Skatin First Nation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Skatin First Nation are a band of the In-SHUCK-ch Nation, a small breakaway group of the larger St'at'imc people. Skatin, the St'at'imcets version of the Chinook Jargon Skookumchuck, is also known as Skookumchuck Hot Springs or, historically, St. Agnes' Well, is a few miles south of the outlet of Lillooet Lake and the town of Pemberton and the large reserve of the Lil'wat branch of the St'at'imc at Mount Currie. Other bands of the In-SHUCK First Nation are the nearby Samahquam and Xa'xtsa First Nations; the latter is located at Port Douglas, near the mouth of the Lillooet River where it enters the head of Harrison Lake. The N'Quatqua First Nation on Anderson Lake, between Mount Currie and Lillooet, was once also part of the In-SHUCK-ch Nation but it has since gone its own way.

The site of the hot springs was used by travellers on the old Douglas Road prior to the abandonment of that route, which briefly was the main access to the BC Interior from the Lower Mainland. In the later 19th Century the Oblate Fathers established a mission there and encouraged the native people in the surrounding wilderness to settle there. The Oblates instructed the natives in the art of church-building, and to this day stands a stunning example of the French-influenced style known as Indian Gothic, along with 300 or so mostly-empty houses. The population of Skookumchuck Hot Springs, aka Skatin, is less than 100 today.