This geocache is part of the Gold Country GeoTour – The Prequel: Be A Guest. This GeoTour focuses on a step back in time to learn about before the Gold Rush ensued: languages of the region’s culturally diverse families, handed down traditions such as recipes, flora and fauna, historic sites of significance, and points of interest. These stories will help preserve the oral languages and traditions of the region as well as assist in educating visitors and locals alike to the cultural diversity and environmental sensitivity of the region.
Those Red Hills
672 metres
Current day Red Hill Rest stop is a convenient pull off for travelers along the Fraser Canyon. It boasts several car charging options, space for picnicking, well maintained public washrooms, and a display of local cultural history. This rest stop is located at the base of Red Hill Peak. In 1974 Bethlehem Copper Corporations explored Red Hill including soil surveys.
However, long before the days of cars, or even wagons of the Gold Rush Era, this land was occupied by first peoples known as Nlaka'pamux. Their precontact name means (we are the people who are living along the pure river). It wasn't until colonization that the Nlaka'pamux were referred to as the "Thompson Indians" as David Thompson was credited for "Discovering" this nation of peoples.
This Indigenous group has a long and storied history in the Fraser Canyon. The Nlaka'pamux, also known as the Thompson people, have lived in the Fraser Canyon for millennia. The canyon was an important travel corridor for the Nlaka'pamux. It was a place where different Indigenous groups could come together and trade. Along the way various flora was gathered for preserving for medicines and foods. On the South and West side slope of the Red Hill Peak, the Bitter Root grows, and one can see the Clear Mountain Range to the left. Here we can only imagine what plateau would have been like as much of early written accounts on traditional ways of life was in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of these works by Teit, or Boaz were carefully written, however much of the traditional aboriginal ways had already been tremendously impacted by early fur traders.
The Plateau communities transmitted traditional information in an oral tradition. The narrative of a community's past was passed on from generation to generation, with intricate details of events and people included. The language and context of the tale were essential elements of its meaning and significance. Coyote, the trickster-creator persona, is involved in a complex cycle of tales that frequently include humorous and bawdy episodes. Oral traditions are naturally connected, therefore contemporary language revitalization efforts among Plateau peoples also tend to emphasize the significance of oral traditions.
Songs were essential in Plateau society, and they were used to summon religious and magical powers. Wooden flutes, deer rattles, and hide-covered wooden-frame drums were all played at times. The stick-game song, which is typically sang while playing a gambling game, is still well known, and often performed today. So, the next time you are stopping at Red Hill rest stop to recharge during your travels, let your mind wander back to the times of the first peoples.
Researched by Misty Antoine and written by Brandy Cooper-Chardon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nlaka%27pamux
https://mapcarta.com/W808130884
https://opentextbc.ca/preconfederation/chapter/2-4-the-millennia-before-contact/
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aboriginal-people-plateau