into a finished manuscript.
A $4,000 short-term writer’s grant from the Canada Council in 1995 allowed me to expand on the initial archival research. This was supplemented by a further $500 from the Annie York Trust Fund.
Last, but in no way least, I thank my wife, Barbara, and our two sons, John and Carl, for their loving support and patience throughout the creation of this book.
—Christopher Anderson Arnett Salt
Spring Island, June 8, 1999
A Note on Orthography
There are a number of writing systems used to convey the Hul’qumi’num language. For the sake of consistency in the narrative, the anglicized names of villages and individuals are used throughout the text. Other Hul’qumi’num words follow the writing system developed by Thomas E. Hukari and Ruby Peters (1995). Stress is generally on the first or second syllable. In this system the letter “i” is pronounced as “ee” in English. Thus “Hwunitum” (white person) is pronounced “hwu-nee-tum.”
Introduction
One aspect of British Columbia history which has not been examined in much detail is the alienation of aboriginal lands and resources during the colonial period, from 1849, when the Colony of Vancouver Island was established, to 1871 when British Columbia entered the Canadian confederation. The official policy of the imperial and colonial governments regarding aboriginal lands is fairly wellknown, but how this policy was enacted on the ground, particularly in the face of aboriginal