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Malahat First Nation
Malahat First Nation (Saanich: MÁLEXEȽ [ˈmeləχəɬ] or MÁ¸LEXEȽ [ˈmeʔləχəɬ]) is a Coast Salish First Nations community of W̱SÁNEĆ (Saanich People) representing approximately 350 members with two reserve lands located on the western shore of Saanich Inlet, Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The Malahat First Nation is one of many nations within the Coastal Salish group that live on their traditional lands. The Coastal Salish are Indigenous to the Northwest mainland, coast, and islands. The Malahat First Nation is a member nation of the Naut'sa mawt Tribal Council and was the ninth First Nation in Canada to be certified by the First Nations Financial Management Board. The ancestral languages of Malahat Nation are Hul̓q̓umín̓um̓ and SENĆOŦEN . The Hul̓q̓umín̓um̓ or Halkomelem language is spoken in Washington State and British Columbia and is within the Coastal Salish language family. Currently it is being revitalized, as it is mainly spoken by elders in the community. The Chief of Malahat Nation is George Harry. George served on the council for four years before being elected as Chief on June 10, 2019.
The Malahat Nation inhabits land rich in natural resources and have throughout history and modern day made efforts to restore depleted species. Aside from their spiritual backgrounds supporting the respect of nature, many of their goals for their community involve strengthening their resources after years of overfishing, and being settled in the 18th through 20th centuries. They also participate in activism surrounding such environmental issues, as well as social issues. As with other Indigenous Canadian peoples and Nations, residential schools have been surging in new information and new initiatives to better understand and combat the effects. This particular community has also been hit hard during COVID-19, but have responded with health initiatives as well as economic driven solutions to the issues caused by COVID-19.
The Malahat live on Vancouver Island, off the coast of British Columbia. West of the Canadian coast, the environment of their homelands are defined by mountains, forests, rivers, waterfalls and an abundance of natural resources. In 2015, the Malahat Nation acquired a portion of their traditional homelands through a loan from the First Nations Finance Authority. This land purchase encompassed locations such as Bamberton and Oliphant Lake, while also tripling the amount of territory they own in total. Past Chief, Michael Harry has suggested that buying the land outright was much more efficient than being tied up in the courts for years over rightful ownership. This investment in the land will provide intergenerational wealth via housing, job opportunities, and as a potential tourist location.
These resources included sea-life, hunting, timber, and semi-precious metals/sedimentary rocks that could be mined. Materials from the forests have been used in the past by both colonial people and First Nations people. The western side of Vancouver, particularly in the south, there is also a better environment for agriculture. While the Malahat people favor developing their land for future generations, there are also conversations happening currently about fracking development. Due to the complex nature of drilling there is careful consideration when it comes to the impacts about their local environment, such as carbon pollution and an abundant uptick in the use of fresh water.
In the last decade, salmon has been an important topic both in regards to being a staple in Indigenous resources, but also in environmental disasters and preservation. In 2011, a large amount of gasoline and diesel fuel spilled on the Malahat Highway which led to a leak into the Goldstream River. This resulted in thousands of fish dying and a response to clean up the surrounding area and dispose of contaminated fish. The gasoline was expected to degrade naturally and quickly, along with the concentrated efforts to protect the area. Years later, 2018, there were also plans to restore chinook salmon on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. These are the biggest species of salmon on the Pacific Coast, and in some areas are listed as endangered. While originally intended to be a deal between the Malahat Nation and Steelhead LNG, and built on Indigenous land, it has since been moved nearby on the Huu-ay-aht First Nations land. This effort will hopefully impact the reduced numbers of salmon and benefit all local Indigenous peoples.
The Malahat Nation comes from the Saanich people, who in turn are a smaller piece of Coast Salish peoples. While there are many variations of beliefs and histories of the Salish people, they often have common threads or underlying traits between them. In their cosmology, ties between humans and nature serve as their origin story and reasoning for why they are linked to their ancestral lands. Many of the stories have been passed down through oral history, and keeps the languages preserved through an effort to maintain a connection to their cosmology. For example, they have creation stories about mountains, deer, blue jays, as well as what happens when humans forget their obligations to nature. Spiritual or religious rituals that the early Salish people performed were coming of age rites that focus on boys, but were not exclusionary towards girls. These rituals, such as vision quests, would help young people forge a relationship with their personal guides.
Indigenous people have inhabited Vancouver Island for thousands of years, and particularly chose these sites because of the availability of resources. Early Coast Salish people relied heavily on hunting fish and mammals, and it is theorized that people living in internal British Columbia moved closer to the coast as it again provided ample food. Coast Salish people tended to live the summer season in semi-nomadic conditions to take advantage of their abundant resources. In the winter they resided in plank houses which were permanent fixtures of their lives. The social structure of Coast Salish people was based on households and each area was divided by these homes. In each home there could be not only immediate family but also those more distantly related. They would all live in one home and these homes would make up a small village, in the cases of permanent winter lodgings.
As part of the Coast Salish group, the Malahat Nation would have made contact with Europeans in the 1700s. Through contact with settlers, Indigenous people across British Columbia were pushed out and off their traditional lands and lost great numbers to smallpox in the 1700s and the 1800s.
