N'Quatqua
N'Quatqua, variously spelled Nequatque, N'quat'qua, is the proper historic name in the
Lillooet and about the same distance from Pemberton. The usage is synonymous with Nequatque Indian Reserve No. 1, which is 177 ha. in size and located adjacent to the mouth of the Gates River (see N'Quatqua First Nation
for a list of other reserves administered by the band, some of which are also named Nequatque).
The village and its beach were at the end of pavement northeast of
Seton Portage, at the other end of Anderson Lake
, there is only a rough powerline road thousands of feet above the lake, known as the High Line Road, that is not recommended for the unwary or unsure, or the feeble of engine or nerve.
Seton Portage and separated Anderson and Seton Lakes (the catastrophe would have created a huge wave - see megatsunami - wiping out all human populations in the valley). Prior to the diversion of the Bridge River into the Seton watershed, the salmon runs coming up the lake were as typically large as on other tributaries of the Fraser
.
There were other villages in the Gates Valley, southwest from D'Arcy and up Blackwater Creek towards
Oblate evangelization and the Indian Act
, today there is only N'Quatqua.
The N'Quatqua people were part of the Lakes Lillooet group of the
Shalalth and was a habitué of the Bridge River
goldfields over which he claimed suzerainty).
During the gold rush N'Quatqua was busy as a shipping and transference point on the
Pacific Great Eastern Railway
was built, and that name was also applied to the alpine peak just south of "town".
N'Quatqua/D'arcy today has a mix of non-native housing and there are large recreational subdivisions in between D'Arcy and Birken. At Devine, two miles from D'Arcy, a sawmill operated in
McGillivray Falls, a few miles farther northeast along the north side of Anderson Lake
.
See also
References
- N'Quatqua website
- Tales from Seton Portage, Irene Edwards, self.publ. Lillooet 1976
- "Nequatque Indian Reserve 1". BC Geographical Names.