Chilko Lake
Chilko Lake, original name “Tsilhqox Biny,” is the largest high-elevation freshwater
lake in Canada at an elevation of 3,855 feet. It is located approximately 60 kilometers
southeast of
Tatla Lake and its entrance is located at the narrows of “Gwedats'ish.”
This area was one of the main winter dwelling sites for the Tsilhqot'in -- first observed
by
HBC trader George McDougall in
1822. Many Tsilhqot'in would trap in and around the watersheds of the mountains by Chilko
Lake, while also using this area for fishing and gathering. The fishery that was established by the Tsilhqot'in at this lake was officially recorded
in
1827 by McGillivary in which he noted that the fishery was
central to the Tsilhqot'in occupation of the area.
In Tsilhqot'in tradition, they are taught about the migration of salmon from
Vancouver to Henry's Crossing and finally to Chilko Lake. To the Indigenous Peoples of this
region, and others, there is a tie to their resources -- just as
the fish were native to the lake
so are the Tsilhqot'in native to this area. Water is sacred and a resource that is more than for drinking but creates sustainability
for the land and wildlife.
Although Chilko Lake was a centre for the Tsilhqot'ins, this area was
practically deserted
by
1870 due to the continuous settler disruptions.
Donald Mclean described the original occupants of this area as
inclined to mischief
which influenced settler attitudes towards Indigenous peoples. Today, Chilko Lake and its endangered wildlife are protected by the Ts'yl-os Provincial
Park. The use of the lake as a hydro-electric source which has re-routed the flow
of water marks another violence down to the natural environment as it has destroyed
a large portion of the salmon spawning grounds.
- 1. Chilko Lake, Cariboo Chilcotin Coast.
- 2. In the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Victoria Registry, No. 90 0913, 13, 53, and 85.
- 3. Ibid., 62.
- 4. William J. Tukell, The Archive of Place: Unearthing the Pasts of the Chilcotin Plateau, (UBC Press, 2008), 49.
- 5. Alan Bruce Hanna, Dechen ts'edilhtan: Implementing Tsilhqot'in Law for Watershed Governance, (University of Victoria, 2020), 163.
- 6. John Lutz, The Tsilhqot'in in Makuk, (UBC Press, 2008), 144 and 157.
- 7. Chilko Lake, Cariboo Chilcotin Coast ; Turkell, The Archive of Place, 23.