Meanskinisht Church Painting by Emily Henrietta Woods from Private Collection – Susan Tomlinson Durbin – used with permission
The village of Meanskinisht, as it was first named when settled, and is now so named again, is unique in British Columbia (BC) and perhaps in Canada. During the latter half of the 19th century the BC government was in the process of establishing reserves for all Indigenous people. The purpose of these reserves was to set aside very small tracts of land for Indigenous and leave the majority of the land available for the settlers. Meanwhile, setters had started the process of pre-emption of land. Pre-emption of land is where a settler could gain ownership of the land from the federal/provincial government for agriculture purposes (it usually involved a requirement to improve and cultivate the land). Meanskinisht, established in 1888, is the only place in BC that was established as a combined village of both Indigenous and settlers with Indigenous leasing, then owing their land. It was also not the same as Hudson Bay Company’s establishment of the Red River Settlement where they purposely encouraged their lower-class trappers to inter-marry with the Indigenous for economic gain and diplomatic alliances, which resulted in the Métis.
Location of Meanskinisht in British Columbia. Department of Lands (Canada). (1912) Map of the province of British Columbia. 1912., 1 : 2,217,600. https://www.davidrumsey.com.
This page is a review of the genealogical sources that are available for Meanskinisht from the establishment of the village to the latest census available for Canada (1888-1931). I completed the review as part of my course work in the Post-Graduate Diploma in Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies. I thought the information was informative and decided to create a page with the information.
Canadian National Railways. CN Pacific Railway lines. https://www.davidrumsey.com
Reviewing the genealogical records available for Meanskinisht not only tells us the history of the village, but broadens our understanding of the history of white settlers and colonial authority in BC. Although this village was established to be integrated, the overseeing authorities of church and state did not have the same view. This can be shown by the similarities and differences in how genealogical documents were kept for the settlers versus Indigenous populations. The settler population is referenced through the Tomlinson family who were the first white settlers there and remained in the community until the 1970s.
Some terms for First Nations or Indigenous people that were used in historical documents are now considered derogatory. In this report, where possible, I have replaced those terms with Indigenous.
Establishment
The first church at Meanskinisht. Private collection – Susan Tomlinson Durbin – used with permission
Prior to the coming of the settlers, this area from time immemorial was called Gitlusec by the Indigenous who were there.
In 1887 and 1888 the measles epidemic was rampant in the Skeena valley, and this led to a major decline in Indigenous population, and by the spring of 1888 the area had almost no inhabitants. This worked well for Robert Tomlinson when he was looking for a place to begin his new mission and he was granted the use of the land from a Gitxsan chief.
Tomlinson had been a missionary for the Church Mission Society (CMS) arriving in northern BC in 1867. The CMS was a British Anglican mission society aimed at bringing religion to Indigenous societies around the world. The North Pacific Mission (British Columbia) was started by William Duncan whom Robert worked closely with after his arrival. During the latter half of the 1880s, Robert broke with the church, argued with government officials regarding the rights for Indigenous to own their own land, and ultimately decided to establish his own community.
The 1880s were turbulent times in BC and particularly in the northwest. Trutch’s policies on the establishment of reserves did not lead to easy relations between the Indigenous and settlers. Incidents like the Skeena River uprising increased tension between the Indigenous and the white settlers. However, the relations between Tomlinson and the Indigenous were good and Meanskinisht was founded by the Tomlinson family – including Robert, Alice and their six children – plus eight Indigenous including one child.
The community was founded on religious principles and so strict were the inhabitants of the village in following these rules that Meanskinisht earned the nickname the Holy City.
Property
Land pre-empted by Tomlinsons: Robert Tomlinson Jr C.G. 2430/83. (1897) 20 chains to 1 inch. https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/gator/crowngrantdetail.do?grantId=008936 : accessed 27 October 2024. Robert Tomlinson Senior C.G. 2439/83. (1897) 20 chains to 1 inch. https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/gator/crowngrantdetail.do?grantId=008946 : accessed 27 October 2024.
About one-half of the land pre-empted by Robert Tomlinson senior was then leased back to the Indigenous for 999‑year leases of $1.00 per year. It would be 1948 in BC and 1951 federally before Indigenous were permitted to pre-empt land in BC. After Robert’s death, the leases were cancelled and the Indigenous were able to purchase the land at that time for the costs of getting the leases cancelled and the land surveyed.
