"From Our Side We Will be Good Neighbour[s] to Them": Doukhobor-Sinixt Relations at the Confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers in the Early Twentieth Century
From their arrival on the Canadian Prairies in 1899 to their removal to the Kootenay region in 1908, the christian pacifist sect known as Doukhobors entered into a "native space", a narrative shaped by aboriginal territories and cultures. Focusing particularly on the valuable lands at the...
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ftubcjournals:oai:ojs.library.ubc.ca:article/2380 2023-05-15T16:16:03+02:00 "From Our Side We Will be Good Neighbour[s] to Them": Doukhobor-Sinixt Relations at the Confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers in the Early Twentieth Century Wilkinson, Myler F. Sutherland, Duff 2012-06-13 application/pdf http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/bcstudies/article/view/2380 https://doi.org/10.14288/bcs.v0i174.2380 eng eng The University of British Columbia http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/bcstudies/article/view/2380/183492 10.14288/bcs.v0i174.2380.g183492 http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/bcstudies/article/view/2380 doi:10.14288/bcs.v0i174.2380 BC Studies: The British Columbian Quarterly; No. 174: Summer 2012; 33-59 0005-2949 10.14288/bcs.v0i174 colonization traditional cultures First Nations Doukhobors Sinixt Lawney Reyes Alexander Christian and family History of Americas--First Nation Doukhobor info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion research-article 2012 ftubcjournals https://doi.org/10.14288/bcs.v0i174.2380 https://doi.org/10.14288/bcs.v0i174 2023-01-04T07:47:27Z From their arrival on the Canadian Prairies in 1899 to their removal to the Kootenay region in 1908, the christian pacifist sect known as Doukhobors entered into a "native space", a narrative shaped by aboriginal territories and cultures. Focusing particularly on the valuable lands at the confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia rivers in the West Kootenay, this paper examines the often difficult relationship between the last First Nations people at the confluence--the Sinixt Christian family--and the Doukhobors. By 1912 the Doukhobor community had purchased some 14,000 acres of land in Kootenay-Boundary. These lands, which were to provide hope and consolation for a long-persecuted community, included the Sinixt settlement of kp'itl'els at the mouth of the Kootenay River. Neglected by federal and provincial officials, members of the Christian family found themselves fenced in on a small plot of their former lands, their burial grounds plowed over for fields and orchards by Doukhobor farmers. Within a short while the Christian family abandoned their traditional home of kp'itl'els to the new settlers, though the bitter experience of displacement was never entirely forgotten. Set within the broader context of an unfolding Euro-Canadian settlement frontier in the West Kootenay, the paper explores failures to recognize "native space" in the region and evolving Doukhobor attitudes towards land and native peoples first encountered in the Prairie West. It also examines recent efforts at recognition and reconciliation by the Doukhobor Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ with the descendants of the Christian family. Article in Journal/Newspaper First Nations Open Access Journal Hosting (University of British Columbia) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Open Access Journal Hosting (University of British Columbia) |
op_collection_id |
ftubcjournals |
language |
English |
topic |
colonization traditional cultures First Nations Doukhobors Sinixt Lawney Reyes Alexander Christian and family History of Americas--First Nation Doukhobor |
spellingShingle |
colonization traditional cultures First Nations Doukhobors Sinixt Lawney Reyes Alexander Christian and family History of Americas--First Nation Doukhobor Wilkinson, Myler F. Sutherland, Duff "From Our Side We Will be Good Neighbour[s] to Them": Doukhobor-Sinixt Relations at the Confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers in the Early Twentieth Century |
topic_facet |
colonization traditional cultures First Nations Doukhobors Sinixt Lawney Reyes Alexander Christian and family History of Americas--First Nation Doukhobor |
description |
From their arrival on the Canadian Prairies in 1899 to their removal to the Kootenay region in 1908, the christian pacifist sect known as Doukhobors entered into a "native space", a narrative shaped by aboriginal territories and cultures. Focusing particularly on the valuable lands at the confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia rivers in the West Kootenay, this paper examines the often difficult relationship between the last First Nations people at the confluence--the Sinixt Christian family--and the Doukhobors. By 1912 the Doukhobor community had purchased some 14,000 acres of land in Kootenay-Boundary. These lands, which were to provide hope and consolation for a long-persecuted community, included the Sinixt settlement of kp'itl'els at the mouth of the Kootenay River. Neglected by federal and provincial officials, members of the Christian family found themselves fenced in on a small plot of their former lands, their burial grounds plowed over for fields and orchards by Doukhobor farmers. Within a short while the Christian family abandoned their traditional home of kp'itl'els to the new settlers, though the bitter experience of displacement was never entirely forgotten. Set within the broader context of an unfolding Euro-Canadian settlement frontier in the West Kootenay, the paper explores failures to recognize "native space" in the region and evolving Doukhobor attitudes towards land and native peoples first encountered in the Prairie West. It also examines recent efforts at recognition and reconciliation by the Doukhobor Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ with the descendants of the Christian family. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wilkinson, Myler F. Sutherland, Duff |
author_facet |
Wilkinson, Myler F. Sutherland, Duff |
author_sort |
Wilkinson, Myler F. |
title |
"From Our Side We Will be Good Neighbour[s] to Them": Doukhobor-Sinixt Relations at the Confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers in the Early Twentieth Century |
title_short |
"From Our Side We Will be Good Neighbour[s] to Them": Doukhobor-Sinixt Relations at the Confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers in the Early Twentieth Century |
title_full |
"From Our Side We Will be Good Neighbour[s] to Them": Doukhobor-Sinixt Relations at the Confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers in the Early Twentieth Century |
title_fullStr |
"From Our Side We Will be Good Neighbour[s] to Them": Doukhobor-Sinixt Relations at the Confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers in the Early Twentieth Century |
title_full_unstemmed |
"From Our Side We Will be Good Neighbour[s] to Them": Doukhobor-Sinixt Relations at the Confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers in the Early Twentieth Century |
title_sort |
"from our side we will be good neighbour[s] to them": doukhobor-sinixt relations at the confluence of the kootenay and columbia rivers in the early twentieth century |
publisher |
The University of British Columbia |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/bcstudies/article/view/2380 https://doi.org/10.14288/bcs.v0i174.2380 |
genre |
First Nations |
genre_facet |
First Nations |
op_source |
BC Studies: The British Columbian Quarterly; No. 174: Summer 2012; 33-59 0005-2949 10.14288/bcs.v0i174 |
op_relation |
http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/bcstudies/article/view/2380/183492 10.14288/bcs.v0i174.2380.g183492 http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/bcstudies/article/view/2380 doi:10.14288/bcs.v0i174.2380 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.14288/bcs.v0i174.2380 https://doi.org/10.14288/bcs.v0i174 |
_version_ |
1766001906048565248 |