Carrier (Native Americans of the Subarctic)

Carrier, from the French Porteur, originally from a Sekani word referring to the custom among certain bands for widows to carry their dead husbands’ bones on their backs in a birch-bark container. They called themselves Takulli ("People Who Go upon the Water") in the nineteenth century, apparently a word given to them from without. The people usually refer to themselves by the subtribe or band name.

The Carrier were strongly influenced by Northwest Coast tribes and were culturally similar to the Sekani and the Chilcotin. They are sometimes located by anthropologists in the Plateau culture area (see Chapter 5).

Location Carrier territory is the region of Eutsuk, Francis, Babine, and Stuart Lakes and the upper Skeena and Fraser Rivers in north-central British Columbia.

Population From perhaps 8,500 in the late eighteenth century, the Carrier population in the mid-1990s stood at about 9,800.

Language Carriers spoke dialects (lower, central, and upper) of a northern Athapaskan language.

Historical Information

History The Carrier may have originated east of the Rocky Mountains and were probably in their historic location for at least several centuries before contact with non-natives. Major epidemics began in the late eighteenth century, about the time they met the Scotch trader and explorer Alexander Mackenzie (1793).

Beginning in the late eighteenth century, the Carrier began to acquire iron and other items of non-native manufacture, first through coastal intermediaries such as the Gitksan (north) and Bella Coola (south) and then directly. With the growing value of interior animal (beaver, marten, and lynx) pelts, Carrier wealth increased with their ability to export these products. Carrier control of some local trade networks in the early nineteenth century allowed some chiefs to amass wealth and power. Some high-ranking people began to intermarry with Bella Coola and Gitksan families around this time, as Northwest Coast cultural influences became much more pronounced.


The first local trade fort (James) was built in 1806 at Stuart Lake. A quasi-Christian prophet movement arose among the Carrier beginning in the 1830s. An entire band was exterminated by smallpox in 1837. Catholic missionaries arrived in the 1840s. Penetration by miners, farmers, and ranchers from the mid-nineteenth century on led to increased disease and general problems for the Indians.

Another ramification of increased contact was the decline of the potlatching complex. Retention of material goods became more important than status gained by giving them away. Also, there was a growing need to accumulate items of non-native manufacture just to survive, so giving them away became difficult. The Catholic church also worked to eliminate potlatching

Wage work, such as ranch, guide, cannery, sawmill, and construction work, began to take the place of traditional subsistence activities. The Carrier were prevented by law from preempting land after 1866. The Canadian Pacific Railway, completed in 1885, bisects Carrier territory. Most reserves were created in the later nineteenth century, although additional ones were established in the early twentieth century. Subsistence activities were increasingly government regulated by then.

Another railway line, completed in 1914, led to an influx of settlers and speculators. Commercial mining and lumbering began in the early twentieth century. Lumbering, including clear-cutting, expanded sharply after World War II. In the 1970s, the Carrier began organizing politically over the chronically unresolved issues of native land title and rights.

Religion Traditional religious belief may have included recognition of a supreme deity in the sky. Most important were a host of supernatural beings, mostly animal based, with whom the people tried to communicate through fasting and dreams. Through their rituals, the people sought to gain the favor and power of these spiritual beings. The people also believed in life after death, perhaps in a land to the west. Some especially Tsimshian-influenced groups adopted a secret cannibal society.

Young men fasted and dreamed in remote places in an effort to attract a guardian spirit protector (optional in southern regions). Those with special power became shamans. These people could cure illness, although they themselves might be killed if a patient died. Shamans could also retrieve lost souls and forecast the future. Their gear included carved wooden masks, wood rattles, grizzly bear claw and beaver tooth necklaces, and cloaks.

Government Each of roughly 15 independent subtribes/regional bands was composed of one or more villages/local bands. The subtribes were associated with specific subsistence areas. In the south, leaders were heads of extended families who acted as spokesmen and subsistence coordinators. Shamans were also politically important in the south.

