Tom Swanky PowerPoint Presentation with Q & A
Tom Swanky will be making a PowerPoint presentation on the Tsilhqot’in War, a case study of the imposition of British institutions from the indigenous perspective. In the first part, he documents how settlers spread smallpox in the Tsilhqot’in to remove villagers from land they desired and the lengths to which colonial officials would go to defend this activity. In the second part, he explores the actions by colonial officials at Victoria and elsewhere showing how the disease was spread throughout B.C. using three different methods.
The resulting depopulation enabled the subjugation and dispossession of native communities with comparatively little conventional violence. But it left a legacy, on the one hand of fear, powerlessness, poverty, despair and disconnection, and, on the other hand, of a need and practice of denial that still haunts every native/non-native interaction today.
Tom Swanky (LL.B., B.A. Hons. Poli. Sci.) a retired businessman is author of The True Story of Canada’s “War” of Extermination on the Pacific. This book investigates smallpox epidemics that killed an estimated 100,000 British Columbia natives in 1862/63, one of the greatest human tragedies in Canadian history. Tom spent over ten years learning from native sources and re-examining archival material to produce an account that integrates oral and written traditions into a single narrative consistent with all the evidence drawn from both sides.
Tom begins with the last action of the smallpox period, the martyrdom of five Tsilhqot’in Chiefs at one of Canada’s largest ever public executions. The Tsilhqot’in had made a declaration of war, killed several settlers for using smallpox against them and then expelled all settlers from their territory. The Crown ambushed them at a peace conference. Tom follows the smallpox trail back though the Tsilhqot’in War seeking the trail’s origin. His book describes the smallpox carnage everywhere in B.C. while seeking evidence of intentional disease spreading, as the Tsilhqot’in and Elders from diverse First Nations across B.C. have always alleged.
At a formal ceremony following a series of Truth and Reconciliation workshops in 2012, Tom was presented with an eagle feather for the healing effect of his work among First Nations and for his ability to communicate the truth convincingly and dispassionately to non-First Nation audiences: to connect with both sides. In 2014, B.C. formally exonerated the Tsilhqot’in Chiefs, the Premier officially noted the historical evidence that settlers had spread smallpox intentionally and the Tsilhqot’in invited Tom to give a keynote address at the ceremonies marking the 150th anniversary of the martyrdom of the Tsilhqot’in chiefs.
Conference program will be available on March 1st, 2015.
CONFERENCE FEES:
Full Registration $200 + GST + booking fees
One Day Registration $150 + GST + booking fees
Student Registration $75 + GST + booking fees (proof of student ID required)
Early registration is recommended. Space is limited for conference, student registration, and field trips.
The Registration fee includes refreshments, lunches, evening events, and field trips.
OFFICIAL LINK: http://www.ufv.ca/swhs/conference2015/
