MODERN TREATIES

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MODERN TREATIES
The Hedley Project

"We are determined to achieve our goal of a major…. eco-cultural tourism opportunity that will create economic wealth for native and non-native alike…and bring golden prosperity back to the Similkameen Valley.

"We believe that a story is to be told of mining history that goes back thousands of years…and that we are providing a stage that will take your breathe away."
-Chief Rick Holmes, Upper Similkameen Indian Band

The Syilx Okanagan Nation was cut in two when Britain and the United States signed the Oregon Treaty of 1846. This treaty established the 49th parallel as the border between the two countries.


Today, the Syilx Okanagan people are represented by two entities north and south of the border: The Colville Confederated Tribe (CCT) in Washington State and the Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) in British Columbia. ONA represents the seven northern Syilx Okanagan Bands including: Upper Nicola (Merritt), Upper Similkameen, (Princeton/Hedley) Lower Similkameen (Keremeos), Osoyoos, Penticton, Westbank, and Okanagan (Vernon).

All seven Bands are endeavoring to persevere in the modern era. Each Band has economic initiatives that help sustain their people. The focus of this article is on the Upper Similkameen Indian Band's Hedley Project.

The Upper Similkameen Indian Band (USIB) is comprised of fewer than 100 people, but their impact exceeds their numbers. They employ over 100 people in various forestry and administrative operations and significantly participate in the area economies of Princeton and the Regional District of South Okanagan-Similkameen.

Native community has rich history
The town of Hedley, B.C. is located in the southern interior of British Columbia along Highway 3, between the towns of Princeton and Keremeos. The town of Hedley is approximately 300 kms east of Vancouver, BC.

Hedley is a community of 400 native and non-natives with USIB reserve lands flowing into the town. The town is surrounded by narrow valleys- and rugged mountains, some of them towering 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) above the valley floor.

The beautiful Similkameen River runs through it. During its hey day back at the turn of the century, Hedley boasted five hotels and 1000 people, and was considered the hub of the Similkameen, due to the rich gold mining industry.

Hedley is also rich in ancient Similkameen mining history. The Hedley Project is about revitalizing a community by dove tailing the ancient Similkameen mining tradition into the modern era.

In 1998 the Upper Similkameen Indian Band (USIB) negotiated an agreement with the Province of British Columbia to assume the rights to develop the historic Mascot Mine as a tourist attraction.

USIB believes that the Mascot Mine site, along with the Tulameen Red Ochre Bluffs, the Chert (flint) Mines and ancient pictographs will result in a premier tourist attraction that will not only celebrate recent mining history but will also present over 8,000 years of First Nation commerce in the BC interior.

The Mascot Mine is very unique in that it is perched 850 vertical metres (2,800 feet) above the town of Hedley. The mine can be seen from down town Hedley where most of the mineworkers lived.

The gold ore was so rich that only select workers were allowed to mine certain areas. For this reason, workers stayed high in a bunkhouse on site. The Mine and its buildings were virtually constructed on the sheer rock face above the town, an engineering marvel in any era. There was an extensive aerial tram system in place to transport the ore, along with workers and supplies.

According to Similkameen elder, Jim Jameson, the tram system was mainly a gravity /pulley system where loaded cars were lowered down the rock face, while empty cars and supplies were lifted up to the mine site. This is the way that the mine extracted and processed over $10,000,000 (in today's dollars) in ore in some of the most rugged conditions.

Today, the mine is a Provincial Heritage site and over the past few years, buildings have been stabilized at a cost of over $750,000.

The challenge for USIB is to continue to revitalize the Mascot Mine site, as well as tell the story of the ancient mining activities of the Similkameen people.

For instance, the nearby Tulameen Ochre Bluffs are the traditional sources of the ochre pigments used by many First Nations for painting pictographs, decorating clothing and body paints.

According to the Parks Canada Report, March 2001, "ochre has been gathered from the cliffs, since time immemorial, and traded among First Nations. The ochre from the sites comes in the four sacred colours: shades of red, yellow, black and white."

There is no doubt, the Similkameen Valley proved to be an important a trade corridor, supplying First Nations on the coast, as well as on the prairies

A spiritual place
Spiritually, the Similkameen Valley is still a place for "vision quests."

One such site, located in close proximity to Hedley, is the Tcutcuwl'xa Rock Shelter pictographs. "Set in an open park like setting… the Tcutcuwl'xa Rock Shelter is a shallow rock overhang at the base of a high smooth granite face. Dozens of pictographs, most painted in varying shades of red are scattered across the sloping back of the overhang. Archaeological excavations inside the rock shelter have revealed deeply stratified cultural deposits, attesting to thousands of years of human use of this sacred place," Parks Canada Report, March 2001.

According to the Similkameen people, one of the pictographs depicts the demise of the Spaniards in the Similkameen Valley. Okanagan Similkameen elders still say that they have never been defeated by an outside force.

Directly across the valley from the Mascot Mine is another First Nation mine - a high-grade chert (flint) quarry. The site is particularly spectacular in that the chert was mined 4,500 feet above the valley floor and was quarried from veins running horizontally across the cliff face. The Similkameen miners literally had to hang over the cliff edge to access the chert, similar to the Mohawk skyscraper builders of today.

Mining centre next project
These and other stories of the region will be illustrated in the next phase of the Hedley Project - the construction of the 10,000 sq ft Mining Interpretive Centre. This center will be located on the former Nickel Plate Concentrator site, just outside of Hedley.

The history of the mining of Tulameen ochre and chert (flint), traded throughout western North America, will be told in an as compelling and dramatic fashion as that of the Nickel Plate and Mascot gold mining stories.

This attraction will also involve the replication of the Band's traditional pre-contact dwellings comprising winter pit houses and tulee mat summer lodges.

Another phase involves the restoration of the post contact village site, comprising two historic churches(1860's and early 1900's), a square log home, and a jail house. USIB believes the First Nation transition period in which these structures were present necessitates preservation.

Other spin off enterprises such as lodging, camping, helicopter tours, trail rides, food services and cultural opportunities are expected to benefit the entire Similkameen region.

For more information on the Hedley Project, contact:
The USIB Office at (250) 499-2221,
or Mel Woolley, Land Strategies Ltd at (403) 802-2800
or e-mail: lsgl@telusplanet.net .