Tsk'weylecw'mc


The Tsk'weylecw'mc or Tsk'waylaxw'mx are a First Nations people in the Central Fraser Canyon area of the Canadian province of British Columbia. They are a subgroup of both the St'at'imc and Secwepemc peoples and reside at and around the community of Pavilion, an unincorporated settlement comprising the Pavilion Indian Reserve and adjacent ranches on Highway 99 about 30 kilometres north of Lillooet, near Marble Canyon. There is another reserves of which is immediately on the other side of Marble Canyon near Upper Hat Creek. Another non-residential reserve on the opposite side of the Fraser River from Pavilion is Pavilion Indian Reserve 1A, used for hunting in that area. They historically have close ties and a shared cultural identity with their Secwepemc neighbours, particularly the Bonaparte group, but also with the St'at'imc of Fountain and Lillooet. The Tsk'weylecw'mc are both St'at'imc Secwepemc ethnically, and have close family ties and shared cultural traditions with the Canyon Shuswap at nearby High Bar, the Llenlleney'ten, who although Secwepemc are partly Tsilhqot'in in identity. Their particular dialect is a hybrid of St'at'imcets and Secwepemctsin. Most placenames in the Pavilion area are Secwepemctsin, a legacy times in the recent past, just prior to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, when the east bank of the Fraser, including Fountain and opposite Lillooet itself, were part of Secwepemc territory.
Their band government is called the Pavilion Indian Band, which is a member of the Lillooet Tribal Council although retaining some official ties to the Secwepemc tribal councils.