Roughly 20 hereditary matrilineal clans were the most important political unit in central and northern areas. They were divided into houses, which had hereditary chiefs who supervised subsistence areas, provided for the poor, and represented clan interests in councils.

Hereditary chiefs of up to five larger divisions came from constituent clans. These people controlled the various subsistence areas within the division and settled disputes. Hereditary village chiefs were leaders of the most important divisions. They consulted other leaders, such as the clan leaders within their division and the other divisional chiefs, before making important decisions.

Customs Society was divided into ranked, hereditary social classes of nobles, commoners, and a few slaves. Depending on specific location, descent could be through the mother’s or father’s line. Except on the Tsimshian border, commoners had the possibility of obtaining sufficient goods to give potlatches and attain the noble rank. The nobility had crests and defined privileges, such as specific seating at dances or the right to recount certain stories. Crests were displayed on totem poles, houses, and regalia. Crests, titles, and honors were considered clan property and could usually be bought and sold. These customs varied according to geographical location and the customs of neighboring tribes.

Trespass was considered a serious offense, but chiefs could often work out an arrangement or decide on appropriate compensation. The extended family was the main social and economic unit. Several related families made up a band, which might have one or more villages.

Potlatching occurred in the north. Feasts were given and presents distributed at important life-cycle events. The installation of a new chief was considered the most important occasion of all, requiring numerous potlatches. The entire potlatch complex became especially important from the late eighteenth century through the late nineteenth century.

Women were responsible for most domestic tasks, such as carrying water and firewood, cooking, tanning skins, and sewing clothing. Men made houses, tools, and weapons; fought; and acquired animal foods. Women gave birth in a specially constructed hut assisted by their husbands and/or other women. Names were taken from a hereditary stock, if available, or from dreams if not.

At adolescence, boys were encouraged to increase their level of physical activity, whereas girls were secluded and their activity restricted for up to two years. They were subject to numerous food and behavioral taboos and were considered marriageable after the end of their seclusion. Young women selected a mate with their parents’ assistance. The couple was engaged after the man gave valuable items to his prospective mother-in-law and married after the couple spent the night together at a later date. They lived with the woman’s parents for up to a year while the new husband helped provide for his new in-laws.

Corpses were cremated. Widows were expected to hold their husband’s burning body for as long as they could. In the east, women carried the charred bones of their husbands on their backs for several years.

Dwellings Semipermanent villages served as bases for hunting and fishing expeditions. Rectangular winter houses were built of pole frames covered with spruce bark. Gabled roofs extended to the ground. These houses held several families. Some southern groups built underground winter lodges similar to those of the Chilcotin and Shuswap.

Summer houses had low, plank walls and plank or bark gabled roofs. Some high-status men carved their crests into house pillars. Chiefs and their extended families lived in particularly large, semicommunal houses. There were also specialty menstrual, fishing, sweat, and smoking structures.

Diet Fish, especially salmon, was perhaps the most important item in the diet, although this was less true in the south. People fished through the ice for carp and other species. Fish was smoke dried and cached. Before the snow fell, men hunted caribou, mountain goats, and bear as well as smaller game such as beaver, marmot, and hare. Women gathered a number of roots, bulbs, greens, and berries.

Key Technology Cooking vessels were made of birch bark. To capture animals, men used bows with sinew strings; babiche nets; several types of snares, some strong enough to capture big game; and deadfalls. Caribou were also driven along fences into corrals. People fished using weirs, traps, wooden rakes, willow and alder bark and nettle-fiber nets, hooks, and harpoons. Wood was an important raw material, as were bone and hide. Pestles and axes were among the few stone tools. Fire was made with the fire drill.

A Carrier Indian fishes for salmon from a platform in the Hagwelet Canyon in 1927. Salmon was a mainstay in the Carrier diet.

