Cowichan << KOW ihch uhn >> are the largest First Nations band in the Canadian province of British Columbia . First Nations is the term used in Canada to describe the first peoples to live in the Americas. Today, about 3,800 Cowichan live on the southeastern coast of Vancouver Island.
As many as 15,000 Cowichan once lived in large villages along the Cowichan, Fraser, and Koksilah rivers. In the summer, many Cowichan lived in temporary shelters built from cedar planks bound with leather straps. They could easily dismantle these and move them to other locations. The Cowichan hunted sea mammals as well as deer and elk. In traps called weirs, they caught large numbers of salmon swimming up the rivers to breed. The Cowichan also collected food from plants.
European fur traders first encountered the Cowichan in the early 1800’s. Many Cowichan died from diseases carried by the Europeans, such as smallpox and measles. Settlers forced many other Cowichan off their lands. Through the Indian Act of 1876, the government of Canada sought to assimilate indigenous (native) people, integrating them into mainstream society. Cowichan people were forbidden by law to speak their native language and to follow many of their customs.
Most Cowichan people today live on one of nine reserves, land that is set aside for a people through treaty. The Cowichan Nation has its own tribal government administered by a chief and council.
