The ancestors of the Sinixt or Lakes People came 5000 years ago into the area. They had extensive trade routes to trade with other tribes.

They traveled by foot or with their unique sturgeon-nosed canoes, shaped after the sturgeon who was abundant in the rivers those days.

Photo: Nelson Museums and Archives

They moved in the area to several seasonal hunting and fishing camps. Their seasonal shelters were constructed of poles and woven reed mats.

Their permanent lodges were pit houses, pole buildings which were erected on 1 to 2 me round excavated ground.

They hunted caribou, fished and gathered wild plants for food and medicine.

The first white miners and settlers arrived at the end of the 19. century. They delivered smallpox and other diseases to the native people. Epidemics broke out and Sinixt people were dying in great numbers.

Most of the survivors fled the area and found home in the Coville Reservation in Washington State, US.

Canada recognized only a handful of Sinixt descendants and declared the Lakes people extinct when the last recognized one died

In 1987 road construction in the Slocan valley uncovered many artifacts, skeletal remains and pit-house remains.

Today Sinixt people try to get public attention to their cultural heritage.

They say: „ We are not allowed to have land, we are here to look after the land.“