Above: Group of white male government representatives
from Victoria, the "Indian Affairs Commission," having an outdoor lunch in 1910 in the Nuxalk village of Qomqots,
which they called the "Bella Coola Indian Reserve."
The "MacKenna McBride
Royal Commission" report was published in 1916. For an online version, see the Union of
BC Indian Chiefs:
http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/Resources/final_report.htm
Below are some statements made by Nuxalkmc spokespersons:
 |
Jim Pollard
We are very pleased to see the Commission here. We understand you represent the
Government and consequently we are very pleased at it.
We further understand that you will do what is right by us and also understand
that if we have not enough land, you
will recommend to the Government to let us have more, and that is satisfactory to us.
|
Eventually things will come to a head here, and our natural resources will be limited in time.
When I was a young man we were able to go out and get cordwood wherever and whenever we liked and there was no
Indian Reserve then.
I notice that the wood and the fish, etc are getting scarce. This means a lot to us. When I was a boy, my father
and the old men of the tribe told us to be very careful with our land nd property here, not to give it away or
sell it. We all discussed the matter a great deal among ourselves. Some Indians in other places have sold their
land and we don't approve of it. If we had enough land we would do as we did before the whiteman ever came here.
We would use the roots, the herbs and the barks.
The lord gave us this land and we used this land and we used to eat these fruits which the lord provided.
We would do the same again. We want to let you know that the fish is the same as a bank. This is where we
derive our income.
 |
Captain Schooner
I think the Government ought to help us as they have made a lot of money out of the Indians, and it is the
duty of the government to do what they can for us.
I don't know why the Government won't pay us for what they have taken. We used to get lots of berries,
but now, when we get berries, the whiteman put us off the land.
We are telling you all our troubles.
The white people are not doing justice to us. We have lost a
lot of land up the river. |
 |
Tom Henry
Now, all up and down the salt water there are posts saying that this land belongs to the whiteman who
have bought it from the Government. If I take any sticks from these places the whiteman will come along and
say, 'Leave that alone, it belongs to me.'
I hear that the whiteman are making a good deal of money out of the land which formally belonged to the
Indians. If I were to go to USA, England or go on anybody's land like that I would be put in jail right
away. We should like to know, why our lands have been taken from us in this way. We don't want to lose
any more land than we have already lost. |
 |
Albert King
We cannot get the native foods as in the Old Day. Our means of getting these foods are curtailed.
We have to have sufficient land that we may be able to provide ourselves and our children with
food. We are very glad to know that you are willing to help us obtain more land, and also in the
title of the Reserve here. |
We have a grievance about Mr. Jacobsen who leased about 20 acres of land right in the
centre of the village here and agreed to pay a stipulated sum of it every year. He got the land but
we have not received a cent of it.
Qomqots, c. 1910 |
