Chinlac
Encyclopedia
Chinlac is the site of a former Carrier
village on the West bank of the Stuart River
about 1km upstream from its junction with the Nechako River
. Oral tradition considers it to have been one of the major Carrier settlements. The site is strategically located at a shallow point in the river where a weir could easily be used to harvest running salmon. The remain of the weir can still be seen from the meadow.
Chinlac is an anglicization of Carrier
Chunlak, itself a contraction of duchun nidulak "logs customarily float to a point", which describes the way in which driftwood accumulates in the shallows where the weir was built.
According to oral tradition, the village was destroyed around 1745 by Chilcotin
raiders from Nazko. (Although Nazko is now a Carrier village, it was Chilcotin at the time.) The meadow contains the traces of 13 lodges. In the surrounding bush are the remains of hundreds of cache pits.
One lodge site was excavated in 1951-1952 by a team led by Charles E. Borden. Among other things, he found a Sung Dynasty (960-1127CE) Chinese coin, indicating the existence of trade with the Pacific Coast if not Asia prior to European contact.
Dakelh
The Dakelh or Carrier are the indigenous people of a large portion of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada.Most Carrier call themselves Dakelh, meaning "people who go around by boat"...
village on the West bank of the Stuart River
Stuart River
The Stuart River is a river in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The river flows over from Stuart Lake to its junction with the Nechako River. The river drains a portion of the Nechako Plateau — a gently-rolling region characterized by small lakes and tributaries...
about 1km upstream from its junction with the Nechako River
Nechako River
The Nechako River arises on the Nechako Plateau east of the Kitimat Ranges of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia and flows north toward Fort Fraser, then east to Prince George where it enters the Fraser River...
. Oral tradition considers it to have been one of the major Carrier settlements. The site is strategically located at a shallow point in the river where a weir could easily be used to harvest running salmon. The remain of the weir can still be seen from the meadow.
Chinlac is an anglicization of Carrier
Carrier language
The Carrier language is a Northern Athabaskan language. It is named after the Dakelh people, a First Nations people of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, for whom Carrier is the usual English name. People who are referred to as Carrier speak two related languages. One,...
Chunlak, itself a contraction of duchun nidulak "logs customarily float to a point", which describes the way in which driftwood accumulates in the shallows where the weir was built.
According to oral tradition, the village was destroyed around 1745 by Chilcotin
Chilcotin
Chilcotin, meaning "people of the red ochre river" may refer to:*The Tsilhqot'in , an Athabaskan First Nations people of British Columbia, Canada*Chilcotin language, the language spoken by the Tsilhqot’in...
raiders from Nazko. (Although Nazko is now a Carrier village, it was Chilcotin at the time.) The meadow contains the traces of 13 lodges. In the surrounding bush are the remains of hundreds of cache pits.
One lodge site was excavated in 1951-1952 by a team led by Charles E. Borden. Among other things, he found a Sung Dynasty (960-1127CE) Chinese coin, indicating the existence of trade with the Pacific Coast if not Asia prior to European contact.