To ensure no-one had an excuse for not coming to church, Robert built his house the farthest distance from the church.
Population
Census records are available through Ancestry and through the Library and Archives Canada website. However, they are not complete and often contain errors.
On the 1891 census information regarding the actual location of people does not survive. However, schedule 1, which contains the names, is available. The locations of people were When reviewing information contained in the census, we find that only those living in Meanskinisht were labelled as “Christian”. All others names in the census were allocated a specific religion such as Church of England, Lutheran or Roman Catholic. Therefore, we are able to determine who lived in the village for that year.
On the 1901 census, the Indigenous at Meanskinisht do not appear to be counted at Meanskinisht, However, they may have been included with those listed as living at Kitwangah, a nearby reservation. Again, with this census, it is difficult to determine where exactly people were living. For example, the Tomlinsons were enumerated with many others living in the Lorne Creek area generally.
In the next three censuses that are available to us the settlers and the Indigenous were enumerated separately, the latter by the Indian Agent. These are included in two separate divisions, so each must be searched.
In Meanskinisht. the Indigenous population was fluid. People might come for a while to learn (both religion and general schooling) from Robert and then go back to their own villages. This is evidenced in 1901 census as only three of the structures were made of wood and permanent in nature with the remainder being classed as shanties.
Excerpt of 1891 census. First line Robert Tomlinson’s wood house with 5 rooms, second line Elizabeth Stuart’s shanty.
The community did not expand or contract to the extent that many of the boom-and-bust mining towns during that time period. However the population did definitely fluctuate over the years.
Early BC directories are available on the Vancouver Public Library site. Many of the early directories of BC do not provide any information about northern BC other than a general description of the area. Some do provide overall population numbers that give us a picture of the population swings between censuses.
Although it appears that the directories are counting Indigenous, there are no Indigenous men’s names listed in the directory until 1927.
Table 1. Population totals from censuses & directories
Religion
1910 Church at Meanskinisht Private Collection – Susan Tomlinson Durbin – used with permission
Despite starting Meanskinisht based on Christian principles with no church affiliation, most of the residents of the community adhered to a religious denomination by the 1911 census. The affiliations changed over the years. Richard Tomlinson became a became a Salvationist and Robert Jr. a Methodist.
It should be noted that, although the 1921 census indicates various denomination, on both the 1911 and 1931 census all Indigenous are listed as the same denomination. This may be a result of lazy enumeration.
It can be very difficult to locate church records for BC. The Vancouver Public Library has an excellent resource on where these records can be found for time frames before civil registration. As Meanskinisht was affiliated with many different religions at different times, and none at other times, it can be very difficult to determine which religious records you need to access to find a specific baptism. You will need to attempt to determine the religion indicated during the year of birth, but you may need to check all sources, and you may have to be prepared to not find the information at all. BC Archives genealogy collection also has a number of baptisms and colonial marriages. However, most of these are related only to the Church of England records.
The directories of the time were more general in their indications of religion, sometimes specifying a person’s religion, other times indicating what was available in the community. The 1899-1900 indicates that Robert Tomlinson is Reformed Episcopal. However, that may be as he was preaching in that church in Victoria on a visit. The community was listed as having a Methodist station in 1917. Directories report a variety of religions in 1918 (Anglican, Methodist and Salvation Army) and 1929 (Anglican and Salvation Army).
Table 2. Religious affiliation totals from censuses
Education
School children in Meanskinisht Private Collection – Susan Tomlinson Durbin – used with permission.
In 1867 residential boarding schools for Indigenous began to be used to assimilate the Indigenous to the settler culture. There is much recovery and reconciliation still required with Indigenous because of these schools.
While the teachings of Robert and Alice were certainly also meant to assimilate the Indigenous, Meanskinist residents did not send their children to residential schools. Alice taught both adults and children and their daughter Annie took over that position after Alice. My grandmother told us that the rule was if you could say the alphabet and count to 100 you could go to school. Teachers from outside the family appear in the community in the 1921 and 1931 censuses.
As an aside, if one of your ancestors is a teacher, you may want to explore the BC sessional papers on the University of British Columbia Open website, as the reports on education may include teachers’ names and locations such as the one in 1885. Also of interest to genealogists would be names on various petitions such as the one to allow women the vote that same year.
