The Cultural Significance of Simon Fraser’s ‘First Contact’

Image courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives
Before we can fully grasp the significance of Simon Fraser’s impact on the Fraser River’s Aboriginal Peoples, we must first be clear about something much more complex ... something that affects every aspect of human life. We must be clear about the word “culture”. The word scares some people. Its definition profoundly affects our understanding of ourselves as humans and as animals. Culture can be defined as “learned and transmitted behaviour”. The primary goal of culture is to develop a means to extract energy from the environment. Culture is reflected in how people use the opportunities provided by the environment. For example, agriculture does not exist in the Arctic. The environment simply does not provide that opportunity. This ecological view of culture helps us understand and appreciate why so many different cultures exist on earth. There are as many different cultures as there are different environments.

Two Types of Cultures Archaeology and history tell us that over the past millennia, humans have developed two distinctly different types of cultural patterns. The first of these patterns was people extracting energy or food from the environment within a natural context. These people collected food from the environment as it became available. This type of culture has been practiced for at least 2 million years and is commonly called hunting and gathering. Today there are few hunting and gathering cultures left on earth. Their cultural pattern has been largely replaced by a second pattern. This second cultural pattern works to modify the environment, and enhance the production and harvest of select food resources. These cultures represent the farmers, pastoralists, and industrial cultures which have developed within the last 15,000 years. Knowing this fact can help us understand the Aboriginal cultures of the Fraser River in a variety of new ways.

Image courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives

Geography Affects Culture We can look to the diverse geography of the Fraser River to help understand why the Aboriginal cultures along the river vary as they do. The length of the Fraser River traverses 4 large ecosystems: boreal forest, grasslands, canyon and estuary. Each of these ecosystems is defined through a variety of criteria that include plants, fish, animals, climate, and environment. In the past, each of these ecosystems offered hunting and gathering societies different opportunities for extracting food or energy. Just think of Prince George in February. It has a very different environment than Richmond. Where do you think you could gather more food from the environment in February? Way up in the northern interior in a place like Prince George or in the much warmer ocean flats of Richmond? Obviously the answer is Richmond.  

Cultural Growth and Adaptation For the past 2 million years, humans have continually adapted to their environment in increasingly complex ways. These increasingly complex adaptations have resulted in increasingly complex cultures. This complexity has seen an increase in populations, technology, and energy consumption. It has also seen a change in our relationship to the environment. As we have increased our cultural complexity, we have discovered and explored new ways of living, and these new ways of living can be grouped into stages.

Hunting and Gathering Cultures As a baseline, remember that, 15,000 years ago, everyone on earth participated in a hunting and gathering society and culture. There was quite a bit of variation within this cultural pattern, but every person in every culture collected and harvested food as it became available within the environment. The amount of food they collected was completely dependent on the environment. Their culture, religious beliefs, and settlement patterns reflected their understanding of and strong relationship to nature.

Agrarian Cultures 15,000 years ago, great ice floes receded, signalling the end of the ice age. The earth entered a period of warming and the environment stabilized. In certain places in the world, the environment provided an opportunity for cultures to cultivate plants and domesticate animals for food for the first time – instead of having to rely on hunting and gathering. This forever changed our relationship with the environment. It forever changed human cultures. This massive change is called the “agrarian revolution”. Humans were now able to modify their environments in order to increase and secure food resources. Agriculture provided excess food which allowed an increase in population, technology, social organization, and the birth of cities and civilization. The agrarian revolution witnessed a 10,000-fold increase in food availability and an accompanying population increase. I’m sure you can imagine how much more complex cultures would have to become with increases of this size.  

