Do you have a favourite spot in BC we should know about?
Contact getawaybc.com
Editor, Cheryl MacKinnon Or click here to submit a calendar event
The Simpcw
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 by GetawayBC.com
The Simpcw are a division of the Secwepemc, or Shuswap Nation peoples, who occupied the drainage of the North Thompson River upstream from McLure to the headwaters of the Fraser River from McBride to Tete Jeune Cache, over to Jasper and south to the headwaters of the Athabasca River.
The Simpcw spoke the Secwepemc language, a Salishan language, shared among many of the First Nations in the Fraser and Thompson River drainage.
Traditionally, the Simpcw traveled throughout the spring, summer and fall, gathering food and materials which sustained them through the winter. During the winter months they assembled at village sites, in the valleys close to rivers, occupying semi-underground houses.
Archaeological studies have identified winter home sites and underground food cache sites at a variety of locations in the region including Finn Creek, Vavenby, Birch Island, Chu Chua, Barriere River, Louis Creek and Tete Jeune.
The Simpcw were noted for their hunting ability. In the summer months much of their time was spent in hunting camps in the mountains above the North Thompson and Upper Fraser Rivers.
Both river systems provided salmon, which were caught in weirs and nets and by spear. Both meat and fish were smoked or dried then stored for consumption.
Numerous plant foods were also collected and preserved for winter use. There was active trading, and sometimes warfare with the Sekani and Cree people.
Today most of the five hundred Simpcw people live on the North Thompson Indian Reserve at Chu Chua just north of Barriere.
Many Simpcw Band members are employed in the forest industry as mill workers and loggers. The band also owns a small sawmill.
The Simpcw Band administration, governed by the Band council, oversees the social, educational, and economic development of the membership.
With other Secwepemc communities, the Simpcw are taking steps to have their aboriginal right to their traditional territory recognized by provincial and federal governments.
Simpcw people value their positive relationships with non-Native people in the North Thompson and Robson Valley’s.
They also recognize that their key strength lies in maintaining links to their traditional heritage. The Simpcw are working diligently to secure a place for their children, and their children’s children in contemporary society that they can embrace with pride.