The Hwlitsum or Lamalchi or Lamalcha are an

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

whose traditional territories were in the

Gulf Islands The Gulf Islands are a group of islands in the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the mainland coast of British Columbia. Etymology The name "Gulf Islands" comes from "Gulf of Georgia," the original term used by George Vancouver in his ma ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. Their traditional villages were on Canoe Pass, which is known in their language as Hwlitsum, and on Kuper Island (called by them Lamalchi, another spelling of their name,)

Saltspring Island Salt Spring Island or Saltspring Island is one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia, Canada, and Vancouver Island. The island was initially inhabited by various Salishan peoples before being settled b ...

and

Galiano Island Galiano Island ( Hul'qumi'num: ''Swiikw'') is one of the Southern Gulf Islands located between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Located on the west side of the Strait of Georgia, the island is bordered by Mayn ...

The Lamalcha War

On 20 April 1863, a shelling of their village on Kuper Island by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

's HMS ''Forward'' led to a series of events known as the

Lamalcha War The Hwlitsum or Lamalchi or Lamalcha are an indigenous people whose traditional territories were in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Canada. Their traditional villages were on Canoe Pass, which is known in their language as Hwlitsum, and on ...

or Lamalchi Affair. The reason for the shelling was the colonial authorities of the

Colony of Vancouver Island The Colony of Vancouver Island, officially known as the Island of Vancouver and its Dependencies, was a Crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with the mainland to form the Colony of British Columbia. ...

believed the village was home to three men who had killed settlers. The Lamalcha wound up seizing the ship and sold it (Citation needed), leading to the protracted conflict. This episode was the only defeat of the Royal Navy in the era following the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

to the opening of the 20th Century. During the war the Lamalcha evaded capture by various other Royal Navy warships, including HMS ''Satellite''. Eventually four Lamalcha were hung for murder in Victoria and the Lamalcha village confiscated; that area is now home to the

Penelakut The Penelakut are a large (about 1000 individuals) Halkomelem language, Hul'qumi'num-speaking First Nations in Canada, First Nation. They live primarily on Penelakut Island (formerly Kuper Island) near the south end of Vancouver Island, and Galiano ...

and Kuper Island's

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." Ind ...

s are governed by the

Penelakut First Nation The Penelakut First Nation is the band government of the Penelakut people on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. A detailed account of the events leading to the Lamalcha War is provided by Chris Arnett in "Terror of the Coast - Land Alienation and on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands 1849 -1863.”

Political organization

Contemporary landclaim

In 2014 elders of the group filed a land claim in the BC Supreme Courts for large pieces of

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and Coal ...

and

, overlapping with claims of the Squamish and

Musqueam Nation The Musqueam Indian Band ( ; hur, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm ) is a First Nations band government in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the only First Nations band whose reserve community lies within the boundaries of the City of Vanco ...

s and others (this is common throughout BC). Currently the Hwlitsum Band is not yet recognized under the federal Indian Act. A letter of support for their cause was sent to the federal and provincial governments in 2007 by the

Union of BC Indian Chiefs The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is a First Nations political organization founded in 1969 in response to Jean Chrétien's White Paper proposal to assimilate Status Indians and disband the Department of Indian Affairs. Since ...

References

Arnett, C. (1999) Terror of the Coast - Land Alienation and on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands 1849 -186. Talon Books, Burnaby, BC. {{authority control Gulf Islands First Nations in British Columbia Coast Salish