Industrial Cultures Starting in the late 18th century, we saw another massive change in cultural complexity: the industrial revolution. For the first time, human sweat and labour was replaced by machine labour, or industrial labour. Just think of how much more people could make, move, and modify from their environment with the help of machines! Just think about how much more complex these cultures had to become to manage this new industry, compared to the hunting and gathering cultures of a few thousand years before! With the industrial revolution, the earth witnessed its second 10,000-fold increase in population, consumption of raw materials, and development of technology. Western nations began competing for natural resources and the accumulation of wealth. This competition became a driving force pushing Europe to explore the world, looking for uncharted passages that could take them to trading centres faster than any other nation, passages that would make their nation wealthier (and therefore stronger) than the other nations. These powerful Western states adopted policies of imperialism, resulting in colonization and control of other nations, rich in resources, but technologically and industrially less developed. The competition between Western powers was fierce – deadly in fact – and the brave, adventure-seeking people leading these expeditions were motivated by visions of fame, wealth, and grandeur. Simon Fraser was one of these people. Around 1800, he led an expedition seeking a passage from the mountainous interior of what we now call British Columbia to the Pacific Ocean. He was an active member of a highly competitive, economically complex, industrial culture ... about to make contact and conflict with the Aboriginal hunting and gathering peoples of the Fraser River.

Fraser River Peoples Before Western Contact Before the European invasion, the hunting and gathering way of life had filled the landscape of British Columbia. The environment of British Columbia had reached its carrying capacity at least 4,000 years ago. The Aboriginal population of the Fraser River was at equilibrium with their environment. The culture of the Fraser River had developed a technology and social system to maximize their lifestyle. The Aboriginal people of the boreal forest were generalized hunters and gatherers. Their society was characterized by small and highly mobile communities that moved within a well-defined territory. The average community size would be 30 people. The people of the boreal forest spoke the Dakelh language. The Aboriginal people of the grasslands and canyons are characterized as complex societies. These people lived in semi-permanent, large village. The average community size was between 300 and 500 people. People utilized the salmon resources and surrounding plant resources. They produced surplus food that they stored for winter use and for trade. They spoke either the Secwepemc, Stl’atl’imc, or Nlaka’pamux language. The greatest density of Aboriginal people lived in the Fraser estuary and were characterized as affluent complex societies. They lived in permanent villages, had monumental art, sophisticated ceremonies, and a complex social organization. Their villages would commonly reach a population of 1000 people. These people spoke the Halq’emeylem language. Aboriginal Art gallery at: http://fraserjourney.ca/page/aboriginal-art-image-1

Image courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives

The Cultural Significance of Simon Fraser’s ‘First Contact’ It is difficult to imagine the meeting of the distinctively different Aboriginal and European cultures. European culture was based on the accumulation of capital over time (interest) and an industrial, literate society. For the past 8,000 years, European cultures had undergone transitions and associated growing pains as they moved from hunting and gathering economies to industrial economies. On the other hand, the Aboriginal cultures were either dedicated hunting and gathering economies or horticultural societies. Essentially, the Aboriginal cultures of North America represent what archaeologists refer to as Neolithic culture. Ironically, some of the cultural components that might seem “backward” or “weak” about Neolithic societies, in comparison to the European industrial tradition, are most prized in the 21st century: for instance, the Aboriginal cultures are characterized by self-sufficiency, environmental stewardship, as well a rich heritage of oral storytelling. Why were the Europeans traveling westward into British Columbia? There are two probable reasons for this westward push of Europeans into British Columbia. First, explorers Alexander Mackenzie and Simon Fraser were fur traders; they wanted to expand the fur trade network of the North West Company. Second, they wanted to find a secure and safe route to the Pacific Ocean. That is why both Mackenzie and Fraser initiated their explorations on the Fraser River. Imagine the meeting of Aboriginal and European cultures. One had technological advantages such as guns and metals, and the economic advantage of a global mercantile economy. Unquestionably one was more aggressive and dominant than the other. One must not forget that the Europeans had one other, albeit unintentional, advantage: they were immunized against smallpox and measles. The Aboriginal peoples were not, having had no exposure to these diseases. Between 1800 and 1900, it is estimated that the Aboriginal population of BC was reduced by at least 50% due to these diseases. The young and old were the first to die, and entire families and villages were wiped out. To survive, the Aboriginal peoples – and their cultures – had to adapt quickly and significantly to these changes. With Fraser’s journey came the introduction and establishment of an industrial-based, monetary-based economy in British Columbia. It was a collision of two, totally different cultural systems, with one dominating the other.