Kamloops This Week FRIDAY, June 30, 2017
SPECIAL EDITION
2017
FREE
July 1
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Kamloops Celebrates Nations th C
150 BIRTHDAY
anada turns 150 this year and celebrations are being held from coast to coast to coast. Much of the fun will peak on Canada Day, with the July 1 holiday doubling as the day to truly mark our country’s sesquicentennial. Riverside Park in downtown Kamloops will be filled with anniversary events. Included in the excitement will be the unveiling on the evening of June 30 of a special Canada 150-themed exhibition at the Kamloops Museum and Archives. The exhibition, river people nation state people, will feature an unfolding set of displays, questions, and responses recognizing that history is enriched when it is shared through multiple voices. It is being produced by the Kamloops Museum and Archives, guest curator Tania Willard, the Secwepemc Museum and Heritage Park and Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation, The exhibition deepens the timeline of Canada to acknowledge indigenous histories and speaks to diverse cultural perspectives on the region’s colonial history. That exhibition ties in to what Kamloops is in this anniversary year. The Secwepemc Museum and Archives notes “Kamloops” originally comes from the word “Tk’emlups,” which means “meeting of the rivers.” But there are various other explanations, found in the rich archives in the Kamloops Museum at Seymour Street and Second Avenue, of where “Kamloops” originated. David Stuart and Alexander Ross, both of the American Pacific Fur Trading Company, were two of the first white men to venture into the area. In the summer of 1811, the company established forts along the Columbia River, including Astoria and Fort Okanogan, and began trading with First Nations in the Interior. That same year, Stuart and three other men — excluding Ross — journeyed into the valley of the South Thompson, where they encountered the “SheWap” nation. They spent the winter there and traded for 2,500 beaver skins by the time they left in February 1812. That spring, Ross returned to the area and noted the name used by the natives was “Cumcloups.” In 1849, he published his recollections, but didn’t provide a meaning for the name. The American Pacific Fur Trading Company built a post near the meeting of the North and South Thompson rivers.
Looking east at downtown Kamloops and Riverside Park in 1901, when Canada was a child of 34. Kamloops Museum and Archives photo
Not to be outdone, the rival North West Company set up shop near the site of where St. Joseph’s Church stands today. They eventually took over American Pacific’s interests in Kamloops when the War of 1812 broke out. Ross’ interpretation and spelling of Kamloops is just one of many different variations and stories on exactly what the name means. In 1880, John Tod, who was chief trader in Kamloops for the HBC from 1842 to 1850, noted the natives called this area “Kahm-o-loops,” which meant “meeting of the waters.” Additional obscure variations have been noted over the years. In 1891, geologist George M. Dawson referred to Kamloops as “Kama-a-loo-la-pa,” which he said meant “point between the rivers,” according to his indigenous guides. Dawson noted that version in a survey he published on native place names in B.C.’s Interior. He pointed out, though, that not all of the names he listed were accurate. In 1901, Father Le Jeune mentioned in his newspaper, the Kamloops Wawa, that the name Kamloops means “pointe de terre” — point of land in English. Earlier in the Wawa — in 1895 — Le Jeune published
a review by an American reader which said Kamloops was a Shuswap word meaning “the forking of the rivers.” In the 1890s, the native phrase “camp-des-loups” or “camp of the wolves” was a popular story of the word’s origin. The phrase is said to pre-date the fur tarde. Another suggestion is the Chinook word Kamooks, meaning dog. Chinook, however, was not used in the area before contact with Europeans. James A. Teit, in his study of Shuswap people for Jesup North Pacific Expedition, published in 1909, describes the name as “Kamlu’ps,” meaning “confluence.” Given some of these different variations, it seems likely that Kamloops was named for its geographical significance. Originally, the name Kamloops was only used in reference to the native settlement during the fur trade. But as the European settlement began to develop in the 1870s, the name Kamloops started to stick. — The bulk of information in this story and in articles throughout this publication was gleaned from material in the Kamloops Museum and Archives. KTW deeply appreciates the help museum staff always offer in researching stories.
WHAT’S
INSIDE INSIDE Why Kamloops Loves Canada .
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Hockey is in our DNA . . . . . . . . . 4 The Fruitful Days of Kamloops . . . . . 5 Watching Waters Rise .
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The Red Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Riverside Park Schedule .
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School Stands as a Reminder . . . . . 10 A Country at War . . . . . . . . . . 11 Canadian Inventions . Canadian Trivia .
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