The T'sou-ke Nation of the Coast Salish peoples, is a band government whose reserve community is located on Vancouver Island, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. In February 2013, the T'sou-ke Nation had 251 registered members, with two reserves around the Sooke Basin on the Strait of Juan de Fuca at the southern end of Vancouver Island, with a total area of 67 hectares (165 acres). The T'Souk-e people are the namesake of the town of Sooke, British Columbia and its surrounding harbour and basin.
Etymology
The name "T'Sou-ke" is derived from the Sook tribe of Straits Salishans. Their name was derived from the SENĆOŦEN language word T'Sou-ke, the name of the species of Stickleback fish that live in the estuary of the river. The T'Sou-ke came into contact with Europeans through the Hudson's Bay Company. The anglicized version of the SENĆOŦEN word was first Soke (pronounced "soak") and then Sooke. The name of T'Sou-ke Nation's neighbouring town, river and basin and the main road, are based on the anglicized name, Sooke.
Language
The language of the T'Sou-ke Nation is the T'Sou-ke dialect of the SENĆOŦEN (which linguists call Northern Straits Salish) of the Coast Salish languages, a subgroup of the Salishan language family. Chief Planes states, "At one time all our people spoke the language and it was not English. It was SENĆOŦEN, the language that we share with our neighbours at Scia'new and others around Victoria and Saanich." No one is currently fluent in the language, but language initiatives are encouraged using current technology, including online tools such as First Voices.
"The First Nations that speak this language do not have a single name for the language. Instead, there is a different name for the language in each dialect: SENĆOŦEN, Malchosen, Lekwungen, Semiahmoo, and T’Sou-ke...These five dialects are spoken by the W̱SÁNEĆ (Saanich) peoples and their closely related neighbours from the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, the Gulf and San Juan Islands, southern Vancouver Island and the southern edge of the Lower Mainland in British Columbia." This locations are marked on the First Peoples' Language Map British Columbia. Language: SENĆOŦEN Malchosen Lekwungen Semiahmoo T’Sou-ke
History
The Sook tribe of Straits Salishans were nearly annihilated in a combined attack of the Cowichans, Clallums and Nitinahts launched about 1848. The people were exposed to Europeans relatively early by association with the Hudson's Bay Company. The nation is a signatory to the Douglas Treaties. When British Columbia joined Canada in 1871, the Province did not recognize Aboriginal title and no further treaties were made. However, "the Province did accept the rights of Aboriginal people as written in the Canadian Constitution and recognized the federal government’s authority to make laws for Aboriginal people and their lands." Accordingly, the existing reserves were allotted by the Joint Reserve Commission in 1877.
Treaty negotiations
The T'Sou-ke Nation is represented by the Te'mexw Treaty Association along with four other Coast Salish First Nations. They entered the B.C. treaty process in 1995.
On 26 February 2013 T'Sou-ke Nation and the Province of British Columbia signed an Incremental Treaty Agreement (ITA). An ITA is a legally-binding pre-treaty agreement negotiated between the Province of British Columbia and First Nations at a treaty negotiation table. ITAs are intended to build trust among the parties, create incentives to reach further milestones and provide increased certainty over land and resources. The province reports that "negotiations are making steady progress and have successfully resolved a number of difficult issues that include governance, land, resources and fiscal matters." The negotiations are at stage 4, Agreement-in-Principle.
The Te'mexw Treaty Association reports that the ITA is a multi-year agreement that includes the transfer of two side-by-side 60-hectare parcels of Crown land located at Broom Hill within the nation's traditional territory in the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area. The land transfers are intended to provide the T'Sou-ke Nation with forestry and light industrial development opportunities that support employment and new sources of revenue. The lands will be held in fee simple by the T'Sou-ke Nation, under a First Nation-designated company, and will be subject to the same federal and provincial laws and municipal bylaws and regulations as with any other privately held property.