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Meanskinisht/Cedarvale
By the 1800s, Missionaries had penetrated most of the country. Part of their mission was to set up new communities of Christian Native followers in the hinterlands. By the 1870s and 1880s they had made their way to northern British Columbia along the coast and the Skeena and Nass rivers and created model societies that mirrored their own. Greenville, Aiyansh, Kincolith, Metlakatla and Meanskinisht were witness to these model experiments established by white clergy and lay evangelicals of various denominations. Robert Tomlinson Sr. was influenced by these missionary ideals. He followed William Duncan to Metlakatla, and from there helped establish Kincolith. However, he wanted to set up his own ideal community – a ‘city set on a hill’ - that went even beyond the strict rules of the church. He wanted to found a non-denominational utopian community based simply on the bible whose leadership would eventually be passed to Native clergy. This community could then stand alone; its residents working off of the land and worshiping together. In the winter of 1887-1888 Tomlinson and his family sought such a location, and finally decided on the village of Gitlusec. Gitlusec was a Gitksan village. It was of the Raven/Frog clan that had sixteen houses of assembly. The name Gitlusec was derived from Git “the people of” and Lusec “the river turns into and around an island and back out again.” Prior to the Tomlinson’s arrival, the village had been badly hit by a black measles epidemic. Like all epidemics of which First Nations had no immunity, the village sustained massive losses. At its conclusion, the only survivors were the family of Chief Joah. When Tomlinson arrived over the winter of 1887-88, he assumed that the site was only the hunting territory of Joah since the absence of other people precluded the idea of a village. In Kitwanga Tomlinson had identified several hardworking families who welcomed conversion and wanted to join such a Christian community. The families of Samuel Bright, Edward Stewart, Peter and Moses Hep accompanied the Tomlinson’s to Gitlusec. But first, Tomlinson baptized them, which included giving them Christian and biblical names. Mary Dalen recalled this family history “My father Josiah Bright (son of Samuel) became hereditary Chief of Gitwangak. His name was Chief Wee’Lhengwach/Ne’qt, of Gitwangak and held several Chief’s names during the transition from our way of life to Christianity and to give up all their worldly belongings to be Christians. The people got their names from Missionaries and Indian Agents or if they liked a last name they were registered with that last name.” The story in the Tomlinson family is the same; they were given English names with their baptism. These names came from the Bible. For instance, Samuel Bright was given his name from the devoted Samuel of old. Once settled at Gitlusec/Meanskinisht Chief Joah also wanted bible names for his family and he and Tomlinson eventually settled on Moses, Peter and Eliza. Once baptized and renamed the families joined Tomlinson, his wife and their children, Robert (18 years), Alice (14 years), Lily (12 years), Richard (10 years), Annie (8 years) and Nellie (4 years) on the voyage downriver to Gitlusec. They approached the island in two, two-ton canoes, one owned by Samuel Bright, where Chief Joah welcomed them. An instant Christian community was born. Meanskinisht and its Christian Community Tomlinson’s daughter Annie (Moberly) later recorded the trek to the village. “In the spring, the tenth of March, Father and some of the natives who wanted to be Christianized came down the river on the ice, looking for a place where they could start a mission. They nearly started it at Woodcock, but what stopped them from doing this was that the stream at Woodcock was too far back in the woods and Father wanted to have a sawmill. Father had no money. So they came on and came on until they reached Meanskinisht. There was a lovely stream over on the other side with a beautiful waterfall and it wasn’t too far back. So he made a mill over there and built a small house.” (Bennett, 59) The whole area, on either side of the Skeena, is heavily wooded. The new community collectively cleared the site from dawn to dusk. The logs they fell were used to build a church (church) at the head of this new village. Tomlinson named the village Meanskinisht which meant Beneath a Pine Tree or Under the Pitch Pines. Once the church was built as the center of the community, Tomlinson and his sons supervised the building of a school and houses for the residents. Each family was assigned their own lot. These first buildings were log homes, and eventually they were destroyed since they proved to be too cold. Also, the sawmill soon produced boards in which to build European-style lumber homes. Dalen recalled that the Chiefs even “had stained glass windows in their doorways.” The sawmill ensured the economic survival of the community, since it was the only sawmill in the Skeena valley at this time. Tomlinson built it from his personal meager resources, and from income raised by trapping and selling furs. Once the village was built, the community sold the lumber it produced to Hazelton, Skeena Crossing, Lorne