TTs’ilʔos Provincial Park
History
Ts’ilʔos Provincial
Park is part of the traditional territory of the Xeni Gwet’in, and
offers visitors an opportunity to appreciate the area’s cultural
history. The park contains historical evidence such as archaeological
and burial sites, and areas where traditional uses such as hunting,
trapping, food and medicine gathering still occur. Very little information
about these resources has been recorded, although a lot is known
verbally through the elders. No extensive archaeological assessment
has been undertaken in the park, although a heritage overview, directed
by the Xeni Gwet’in has been completed.
Ts’ilʔos, the
imposing peak also known as Mount Tatlow that dominates the park
and gives it its name, is spiritually significant to the Xeni Gwet’in,
and is celebrated in the legend of Ts’ilʔos.
According to native tradition, Ts’ilʔos keeps watch over the people
of the Xeni and their territory. Pointing at or climbing Ts’ilʔos
are considered disrespectful, and the Xeni Gwet’in believe that
doing so will offend Ts’ilʔos, resulting in severe weather changes.
Please respect their beliefs by not pointing at or climbing the
mountain.
Cultural Heritage
Conservation
Ts’ilʔos Provincial
Park is located in an ecologically significant area in BC. It
is located in a transition zone where plant life changes from dry
interior species to coastal plain species. Because the park is
situated atop the juncture of several ecosystems, it offers a great diversity
of landscapes.
The special
features of Ts’ilʔos include, most notably, Chilko Lake and Ts’ilʔos,
or Mount Tatlow. Chilko Lake, the largest natural high elevation
lake in Canada, is an outstanding park feature, with its distinctive
blue waters, lagoons, surrounding volcanic dyke formations, and
mountainous backdrop. Ts’ilʔos is the highest point in the Chilcotin
Range; its spiritual significance is celebrated in a Xeni legend.
Other special features of the park include numerous river valleys
such as the Yohetta, Edmond Creek, and Tchaikazan Valleys. Five
glaciers are found within the Tchaikazan Valley alone, the largest
of which is the only major glacier on the extreme leeward side of
the Coast Mountains.
The park’s diverse
landscapes incorporate glaciers, extensive meadows, outwash plains,
forests, brightly colored mountains, and river valleys. This diverse
landscape protects the habitat of a number of species whose populations
are under pressure from human activities, such as grizzly bear,
bighorn sheep, and wolverine. Chilko Lake and its watershed also
preserve the most annually consistent population of spawning salmon
on all the Fraser River tributaries.
Wildlife
The mountainous
terrain of Ts’ilʔos Provincial Park provides for a diversity of
wildlife habitats ranging from Douglas-fir forests at lower elevations
to dry alpine areas at higher elevations. Wildlife species include
black bear, mule deer, moose, mountain goat, cougar, and beaver.
Ecologically sensitive animal populations found in the area include
California bighorn sheep, grizzly bear, fisher, wolverine, bald
eagle, and amphibian species. The adjacent lands are also important
habitat for Vaux’s swift, Peregrine falcon, and Townsend’s big-eared
bat.
Chilko River
and Chilko Lake support significant populations of sockeye, chinook,
bull trout, rainbow trout, and steelhead. Various other streams
and rivers feed the Chilko and Taseko systems, and support whitefish.
In the fall, spawning salmon can be observed struggling up the Chilko
River at the north end of Chilko Lake.