Snare Territory: Jasper
National Park area in Alberta.
Portals
Snare Population
Canada (2015) - 110 |
S
A L I S H INTERIOR
SECWÉPEMC
COMMENTS
The Snare were the
original inhabitants of this region. With coming of the fur trade
era, Mohawk Iroquois moved in to hunt. Northwest Company's (later
H.B.C.) Jasper House and Kootenay Plains seasonal rendezvous
were established to enable business. Cree, Ktunaxa, Metis, Tse
Keh Nay, and Stoney followed the Mohawk Iroquois to participate
in the commercial hunt. In time, all these groups (including
the Snare) merged and adopted Cree culture thence becoming the
foundation for the new Rocky Mountain People or Asseniwuche
Winewak Nation. Simultaneously, with overhunting leading
to food shortages, many Snare fled south to live amongst their
more prosperous relations, the Secwépemc of British Columbia.
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According to one of the last known members of the Snare tribe,
they were neither Secwépemc, Dakelh, or Tse K'hene, but
more closely related to the Secwépemc than to any other
group, and speaking a language akin to Secwépemc. (Joachim
Fromhold P.433)
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The Snare maintained little contact with other Secwépemc
groups. (Rootsweb)
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The first European to encounter the Snare was Alexander McKenzie
in 1793 as he was making his trek to the Pacific Ocean. Aaron
Arrowsmith's 1814 map, showing the Snare, is based on information
gathered by McKenzie. (Note: "Atnah" is what the Dakelh
called the Secwépemc.)
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This 1906 Government Atlas of Canada map
shows "Iroquois" territory. ie. which lands were taken
over from the Snare by the Iroquois. The Mohawk were able to
move right on into Snare Territory because they had guns. The
Snare did not. Also, at that time in the early 1800's, the numbers
of Snare may have been severely weakened by the smallpox epidemic
of 1781 making them less able to resist the Mohawk. Certainly,
tribes in the vicinity such as the Athapuscow Cree, Keskachewan
Cree, and Sinixt had lost huge percentages of their populations.
[Note: Early 18th Century Snare population must have considerably
greater for the them to develop their own dialect, identity,
and to hold on to a significant sized territory in the face of
hostile neighbours.]
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Snare 1820 Population: 300 persons (2/3's of the them were in
the larger Valemount region.) (Joachim
Fromhold P.437)
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Paul Kane's second hand description of the 1840 massacre of the
Snare by the Stoney. (Wanderings
of An Artist P. 155)
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After the massacre, Capote Blanc and some Snare People flee to
British Columbia. (Joachim
Fromhold)
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The Asseniwuche Winewak Nation, including it's Snare Tribe component,
were evicted from Jasper are when Jasper National Park was formed
in 1906. They now reside at Grande Cache to the north.
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The Asseniwuche Winewak
Nation verifies it's Snare heritage
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Here is the Simpcw
Band's perspective on the Snare: "The SIMPCW are a division
of the Secwépemc, or Shuswap, whose traditional territory
encompasses approximately 5,000,000 Ha in the North Thompson
region. The area extends from slightly North of McLure to the
headwaters of Fraser River near McBride, to Tête Jeune
Cache, over to Jasper {and south to the headwaters of the Athabasca
River} ---This last section has now been deleted from their website.
Archaeological studies have identified winter home sites and
underground food cache sites at a variety of locations including
Finn Creek, Vavenby, Birch Island, Clearwater, Litte Fort, Chu
Chua, Barriere River, Louis Creek, and Tête Jeune, and
Jasper. Many ancestors of present band members lived in these
winter villages or camps. Evidence of life in earlier times can
still be found at these ancestral village sites." [It is
important to remember that the Simpcw Band received Snare refugees
in the 1840's and is legitimately speaking for that component
of it's population. Note: Were an 18th Century hunter to travel
from Simpcw Band's core region at Barriere, B.C. to the easternmost
frontier of Secwépemc Territory in Alberta's David Thompson
Country via the Yellowhead Pass and then back again, it would
entail an 1100 kilometer walk.]
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An elder in the Stoney
Wesley Band in the South Saskatchewan River valley, states the
Snare were a travelling people who followed the rivers and used
nets to catch both fish and animals. The Snare people were of
short stature, ie. 4 foot 6 inches. The Stoney called them "Tamongun"
or "Snaring People".
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James Hector writes: The Snare, a tribe who lived near the Snaring
River, dwelling in holes dug in the ground, and living on animals
they captured with snares of green hides.
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Father Pierre-Jean de Smet: He believes they originated in British
Columbia and migrated east to Jasper in search of food. They
were regarded as a feeble tribe.
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A Jasper Town Museum staff member remarked the facial features
of the Snare were "fine boned"...
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A Canim Lake elder
indicates that when the Snare fled southward into Secwepemc Territory
in the early 1800's, the bulk of the them moved beyond the Simpcw
Band in the North Thompson Valley to reside amongst the Canim
Lake Band in the south Cariboo region.
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The last paragraph
of this Royal B.C. Museum article
makes reference to the Snare: "An other band of Shuswap
once occupied the area of Jasper National Park, known as the
Snares."
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Lisette's Journey focuses on the Snare....
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The Jasper Local 2017 newspaper article on the Snare. |
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