Sechelt First Nation

SECHELT  () , or Shishalh Nation, are Northern Coast SALISH who occupied the SUNSHINE COAST north of VANCOUVER, from Gower Point near GIBSONS to SALTERY BAY in JERVIS INLET. At contact with Europeans they occupied some 80 scattered seasonal village sites. The main tribal groupings centred at 4 principal villages: xenichen (at the head of Jervis Inlet), ts'unay (at Deserted Bay in Jervis Inlet), tewankw (in SECHELT INLET) and kalpalin (in PENDER HARBOUR). Sechelt traditional territory was bounded on the north by the SLIAMMON and the south by the SQUAMISH Nation. The Sechelt gathered during the Nov–Mar period at one composite winter village on the shores of Pender Harbour, where they formed one of the largest pre-contact FIRST NATIONS communities on the coast. They estimate the original population at more than 20,000; other estimates range between 5,000 and 8,000. By the time of the first official census in 1881 the population had plunged to a mere 167, mostly as a result of introduced diseases, and the survivors had come together at ch'atlich near the present site of SECHELT, where there was an OBLATE mission and school. By the end of the 20th century the Sechelt Nation numbered about 1,000 members. The modern Sechelt have been involved in operation of an offshore trawler, a local airline, SALMON hatchery (see also FISH HATCHERIES), an office and cultural complex, a large gravel project, a hotel-marina complex and other business enterprises. In 1986 the Sechelt gained international notice when their long campaign to gain control of their own affairs culminated in the passage of Bill C-93, The Sechelt Indian Band Self-Government Act, making them the first First Nation in Canada to achieve self-government. In 1999 they announced that an agreement-in-principle had been reached with the provincial government resolving their land claim (see ABORIGINAL RIGHTS).