Creek and other areas. The cash earned from the lumber was supplemented by the hard work of the villagers. Livestock was brought in from Hazelton and Port Essington to use as draught animals or for meat. Later poultry and sheep were introduced. Although the emphasis in Meanskinisht was on community unity, the villagers soon set up their own private enterprises. Some worked for Tomlinson’s mill for goods from the community store, some, like Samuel Bright who ran a freight service on the Skeena, were entrepreneurs, and others supplied cord wood and fresh produce to the sternwheelers that plied the river in these early years. As Tomlinson hoped one day to turn the leadership of the village over to its Gitksan residents, he allowed a democratic internal government based on the Native system. The Chiefs appointed a council who would then carry out community decisions. Tomlinson himself acted in an advisory capacity. Since this was a Christian community, the Ten Commandments were made the basis of law, smoking and drinking was outlawed, as was any traditional Gitksan custom, and Sunday was to remain a day of strict worship. To enforce these rules, the council posted signs and also set up a jail to discourage transgressions of the law. Annie Tomlinson (Moberly) recalled, “Well, then they decided to make a prison... yes, they had a prison... it was made eight square. It had one window up too high for anyone to climb through and it had bars across it. It had one door. Oh yes, everybody had to keep the rules if they didn’t want to go to jail. Was anybody put in jail? Why yes... there’s one man I know of that was put in jail because he kept running after a girl and he wasn’t supposed to, you see. It was against the rules, so she was locked up in a house and he was locked up in prison... I think they were there two weeks.” (Bennett, 67) Although Meanskinisht was one of the regular landing places for the sternwheelers plying the Skeena to get supplies, the prohibition on work on Sundays meant that no one would meet the sternwheelers. Therefore they did not stop there on Sundays, and the sternwheeler captains nicknamed the village the “Holy City.” The community prospered in the early twentieth century, although it was never a very large village. It was, however, a fluid community. Many First Nations came from other areas, like the Nass, Kitwanga and Kitwancool to experience this model community themselves. After staying a period of time, they returned to their own villages to become lay preachers. Some visitors did not leave; they converted and joined the community. By the year 1892 Meanskinisht gained another 13 families bringing its population to some eighty people. The village started to change in other ways as well. Robert Tomlinson Sr. felt that a new church was needed to replace the original log structure to reflect the success of the community. In 1905 the whole community started to contribute towards, and laboured towards building a new church. In 1907 it was complete and was officially dedicated. Soon after the first marriage ceremony occurred, uniting Agnes and Philip Sutton. Later, writing from his grandfather’s journals, George Tomlinson elucidated the meaning of this event, “Somehow it seemed fitting that the first marriage ceremony performed in our new church should take place almost twenty years to the day after the founding of our mission village. And the bride of that marriage should be the first baby born at Meanskinisht, Agnes, daughter of Samuel and Hannah.” (Tomlinson, 369) The new church reinforced the spiritual nature of the village. Services and bible study (interpreted in Gitksan) occurred every Wednesday. Sunday services were held throughout the day as well as further opportunities for Bible study and Sunday School was established for children. Even the Tomlinson children spoke and studied in Gitksan. The church burned down in 1950. Non-religious instruction was also necessary for the children of the village. Alice Tomlinson was the community’s first teacher in a small village school built for that purpose. This school received most of its direction from the parents and the community since there were so few students as to attract provincial attention. In the 1920s when the community had many more school-aged children, community residents built another more modern school because they highly valued education. This school, built on the north side of the river, was approved by the province, and ran uninterrupted until the 1950s. This school was an integrated school. Several things happened in 1913 that changed the character of the community. First, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was built along the Skeena on the north side. This would create easier access to neighbouring communities and a source of jobs. Second, the community received its own post office and station. Because there once had been great stands of cedar there, the Grand Trunk renamed the community as Cedarvale, BC. And, finally, Robert Tomlinson Sr. passed away that year and was buried in the community graveyard. His family continued on in Cedarvale. Community Challenges, Changes and Turmoil Although the community continued on for a while as a devout and hardworking community, the passing of one of its founders and the