About 100 people gathered in New Westminster on Monday to commemorate the wrongful hanging of Chief ʔAhan from the Chilcotin War of 1864/65.
Tŝilhqot’in National Government leaders, members of New West city council and school board, and others gathered at New Westminster Secondary School on Monday, July 18 to commemorate the anniversary of ʔAhan’s hanging in New Westminster.
“War Nits’ilʔin ʔAhan was the sixth Nits’ilʔin to be hanged by the colonial government at the time – 157 years wasn’t that long ago. Our collective memory of the Chilcotin War has a very strong place in who we are as a people and our responsibility to further out rights and title,” Nits’ilʔin (Chief) Joe Alphonse of Tŝilhqot’in National Government, said in a news release. “Nits’ilʔin ʔAhan was a hero working to protect his people from the wrongful taking of our lands and the threat of smallpox. We were here today to remember those sacrifices.”
According to the City of New Westminster, July 18 marks 157 years to the day since Nits’ilʔin ʔAhan was wrongfully arrested under a flag of truce and hanged in New Westminster.
“In 2018, the city identified the need to assist the Tŝilhqot’in Nation in memorializing Chief ʔAhan’s execution,” said the news release. “This annual event has provided an opportunity to recognize the injustice that took place and pay respect to the deep history of the Tŝilhqot’in Nation.”
On Oct. 15, 2020, the Tŝilhqot’in National Government and the City of New Westminster signed a Sister Community memorandum of agreement, which recognizes and signifies the commitment between both parties to support one another.
“As the City of New Westminster continues to come to terms with our history, we are committed to meaningful reconciliation with local First Nations and the urban Indigenous community, as well as with Indigenous peoples affected by our colonial past,” said Mayor Jonathan Cote. “We’re grateful to the Tŝilhqot’in Nation for joining us on our path toward reconciliation. New Westminster is honoured to continue building our friendship with Tŝilhqot’in Nation, which was previously formalized by the sister community agreement.”
ʔAhan was one of six Tŝilhqot’in warriors who were executed following the Chilcotin War, between the Tŝilhqot’in people and European settlers, which occurred in the Cariboo-Chilcotin Coast of B.C. Five of the chiefs were executed in Quesnel in October 1864, while ʔAhan was hanged in New Westminster the following year.
Members of the Tŝilhqot’in Nation visit New Westminster each July to commemorate the life of ʔAhan, a warrior who defended their people against the colonizers who had abused their women and mistreated their people.
Past ceremonies have been held near the old New Westminster law court on Carnarvon Street, where ʔAhan was hanged, and at the New Westminster Secondary School site, a possible burial site of ʔAhan.
Several chiefs and councillors from the Tŝilhqot’in National Government and local First Nations attended Monday’s ceremony, which featured speeches and drumming.
“It was moving,” said Coun. Chuck Puchmayr, who spoke at the event.
Both the provincial and federal governments have both apologized for the hangings of the six chiefs. The chiefs have been fully exonerated of any wrongdoing, as they were acting as an independent nation that was engaged in war with another nation when they defended their territory and killed members of a road-building crew.