A Carrier Indian fishes for salmon from a platform in the Hagwelet Canyon in 1927. Salmon was a mainstay in the Carrier diet.

Trade Important trade partners included the Gitksan and Bella Coola. The Carrier imported woven baskets from the Bella Coola, Chilcotin, and Shuswap; Chilkat blankets, cedar boxes, and stone labrets from the Tsimshian; and wooden cooking boxes, eulachon oil, shell ornaments, and copper bracelets from other coast tribes. There was also some intratribal trade. The people mainly exported prepared hides and furs.

Notable Arts Crests were carved, painted, and tattooed on house posts, graves, clothing, and bodies. Some groups erected totem poles.

Transportation Men made spruce- and birch-bark canoes as well as cottonwood dugouts. Goods were carried overland with the help of tumpline and backpacks. Snowshoes and toboggans arrived with the non-natives.

Dress Skin clothing consisted of robes, leggings, and moccasins, with fur caps and mittens added in colder weather. In warm weather, men sometimes went naked; women wore a knee-length apron. High-status men wore Chilkat blankets for special occasions, and similarly ranked northern women wore wooden labrets in their mouths. Other ornaments were made of dentalium, bone, and haliotis shell.

War and Weapons Weapons included the bow and arrow, spear, club, and knife. Some groups had "armor" made of wooden slats or moose hide covered with small pebbles; others used oval shields and a bow "bayonet."

Contemporary Information

Government/Reservations The Broman Lake Band owns 11 reserves with a total land area of 620 hectares. There were 144 members in the mid-1990s, of whom 69 lived on the reserves. A chief and councilors are elected according to custom. The band is affiliated with the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council.

The Burns Lake Band owns four reserves with a total land area of about 170 hectares. Band population was 72 in the mid-1990s, of whom 25 lived on the reserves. A chief and councilors are elected according to provisions of the Indian Act. The band is affiliated with the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council.

The Cheslatta Carrier Nation owns eight reserves with a total land area of 1,403 hectares. Population was 218 in the mid-1990s, 89 of whom lived on the reserves. A chief and councilors are elected according to custom. The nation is affiliated with the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council.

The Hagwilget Band owns two reserves with a total land area of 168.8 hectares. Population was 575 in the mid-1990s, of whom 207 lived on the reserves. A chief and councilors are elected according to provisions of the Indian Act. The band is affiliated with the Gitksan Wet’suwet’en Local Services Society.

The Kluskus Band owns 17 reserves with a total land area of 1,653 hectares. Population was 150 in the mid-1990s, of whom 68 lived on the reserves. A chief and councilors are elected according to custom. The band is affiliated with the Carrier-Chilcotin Tribal Council.

The Moricetown Band population was 1,437 in the mid-1990s, of whom 674 lived on the reserves. A chief and councilors are elected according to provisions of the Indian Act. The band is affiliated with the Gitksan Wet’suwet’en Local Services Society.

The Nadleh Whuten (formerly Fraser Lake) Band owns seven reserves with a total land area of 966 hectares. Population was 338 in the mid-1990s, of whom 197 lived on the reserves. A chief and councilors are elected according to provisions of the Indian Act. The band is affiliated with the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council.

The Nak’azdli (formerly Necoslie) Band owns 16 reserves with a total land area of 1,460 hectares. Population was 1,333 in the mid-1990s, of whom 545 lived on the reserves. A chief and councilors are elected according to custom. The band is affiliated with the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council.

The Nazko Band owns 18 reserves with a total land area of 1,844 hectares. Population was 261 in the mid-1990s, of whom 232 lived on the reserves. A chief and councilors are elected according to provisions of the Indian Act. The band is affiliated with the Carrier-Chilcotin Tribal Council.

The Nee-tahi-buhn (Moricetown) Band owns seven reserves with a total land area of 1,421 hectares. Population was 192 in the mid-1990s, of whom 66 lived on the reserves. A chief and councilors are elected according to custom. The band is affiliated with the Gitksan Wet’suwet’en Local Services Society.