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Malahat First Nation
Malahat First Nation (Saanich: MÁLEXEȽ [ˈmeləχəɬ] or MÁ¸LEXEȽ [ˈmeʔləχəɬ]) is a Coast Salish First Nations community of W̱SÁNEĆ (Saanich People) representing approximately 350 members with two reserve lands located on the western shore of Saanich Inlet, Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The Malahat First Nation is one of many nations within the Coastal Salish group that live on their traditional lands. The Coastal Salish are Indigenous to the Northwest mainland, coast, and islands. The Malahat First Nation is a member nation of the Naut'sa mawt Tribal Council and was the ninth First Nation in Canada to be certified by the First Nations Financial Management Board. The ancestral languages of Malahat Nation are Hul̓q̓umín̓um̓ and SENĆOŦEN . The Hul̓q̓umín̓um̓ or Halkomelem language is spoken in Washington State and British Columbia and is within the Coastal Salish language family. Currently it is being revitalized, as it is mainly spoken by elders in the community. The Chief of Malahat Nation is George Harry. George served on the council for four years before being elected as Chief on June 10, 2019.
The Malahat Nation inhabits land rich in natural resources and have throughout history and modern day made efforts to restore depleted species. Aside from their spiritual backgrounds supporting the respect of nature, many of their goals for their community involve strengthening their resources after years of overfishing, and being settled in the 18th through 20th centuries. They also participate in activism surrounding such environmental issues, as well as social issues. As with other Indigenous Canadian peoples and Nations, residential schools have been surging in new information and new initiatives to better understand and combat the effects. This particular community has also been hit hard during COVID-19, but have responded with health initiatives as well as economic driven solutions to the issues caused by COVID-19.
The Malahat live on Vancouver Island, off the coast of British Columbia. West of the Canadian coast, the environment of their homelands are defined by mountains, forests, rivers, waterfalls and an abundance of natural resources. In 2015, the Malahat Nation acquired a portion of their traditional homelands through a loan from the First Nations Finance Authority. This land purchase encompassed locations such as Bamberton and Oliphant Lake, while also tripling the amount of territory they own in total. Past Chief, Michael Harry has suggested that buying the land outright was much more efficient than being tied up in the courts for years over rightful ownership. This investment in the land will provide intergenerational wealth via housing, job opportunities, and as a potential tourist location.
These resources included sea-life, hunting, timber, and semi-precious metals/sedimentary rocks that could be mined. Materials from the forests have been used in the past by both colonial people and First Nations people. The western side of Vancouver, particularly in the south, there is also a better environment for agriculture. While the Malahat people favor developing their land for future generations, there are also conversations happening currently about fracking development. Due to the complex nature of drilling there is careful consideration when it comes to the impacts about their local environment, such as carbon pollution and an abundant uptick in the use of fresh water.
In the last decade, salmon has been an important topic both in regards to being a staple in Indigenous resources, but also in environmental disasters and preservation. In 2011, a large amount of gasoline and diesel fuel spilled on the Malahat Highway which led to a leak into the Goldstream River. This resulted in thousands of fish dying and a response to clean up the surrounding area and dispose of contaminated fish. The gasoline was expected to degrade naturally and quickly, along with the concentrated efforts to protect the area. Years later, 2018, there were also plans to restore chinook salmon on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. These are the biggest species of salmon on the Pacific Coast, and in some areas are listed as endangered. While originally intended to be a deal between the Malahat Nation and Steelhead LNG, and built on Indigenous land, it has since been moved nearby on the Huu-ay-aht First Nations land. This effort will hopefully impact the reduced numbers of salmon and benefit all local Indigenous peoples.
The Malahat Nation comes from the Saanich people, who in turn are a smaller piece of Coast Salish peoples. While there are many variations of beliefs and histories of the Salish people, they often have common threads or underlying traits between them. In their cosmology, ties between humans and nature serve as their origin story and reasoning for why they are linked to their ancestral lands. Many of the stories have been passed down through oral history, and keeps the languages preserved through an effort to maintain a connection to their cosmology. For example, they have creation stories about mountains, deer, blue jays, as well as what happens when humans forget their obligations to nature. Spiritual or religious rituals that the early Salish people performed were coming of age rites that focus on boys, but were not exclusionary towards girls. These rituals, such as vision quests, would help young people forge a relationship with their personal guides.
Indigenous people have inhabited Vancouver Island for thousands of years, and particularly chose these sites because of the availability of resources. Early Coast Salish people relied heavily on hunting fish and mammals, and it is theorized that people living in internal British Columbia moved closer to the coast as it again provided ample food. Coast Salish people tended to live the summer season in semi-nomadic conditions to take advantage of their abundant resources. In the winter they resided in plank houses which were permanent fixtures of their lives. The social structure of Coast Salish people was based on households and each area was divided by these homes. In each home there could be not only immediate family but also those more distantly related. They would all live in one home and these homes would make up a small village, in the cases of permanent winter lodgings.
As part of the Coast Salish group, the Malahat Nation would have made contact with Europeans in the 1700s. Through contact with settlers, Indigenous people across British Columbia were pushed out and off their traditional lands and lost great numbers to smallpox in the 1700s and the 1800s.