Sumas First Nation

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The Sumas First Nation (Halkomelem: Sema:th[1] Sumalh or Sumas Indian Band is a band government of the Sto:lo people located in the Upper Fraser Valley region, at the community of Kilgard a.k.a. Upper Sumas, part of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada.[2] They are a member government of the Sto:lo Nation tribal council.

The group occupies the region near the Sumas Prairie, and historically used Sumas Lake as "our supermarket, our shopping center," before it was drained by colonial authorities who wanted to farm the land underneath. When the lake was drained, the First Nation was pushed onto a nearby reserve so that settlers could use the fertile soil underneath the lake. The First Nation occupies higher ground near the Prairie, not the prairie on the lakebed itself, so they did not have to evacuate when the former lake flooded during the November 2021 Pacific Northwest floods.[3]

Before 1962 they were known as Sumas (Kilgard). Other previous names include: Nicomen Slough, Somass River, Sumas Tribe. Their reserve land area covers 245.3 hectares[4] and has a population of 332.[5] The First Nation band council runs a number of businesses including Semath Industries.

See Also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Sumas First Nation website, Q&A page
  2. ^ Indian and Northern Affairs Canada First Nation Detail
  3. ^ "Sumas First Nation chief reflects on 'disaster' B.C. flooding where lake used to be | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
  4. ^ [1][dead link]
  5. ^ "Sumas First Nation - Province of British Columbia". .gov.bc.ca. Retrieved 2022-02-19.

External links[]


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