The Thompson Indians are also known as Ntlakyapamuk.
Location The Thompson Indian homeland is the Fraser, Thompson, and Nicola River Valleys in southwest British Columbia.
Population The late-eighteenth-century Thompson population was about 5,000. It was approximately 5,700 in 1995.
Language Thompson is a dialect of the Interior division of the Salishan language family.
Historical Information
History Several trading companies became established in Thompson country following the initial visit of non-Indians in about 1809. Miners flooded in after an 1858 gold strike, taking over land, disrupting subsistence patterns, and generally forcing the Indian population to the brink of ruin. Disease, too, took a heavy toll during the nineteenth century, killing as many as 70 percent of the precontact Indian population. The government of British Columbia confined the Thompson Indians to reserves in the late nineteenth century.
Religion Guardian spirits, acquired in youth through fasting and seclusion, provided luck and various skills. Shamans cured illness with the help of their especially powerful spirits. Thompson Indians celebrated the arrival of the season’s first salmon as well as the Ghost or Circle Dance.
Government Thompson Indians recognized two geographical divisions, located downstream and upstream of about the location of Cisco on the Fraser River. Within the divisions, bands were autonomous, consisted of related families, and were led by hereditary chiefs whose powers were largely advisory. A council of older men wielded real authority.
Customs The girls’ puberty rite consisted of daily prayers, bathing, and rubs with fir branches. The dead were buried in sand pits or rock slides; graves were marked with stakes or posts. People’s former ornaments and tools were buried with them. In a reflection of their cultural proximity to Northwest Coast people, slavery was hereditary among the Thompson.
Dwellings In winter, people lived in circular, earth-covered pole-frame lodges built in pits. Each lodge was about 20-40 feet in diameter and could hold between 15 and 30 people. Entry was gained via a notched ladder inserted through the smoke hole. In summer, people used oblong or circular lodges consisting of rush mats over a pole frame. Both men and women used domed sweat houses for purification. Sweat houses were also homes for youths during their spirit quest period.
Diet Thompson Indians subsisted on the typical Plateau diet of fish, especially salmon; some large and small game; and plant foods that included many roots, berries, and nuts (especially camas and bitterroot).
Key Technology Men caught fish by using weirs, seine nets, traps, dip nets, and hook and line. They also carved soapstone (steatite) pipes. Bows were often made of juniper. Women made cedar-root or birch-bark baskets decorated with geometric designs, as well as birch and spruce bark containers. Some were woven tight enough to hold water. Women also wove blankets of goat wool or strips of rabbit fur, and they sewed tule mats with Indian hemp cord. Digging sticks featured antler or wood cross-handles. Other tools and utensils were also made of stone, antler, and bone.
Trade Thompson Indians traded especially with the Okanagon, Lake, Colville, and Sanpoil people. They received dentalium shell from north of Vancouver Island, across the mountains, and down the Fraser River.
Notable Arts Women made fine baskets decorated with geometric motifs and natural dyes. The Thompson people developed a distinctive form of "negative" body painting, which involved removing pigment from a painted surface. Deer jaws were used to scratch parallel lines.
Transportation Thompson men made both birch-bark and dugout canoes. Snowshoes were worn in winter. Horses arrived around the mid- to late eighteenth century.
Dress Traditionally, most clothing, such as breechclouts, ponchos, skirts, and robes, was made from cedar bark and fur. Dressed skin clothing, including leggings, breechclouts, and tunics, probably reflected the later influence of the Great Plains. Moccasins were generally plain. Women wove robes of rabbit skin or goat wool. Fringe, bone, teeth, and shell decoration was used on some items. Personal decorations included jewelry of dentalium shell, bone and animal teeth, and face paint. Men wore long looped necklaces, often decorated with abalone shell. Women tended to wear abalone in their braids.
War and Weapons Thompsons selected temporary war chiefs, as needed. Stuwiks were a traditional enemy until the Thompsons absorbed them by about 1800, although the people also fought regularly with other Salishan groups. Weapons used in regular raiding included the bow and arrow; spears; wood, bone, or stone clubs; bone daggers; and wooden slat armor.
Contemporary Information
Government/Reservations Thompson Indians are organized into roughly 16 bands located on about 200 reserves in British Columbia. Their total land base is roughly 42,500 hectares. See band profiles under "Daily Life" (all statistics are as of 1995).
Economy Wage labor and basket sales complement farming, hunting, fishing, and gathering.
Legal Status All of the bands discussed under "Daily Life" are federally and provincially recognized.
Daily Life The Boston Bar Band, originally the Koia’um Village, controls 12 reserves on 609 hectares of land. The reserves were allotted in 1878. The population is 182, of whom 64 live in 20 houses on the reserves. Elections are held according to the provisions of the Indian Act, and the band is affiliated with the Nlaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council. Children attend provincial schools. Important economic resources include a campsite.
The Boothroyd Band, formerly known as Chomok Band, controls 19 reserves on 1,122 hectares of land. The population is 244, of whom 84 live in 29 houses on the reserves. Elections are held according to the provisions of the Indian Act, and the band is affiliated with the Nlaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council. Children attend provincial schools. Facilities include a church.
The Cook’s Ferry Band controls 24 reserves on 4,048 hectares of land. The reserves were allotted in 1878. The population is 267, of whom 75 live on the reserves. Elections are held according to custom, and the band is currently unaffiliated. Children attend provincial schools. Important economic activities include ranching. Facilities include a community hall, a fire station, and a garage.
