1858, BC: “Frazer River Indians” ≠ “Chenook Indians”!
Very early in the Fraser, a.k.a. Fraser River gold rush, we have this evidence of 2 big points.
Image credit: US Library of Congress
Point #1 — This early in the Frontier Era, the word “Chenook” or “Chinook” was already being confused in Settler minds, between a reference to a specific tribe (who most Settlers never met!) and a pidgin language (which most Settlers were familiar with). To a lot of White folks, “Chinook Indian” was a phrase in many ways functioning like the frequent terms “fish Indians” and “horse Indians”, as a utilitarian label for one distinctive aspect of those tribes’ lives.
Point #2 — It was clear to most folks that the Indigenous nations of the lower Fraser River were not these so-called “Chinook Indians”. In 1858, Chinook Jargon had not yet penetrated into British Columbia much beyond Fort Langley, which had been established in 1827 by the Hudsons Bay Company. Fort Langley was essentially the northernmost neighborhood of the Métis settlement zone that extended as far south as Oregon’s Willamette and Umpqua Valleys. By corollary, the Chinook Jargon of Fort Langley was the early-creolized variety typical of the lower Columbia River, whose last documented speaker may have been the great Joe Peter.
Point 3 — “Northern Indians” at this time meant the Native tribes of southern coastal BC. Not until the Pacific NW frontier extended up towards and into coastal Alaska did “Northern Indians” come to customarily indicate Haidas, Tlingits, and Tsimshians in our regional speech.
Point 4 — Fraser River tribes were not accustomed to contact with very many non-Natives. The patterns of interaction described below reflect social realities. Puget Sound tribes had already been subjected to a brutal treat-making process, and a war, that had cemented White domination of their lands. On the Fraser River, on the British (now Canadian) side of the border, it was not like this; Indigenous people were still the numerical majority and they retained authority in their lands. This had linguistic repercussions. Non-Native newcomers had no option but to work with tribal people, and to find a way fast to communicate all sorts of things back and forth.
Here’s a detailed eyewitness report from a California newspaper, since there were hardly any media outlets in existence closer to British Columbia:
Fraser River Indians.
The San Francisco Herald relates : The In-
dians are represented as very superior to the [Puget]
Sound Indians, commonly termed ‘Chenooks.’
They are large, muscular men, fond of athletic
sports, of a lighter color than the southern tribes,
and very brave and determined. Many of their
women are represented as being quite handsome,
with regular features, and even delicate hands
and feet. The males are very jealous of their wo-
men, and a want of chastity is severely and
promptly punished. One most remarkable fea-
ture was observed among the ‘Northern Indians,’
as they are called, which is, that many of them
have light hair and eyes, and present & marked
difference in their general physiognomy from the
Indian tribes with which we are acquainted. It
is by no means unusual for the Indians to visit
the camps of the whites at night, when not occu-
pied, and engage them in running, leaping and
wrestling matches, at which latter they are said
to be very expert. They are also fond of throw-
ing summersaults [somersaults] and exhibiting their physical
prowess in other ways. The whites on Puget
Sound are too much in the habit of slapping, box-
ing and beating the Chenooks, who never make
any resistance ; but when anything of the kind is
attempted on one of the Frazer River Indians, he
is certain to reply in kind. They also exhibit a
remarkable trait in this connection ; when struck
with the fist, they strike back in the same man-
ner, and will not have recourse to any other
weapon but one of the same nature with which
they are assailed. They are very expert at sin-
gle stick, and kick with as much dexterity as &
French sabot fighter. The men are nearly all
armed with good English muskets, which they
handle with great address, and are remarkably
good shots. Colt’s revolvers are in great demand,
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty dol-
lars in gold dust being frequently offered for one,
but the miners would assuredly hang any man
found guilty of supplying the Indians with those
weapons. The six-barreled revolver, Allen’s pat-
ent, brings nearly as high a price, and very little
objection seems to be made against selling them
to the Indians, as they are notoriously more dan-
gerous to the possessor than to any one else. Two
distinct and hostile tribes reside on Fraser river,
and the enmity existing between them is repre-
sented to be as great as that described by Cooper
between the Delawares and the Hurons. They
freely engage as guides, and may be relied on.
Mr. Harkness says that quite a number of mur-
ders had been recently committed among those
Indians by lawless emigrants, and that a feeling
of hostility was beginning to manifest itself when
he left, which threatened very serious conse-
quences. These murders were caused by some
petty thefts by the Indians: The Northern In-
dians use very little paint; and are not tattooed
at all. Since the influx of immigration, they are
much better dressed than before, and wear their
habiliments with much ease and natural grace.
The hair is worn quite long, and is ornamented
with feathers. The Chenooks stand in the great-
est awe of the Northern Indians, one hundred of
whom are more than a match for ten times that
number of Chenooks. They are, however, very
much afraid of bomb shells, and express an em-
phatic dislike to those guns that ‘shoot twice.’
They also entertain the opinion that they cannot
run away from cannon, believing from the effect
of cannon balls on large trees, that the guns will
throw to any given distance. Canoes of colossal
proportions are built by them from the immense
trees existing in that region. The tree is care-
fully felled by being burned down, during which
operation the fire is regularly tended to prevent
its expanding too far, and to retain it in a given
space. The fallen trunk is then shaped out into
a canoe with exceeding labor, until it arrives at
the required dimensions and model, after which
it is hollowed out by burning. As soon as this
process is concluded, they fill the canoe with wa-
ter, and then heat large rocks red hot, which are
thrown into the water and generate steam, by
which the wood becomes pliant, when it is spread
amidships by means of stretchers, tightly wedged
in, until it acquires the requisite breadth of beam,
when the water is bailed out and the canoe al-
lowed to dry. Many of these are capable of car-
rying one hundred warriors, with their arms, ac-
coutrements, and provisions for several weeks.
Several of them have been purchased by the
whites, one end sawed off and built to make a flat
stern, and then rigged into sloops and schooners,
some of them capable of carrying from seven to
nine tons of cargo. The Northern Indians also
build extensive forts, large enough to shelter six
or seven hundred warriors with their families.
These forts are built of trees, very substantial,
and exhibiting much skill in their construction,
and perfectly proof against small arms. Their
system of government is similar to that of other
Indian tribes, consisting of a Head Chief, who is
the arbiter of all civil difficulties; a War Chief,
to whose guidance is principally entrusted all
military expeditions ; and a Council, composed
of such men as have rendered distinguisghed ser-
vices, or are recognized as of superior sagacity
and wisdom. The office of Head Chief is heredi-
tary, the others are awarded by general consent.
They declare most emphatically that the ‘Bos-
tons’ shall not go into the Thompson river coun-
try, which they claim as peculiarly their own.
— from the Placerville (CA) Weekly Trinity Journal of May 29, 1858, page 2, column 6