The Red Bluff (formerly Quesnel) Band owns four reserves with a total land area of 683 hectares. Population was 109 in the mid-1990s, of whom 58 lived on the reserves. A chief and councilors are elected according to provisions of the Indian Act. The band is affiliated with the Carrier-Chilcotin Tribal Council.

The Stellat’en First Nation owns two reserves with a total land area of 834 hectares. Population was 297 in the mid-1990s, of whom 196 lived on the reserves. A chief and councilors are elected according to custom. The band is affiliated with the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council.

The Stony Creek Band owns ten reserves with a total land area of 3,236 hectares. Population was 706 in the mid-1990s, of whom 433 lived on the reserves. A chief and councilors are elected according to provisions of the Indian Act. The band is affiliated with the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council.

The Takla Lake Band owns 17 reserves with a total land area of 807 hectares. Population was 496 in the mid-1990s, of whom 254 lived on the reserves. A chief and councilors are elected according to custom.

The Tl’azt’en Nations owns 19 reserves with a total land area of 2,277 hectares. Population was 1,343 in the mid-1990s, of whom 922 lived on the reserves. A chief and councilors are elected according to custom. The band is affiliated with the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council.

The Ulkatcho Band owns 20 reserves with a total land area of 3,213 hectares. Population was 683 in the mid-1990s, of whom 513 lived on the reserves. A chief and councilors are elected according to custom. The band is affiliated with the Carrier-Chilcotin Tribal Council.

Economy Although fish and game have become much scarcer in recent years, there is still some trapping, fishing, and hunting and also some small farming. Pollution has spawned some opposition to the lumbering industry in spite of employment possibilities. There is also some railroad work and spot and seasonal work in local industries such as ranching, fisheries, and tourism. There are some small businesses. People also avail themselves of government assistance.

Legal Status The bands listed under "Government/ Reservations" are federally recognized tribal entities.

Daily Life Most Carriers today live in individual houses. Many still speak Carrier. Clans exist today, especially among northern and central groups, although they are vastly less important than they used to be. Potlatch privileges and responsibilities are rarely observed except among those groups nearest the Tsimshian people. Most people are Christian, at least nominally, although ancient beliefs linger as well, including the power of dreams and the efficacy of shamans. Children attend band and/or provincial and/or private schools.

Local anti-Indian sentiment remains deeply entrenched. Carrier bands along the Nechako River have strongly opposed the completion of a hydroelectric project, the initial stages of which created forced relocations and other hardships for the people beginning in the 1950s. Struggles also continue over issues such as land title and rights. One example is the development of the so-called Mackenzie Grease Trail, which continues against Indian wishes and portrays them (when they are not ignored entirely) as little more than tourist attractions. Members of the Cheslatta Nation are negotiating with Alcan Aluminum for unflooded portions of their former reserves.

Band facilities include offices and a community center (Broman Lake); offices (Burns Lake); offices, workshops, and a recreation hall (Cheslatta); offices, a community hall, a clinic, a nursery school, and a fire station (Hagwilget); a school (Kluskus); offices, a maintenance yard, a community hall, a fire station, a recreation center, a clinic, a school, and a store (Moricetown); offices, a school, a store, and a community hall (Nadleh Whuten); offices, a gymnasium, a school, a garage, and a crafts store (Nak’azdli); offices, a community hall, a workshop, a warehouse, and a nursery school (Nazko); offices, a community hall, a wood shop, and a fishery research station (Nee-tahi-buhn); offices, a barn, and a store (Red Bluff); offices and a community hall (Stallat’en); a store, a cultural center, a school, offices, a community hall, and elders’ and adult centers (Stony Creek); offices, a community hall, a clinic, and an elders’ center (Takla Lake); schools, clinics, offices, and a community hall (Tl’azt’en Nations); and offices, a store, a dormitory, and a school (Ulkatcho).

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