Carrier

Carrier refers to Athapaskan or DENE groups of over 10 000 in north-central British Columbia. Their name (Carrier, Porteur) derives from the former custom of widows carrying the ashes of a deceased husband in a bag for about a year, at which time a ceremonial distribution of goods released her of the obligation. The Carrier also call themselves Dakelh and add the suffixes -xwoten, "people of" or -t'en, "people" to village names or locations to refer to specific groups (eg, Tl'azt'en, Wet'suwet'en). Carrier winter villages were mainly located at the outlets of lakes, the confluence of rivers or adjacent to strategic river canyons. Linguistically the Carrier are Athapaskan and comprise 3 major subgroupings based on differences in dialect and culture: Upper Carrier or Babine, located along the Bulkley River and Babine Lake in the Skeena River watershed; Central Carrier in the Stuart Lake and Fraser Lake basins in the Fraser River watershed; and Lower Carrier in the Blackwater River region.

Keywords

Native Tribes

Social Organization

Lower Carrier social organization was based on bilateral kinship groups centered around extended families consisting of brothers, their wives and children, and married sons' families. Each group (known as a sedeku) was associated with a hunting territory and fishing and gathering sites. Upper and Central Carrier had matrilineal descent groups or clans associated with resource-use areas (known as keyoh) and fishing sites. Heads of kinship groups and clans were known as deneza. POTLACHES, the ceremonial distribution of goods and food, were held by clans to commemorate deaths, the inheritance of names and other special occasions. Members of each community are connected by extensive kinship ties which serve as a framework for the inheritance of traplines and the exchange of goods and services.

Economic Organization

The traditional economy of the Carrier was based on fishing (especially salmon and lakefish), hunting large and small game (caribou until the mid-1800s, moose after about 1900, bear, marmots and beaver), and gathering (berries and plants). Salmon fishing was carried out by using weirs across river mouths or gaffing salmon along rivers. The Carrier also had extensive trade ties with neighbouring groups such as NUXALK (Bella Coola), GITKSAN and SEKANI. After the establishment of fur trade posts in the Carrier area in the early 1800s (eg, FORT ST. JAMES at Stuart Lake in 1806), the Carrier traded salmon and furs to fur-trading companies (NORTH WEST CO until 1821; the HUDSON'S BAY CO after 1821). Oblate missionaries established a mission at Stuart Lake in 1873 and discouraged potlatches and other customs. Because of the mission and trading post located at Stuart Lake, Fort St. James became an important centre for seasonal gatherings of Carrier from throughout the region.

Influences on Carrier Economy and Population

After completion of a railway in the area in 1914, the Carrier became involved in logging and seasonal wage labour while maintaining hunting, trapping and fishing activities. This pattern remains important. A number of changes had an impact on the Carrier economy and population. By 1911 weirs had been banned from use on salmon streams in the Fraser River and Skeena River watersheds; in 1913-14 rock slides in the Hells Gate section of the Fraser River severely reduced the amount of salmon reaching the Stuart Lake and Fraser Lake area, resulting in increased use of lakefish, hunting and trapping. Diseases such as smallpox and measles in the 1800s and influenza in 1918 reduced the Carrier populations, which reached a low point in the late 1920s. INDIAN RESERVES were allocated in 1871 and in the 1890s.

In the 1980s the westernmost Carrier groups, the Wet'suwet'en along with the Gitksan of the Skeena River, went to court for recognition of aboriginal title in what is known as the Delgamuukw court case (see ABORIGINAL RIGHTS). The Carrier population was over 10 000 in about 17 named groups (1996).

Author DOUGLAS HUDSON

Links to Other Sites

Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples
The website for the "Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples." Click on the links for feature articles about Canada's many multicultural communities, access to their extensive digital archives collection, learning modules, and much more. From "Multicultural Canada."

Languages of Canada
A comprehensive online database of languages currently in use in Canada. Also provides details about extinct languages. Check out the "language maps" for more information. Based on "Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition." From SIL International, a US website.

Fort St James National Historic Site
This Parks Canada website chronicles the history of the 19th century Hudson’s Bay Company post located on Stuart Lake in British Columbia. Also discusses the relationship between local Carrier communities and European fur traders.