Industry and Employment
First sawmill on Upper Skeena River – Meanskinisht Private Collection – Susan Tomlinson Durbin – used with permission
Early directories often did not include the village on its own, so you need to broaden your search area to Skeena or Northwest Coast in order to find the information. For instance, the 1895 canneries list Robert Tomlinson living in the Northwest Coast section and the canneries are listed under Skeena.
Canneries canned huge amounts of salmon near to the where the fish were caught. Starting around 1870, settlors began building large canneries to process the fish. The Indigenous became paid labourers rather than the regulators of the industry. At the peak, there more than 200 canneries on the coast.
The first occupation of the residents of Meanskinisht was trapping. However, they immediately began to build a sawmill and plough the land for farming. By 1898, the Tomlinson Brother’s Sawmill had a capacity of 700 feet per day. The sawmill supplied the logs for the first hospital in Hazelton in 1904.
To supplement their farming, repairing the telegraph line was a summer occupation for the men. In the winter when the steamers could not run on the river, both the Indigenous and the Tomlinsons worked as mail carriers bringing the mail from Kitimat on dogsled.
The coming of the steamships in 1891 meant there was more work for the sawmill and they could deliver logs to places further up and down the river. The steamboats also brought work for the railroad. This was a double-edged sword as the land where the sawmill sat ended up being appropriated by the railroad. which spelled the end of that industry.
The name Meanskinist was changed to Cedarvale when the post office arrived in 1910. The telegraph arrived the same year. In 1912 the canning industry was so important that the railway had a series of flag stations, including Meanskinisht, in order to get the workers to the canneries. The reaction ferry was built in 1913, which also provided limited employment.
As well as these industries, there have been prospectors mining in gold silver and copper. the 1925 directory is much more informative and we have a general store, a miner, a tinsmith, ferryman, and two foremen for logging camps. However, over the years, farming has remained the main industry.
It is clear from the census records that the settlers mainly worked on their own account or in the more prestigious government jobs while Indigenous kept to their traditional occupations of fishing and hunting or worked as labourers.
Table 3. Occupations from censuses
Local Administration
Meanskinisht and the Seven Sisters. Painting by Emily Henrietta WoodsPrivate Collection – Susan Tomlinson Durbin – used with permission
According to the Victoria Daily Times newspaper there were 13 men who voted in the election at Cedarvale in 1911. Those voting numbers will only include the settlers as Indigenous were not permitted to vote until 1949 in BC and 1960 in federal elections.
Birth, marriage and death records (BMD) for Indigenous were not kept in the same manner as those for settlers. In 1872 the Indigenous and Chinese were specifically excluded from the BMD registration. In 1897 that exclusion was removed and all persons were to be included in BMD registration. However, in 1899 Indigenous were again excluded from registration and that was not removed until 1945. In 1917 special forms were developed for the collection of BMD registration of Indigenous for statistical purposes. These forms were used until 1957 even after the removal of the exclusion in 1945. A catch-up of registrations for those previously excluded were attempted starting in 1917 and continuing through to 1956.
The integration of settlers and Indigenous can be seen in this 1923 marriage certificate of Minice Frederick BURKE and Matilda Bright in 1923, which was recorded under settler records as the groom was a settler.
Compare this to a later marriage record in 1934 of Arthur WILLIAMS and Maggie BENSON, who were both Indigenous.
Birth, marriage and death records can be found online at the BC Archives. Not all have been digitized but most may be accessed on microfilm at the Archives, subject to privacy restrictions. A search in these records for Meanskinisht from 1888-1931 found 13 deaths; for Cedarvale there were two marriages and two deaths. No births were found. However, you cannot restrict your search for BMD records to the community. Many births in later years would have taken place in the hospitals in Hazelton, Terrace and even Prince Rupert. Deaths may have occurred as far away as Prince George or Vancouver.
The Meanskinisht Cemetery is now a National Historic Place and only those who are direct descendants of the original families may be buried there.
Summary
Meanskinisht is a unique town combining both settlers and Indigenous residents during a time when they did not normally co-exist. By studying the similarities and differences between how the genealogy records were kept, we reveal the inequities between the settlers and Indigenous residents. This is important as before reconciliation there must be truth.
To see the references for this page, check out the bibliographies here.