name change subtly changed the place. Furthermore, the railway allowed white settlement in the Skeena Valley which impacted Cedarvale as well. Where this once was a fairly ‘closed’ community, white land pre-emption opened the village to outsiders. These developments allowed outside diseases into Cedarvale once more. Many residents died from the Influenza Pandemic of 1918, and tuberculosis afflicted some of the residents. The passing of Tomlinson also left a spiritual and political vacuum in Cedarvale. The residents generally liked him and all the work he did to set the community up for the Meanskinsht people. They accepted the role he had in the community as an advisor or overseer. Although the village was set up to be non-denominational, several years after Tomlinson’s death, his son Richard Tomlinson joined the Salvation Army and wanted to bring its teachings to the village. At the same time, Agnes Sutton continued on heading a non-denominational church, and other residents followed the teachings of the Methodists. The spiritual unity of the village was shattered; and a war of words erupted. Eventually, as Mary Dalen notes “the people here voted to be Methodists.” Tomlinson’s death shattered the political unity of the community also. While he was alive, he ensured that the village would not become a reservation. Prior to the building of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway the government sent out surveyors to survey the Skeena Valley. They were given instructions to establish a reservation wherever they found Native villages. When they reached Meanskinisht Tomlinson argued against this policy, since he did not see this as a typical Native village. However, if the land was not to be a reservation, then it would be free for white pre-emption (since the law did not allow pre-emption by First Nations). To solve this quandary, Tomlinson convinced the government to allow him and his eldest son to pre-empt the land both on the north and south side of the river. He then registered a lease agreement with certain Native villagers, by which they would pay a sum between 50 cents to one dollar per year for their land. Upon his death, the leaseholders would be able to buy the land, of which the Bright family did in 1917. However, by an order of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 1920, the lease was cancelled. Mary Dalen notes that Tomlinson’s widow, Alice, brought the case to court and the people of Cedarvale were not notified, therefore she won in their absence. By the 1920s, the era of the “Holy City” had passed. Where the community once attracted devout families, it could no longer hold onto all of its own sons and daughters. Between the 1920s and 1940s, many children of the original inhabitants left for work and other opportunities elsewhere. At the same time, European settlement changed the meaning of the community. A 1928 British Columbia Directory only notes that Cedarvale was “a Post Office and farming settlement.” An examination of its residents reveals a variety of other peoples; European minters, loggers and CNR employees joined the original inhabitants. These new non-Native people established the Farmer’s Institute and through it maintained connections to neighbouring white communities. Mid-Twentieth Century to Present By the 1950s, Cedarvale had strayed from its missionary beginnings. This was the decade where the law prohibiting Sunday work was no longer followed. In the 1950s, the school district system was founded, and Cedarvale fell within the boundaries of School District 88. The District decided that a new primary school should be built on the South side of the river, and that the older grades could be serviced in the old Salvation Army building. This continued until 1976, when the District decided these schools were no longer economically feasible. Currently, Cedarvale children are bussed to Kitwanga or Hazelton for schooling. Since the construction of Highway 16W during the Second World War, the residents of Cedarvale no longer have to be self-sufficient or work together. Many work outside of the community, and identify with larger towns such as Terrace or Hazelton. Furthermore, the Skeena River bisects Cedarvale. At one time this did not pose a challenge, since the river necessarily defined transportation and river travel was the norm. Even after the construction of the highway on the south side, a reaction ferry linked the two sides. However in 1979 the government discontinued this service, since the north side was now accessible by road from Kitwanga (albeit a long and rough one). Cedarvale is now mostly identified with the Cedarvale Grill by passing motorists, although the name Meanskinisht is being resurrected among villagers.
Works Cited Bennett, Norma V. Pioneer Legacy: Chronicles of the Lower
Skeena River, Volume II. Dalen, Mary. Correspondence. 2005. Frank, Floyd. More Skeena Memories. Terrace: The Author, 1994. Tomlinson, George D. Challenge the Wilderness: A Family Saga of Robert and Alice Tomlinson, Pioneer Medical Missionaries. Seattle: Northwest Wilderness Books, 1993. Whitehead, Margaret. Now You Are My Brother: Missionaries in British Columbia. Victoria: Provincial Archives of British Columbia. 1981.
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