Matsqui people
The Matsqui people (Halkomelem: Máthxwi)[1] are a Sto:lo Aboriginal group located in the Central Fraser Valley region of British Columbia, Canada.
The core traditional territory of the Matsqui stretches along the Fraser River from Crescent Island to Sumas Mountain, and southward beyond the Canada-United States border.
Like other Sto:lo communities, the Matsqui collectively inherited traits (or "gifts") from their shared legendary ancestors.
Known to the Matsqui as "Méqel" (Halq'eméylem for "nose"), the stone was created by Xá:ls after witnessing a man who started sneezing when enemies were drawing near.
[2] The Matsqui are closely related to the Nooksack people in Washington, and are notable as one of only two Sto:lo groups that were historically bilingual in the Halq'eméylem and Noocksack languages.
"[4] When the smallpox epidemic spread through Matsqui territory in 1782, its survivors likely consolidated their numbers in the settlements that were the most rich with resources and more easily defended against the coastal raiders.
"[8] Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the nearby construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (1885) and a spur line to Washington (1892) had opened new agricultural markets to the east and to the south.
Chief Matsqui protested that the borders of his reserve had been significantly curtailed since 1860, and impinged upon by the BC Electric and CNR railways, without due compensation.
[10] The Chief's testimony reveals how the Matsqui may have understood these impositions and merits quoting at length: Our forefathers have been stopping here and that is the reason we have been living here from time immemorial.
Most of their natural resources (forests, fish, wildlife, and lands) were being used and regulated by newcomers, their children were being taken to residential schools, and adult men and women were relegated to finding wage employment in only a few industries.
The income gained from such activities helped to supplement traditional practices like harvesting, hunting, and fishing, and more recent ones, such as raising cattle or growing potatoes.
The Abbotsford School District currently delivers cultural awareness programming in accordance with partnerships that have been worked out with the Matsqui governing body and the neighbouring Sumas First Nation.
