Appellants factum - Woodward & Company

1452. The Trial Judge summarized this traditional pattern of Tsilhqot’in use andoccupation of the Claim Area as follows:At the time of sovereignty assertion, Tsilhqot’in people living in the Claim Areawere semi-nomadic. They moved up and down the main salmon bearing river,the Tsilhqox (Chilko River), in season. They fished the smaller lakes to the eastand west of the Tsilhqox, particularly in the spring season. They gatheredberries, medicines and root plants in the valleys and on the slopes of thesurrounding mountains. They hunted and trapped across the Claim Area, takingwhat nature had to offer. Then, for the most part, they returned on a regularbasis to winter at Xeni (Nemiah Valley), on the eastern shore of Tsilhqox Biny(Chilko Lake), on the high ground above the banks of the Tsilhqox, and on theshores of adjacent streams and lakes, from Naghatalhchoz Biny (Big Eagle Lake)and eastward into Tachelach’ed.In Tachelach’ed, the area of more permanent use and occupation was from theTsilhqox corridor east to Natasewed Biny (Brittany Lake) and from there, south toTs’uni?ad Biny (Tsuniah Lake) and east past Tsanlgen Biny (Chaunigan Lake)and over to the twin lakes, ?Elhghatish Biny (Vedan Lake) and Nabi Tsi Biny(Elkin Lake).The areas that provided a greater degree of permanency and regular use are thesites where abandoned lhiz qwen yex and niyah qungh are found. The majorityof these dwelling sites are not on the reserves set aside for Xeni Gwet’in peopleat the turn of the twentieth century.In early spring, Tsilhqot’in people would disperse again across the area that is, inpart, defined in these proceedings as the Claim Area. 11353. Tsilhqot’in elders “vividly described” this seasonal semi-nomadic round at trial. 114The elders traced the seasonal rounds and the activities undertaken on those roundsback to the ?Esggidam (Tsilhqot’in ancestors) in yedanx (the time before contact) andsadanx (legendary period of time long ago). 11554. Historical patterns of seasonal resource gathering in various locations in theClaim Area have continued over time. 116Tsilhqot’in people have continued to gather113 Trial Decision, paras. 953-56. See also paras. 380 to 397.114 Trial Decision, para. 381.115 Trial Decision, para. 355.116 Trial Decision, paras. 397, 949.