Sinixt in the Slocan: The Last 3,000 Years

Although unknown until recently by the settler society that displaced them in the 19th century, the Sinixt have lived in the Slocan Valley for the last 3,000 years, perhaps much longer. Drawing on recent archaeological investigations and up-to-date historical knowledge, the Slocan History Series has released its eighth booklet, Sinixt in the Slocan: The Last 3,000 Years. The booklet is divided into three sections written by four authors. In Part 1, archaeologists Nathan Goodale and Alissa Nauman of Hamilton College, New York state, report on the results of their on-site investigations at Slocan Narrows since these began in 2000. Their excavations reveal a cluster of pit houses most likely used as a “multi-seasonal and winter home for many people for a great many generations” over three millennia. Interestingly, samples of basalt and obsidian provide evidence the Sinixt were linked with wider First Nations trade networks across North America. “These materials probably made their way to Slocan Narrows through extended trading networks in which goods passed through many hands rather than by means of the seasonal movement of people,” conclude Goodale and Nauman.