The Kanaka Bar Band (formerly part of the Lytton Band) was originally composed of gold miners from the Hawaiian Islands. The Kanakas were employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company, which had established a trading post in Honolulu in 1834. Many Hawaiians traveled on company ships to the Northwest Coast. Some stayed, especially to mine gold, and intermarried with the Native Americans. The band controls six reserves on 229 hectares of land. The reserves were allotted in 1881. The population is 147, of whom 55 live in seven houses on the reserves. Elections are held according to custom, and the band is affiliated with the Fraser Canyon Indian Administration. Children attend provincial schools. Silviculture is an important economic activity.
The Lower Nicola Band controls nine reserves on 7,096 hectares of land. The reserves were allotted in 1878. The population is 807, of whom 470 live in 121 houses on the reserves. Elections are held according to the provisions of the Indian Act, and the band is affiliated with the Nicola Valley Tribal Council. Children attend band and provincial schools. Important economic activities and resources include an irrigation system, cattle ranching, logging/forest products, and small businesses. Facilities include a community hall, a church, and a cultural club.
The Lytton Band controls 54 reserves on 5,980 hectares of land near the Fraser and Thorpe Rivers. The reserves were allotted in 1881. The population is 1,480, of whom 714 live in 228 houses on the reserves. Elections are held according to the provisions of the Indian Act, and the band is affiliated with the Nklaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council. Children attend band and provincial schools. Important economic activities and resources include a hardware store, a motel, and individual ranches and businesses. Facilities include a community hall, a seniors’ home, a group home, a womens’ shelter, and an arts and crafts store.
The Neskonlith Band, a South Thompson band, is located six kilometers south of Chase, British Columbia. The reserve was allotted in 1877. The population is 499, of whom 223 live in 54 houses on the reserves. Elections are held according to the provisions of the Indian Act, and the band is affiliated with the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council. Children attend band and provincial schools. Important economic activities and resources include a development corporation, a demonstration farm and silviculture program, and small farms and businesses. Facilities include a community hall, a fire station, and a church.
The Nicomen Band controls 15 reserves on 1,175 hectares of land. The population is 85, of whom 53 live in 14 houses on the reserves. Elections are held according to the provisions of the Indian Act, and the band is affiliated with the Fraser Canyon Indian Administration. Children attend provincial schools. Important economic activities and resources include ranches.
The Nooaitch Band controls two reserves on 1,693 hectares of land. The reserves were allotted in 1878. The population is 171, of whom 116 live in 27 houses on the reserves. Elections are held according to the provisions of the Indian Act, and the band is affiliated with the Nicola Valley Tribal Council. Children attend provincial schools. Important economic activities and resources include small businesses. Facilities include offices, a church, and a fish hatchery.
The North Thompson Band controls five reserves on 1,521 hectares of land 24 kilometers north of Barnere. The reserves were allotted in 1877. The population is 512, of whom 217 live in 71 houses on the reserves. Elections are held according to the provisions of the Indian Act, and the band is affiliated with the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council. Children attend band and provincial schools. Important economic activities and resources include a feed lot, haying, logging, a fish hatchery, farming, a construction company, and a sawmill. Facilities include offices, a recreation hall, a women’s club, a church, and an elders’ home.
The Oregon Jack Creek Band controls six reserves on 823 hectares of land 17.5 kilometers west of Cache Creek. The reserves were allotted in 1878. The population is 49, of whom 11 live in six houses on the reserves. Elections are held according to custom, and the band is affiliated with the Nlaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council. Important economic activities and resources include cattle and hay ranching.
The Shakan Band controls two reserves on 3,874 hectares of land. The reserves were allotted in 1878. The population is 112, of whom 68 live in 22 houses on the reserves. Elections are unofficially held according to custom as well as according to the provisions of the Indian Act. The band is affiliated with the Nicola Valley Tribal Council. Children attend band and provincial schools. Important economic activities and resources include a campground and individual ranches. Facilities include a community hall and a church.
The Siska Band controls 11 reserves on 319 hectares of land. The reserves were allotted in 1876. The population is 231, of whom 78 live in 24 houses on the reserves. Elections are held according to custom, and the band is currently unaffiliated. Children attend band and provincial schools. Important economic activities and resources include a grocery store and a convenience store. Facilities include a community hall and offices.
The Skuppah Band controls eight reserves on 211 hectares of land. The population is 56, of whom 40 live in 12 houses on the reserves. Elections are held according to custom, and the band is affiliated with the Fraser Canyon Indian Administration. Children attend band and provincial schools. Important economic activities and resources include livestock, a cafe-restaurant, and individual hay and cattle ranches. Facilities include a community hall.
The Spuzzum Band controls 16 reserves on 636 hectares of land. The population is 152, of whom 37 live in 13 houses on the reserves. Elections are held according to custom, and the band is affiliated with the Fraser Canyon Indian Administration. Children attend provincial schools. Important economic activities and resources include an individual backhoe business. Facilities include offices.
The Upper Nicola Band (Thompson and Okanagon) controls eight reserves on 12,503 hectares of land. The reserves were allotted in 1878. The population is 715, of whom 431 live in 96 houses on the reserves. Elections are held according to custom, and the band is affiliated with the Nicola Valley Tribal Council. Children attend band and provincial schools. Important economic activities and resources include a store, a gas station, a cattle company, and individual small businesses. Facilities include offices, a hotel, a community hall, and a church.
