Pavilion, British Columbia
Pavilion is a ranching and Indian Reserve community in the Fraser Canyon area of British Columbia, Canada. Most of the community is the population of the Pavilion 1 Indian Reserve of the Pavilion Indian Band, a.k.a. the Ts'kw'aylaxw First Nation (or Tsk'waylacw First Nation or Tsk'weylecw First Nation) but there are also a number of ranches in the surrounding area, and a lakeshore recreational neighbourhood at nearby Pavilion Lake.
Pavilion
Ts'kw'aylaxw, Tsk'waylacw, or Tsk'weylecw ("hoarfrost") | |
|---|---|
Ranching & Indian Reserve community | |
 | |
  Pavilion Location with the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District of British Columbia | |
| Coordinates: 50°52′50″N 121°49′45″W | |
| Country | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} |
| Province |  |
| Region | Fraser Canyon/Lillooet Country |
| Regional district | Squamish-Lillooet |
| Near | Lillooet, Marble Canyon |
| Elevation | 2,390 ft (730 m) |
| Area code(s) | 250, 778 |
History
Pavilion gets its name from its gold rush-era appearance, when the chief of the Tskwaylaxw flew a large banner of white cloth which was visible to travelers up and down the canyon on the River Trail and the Old Cariboo Road (the white banner was a mark of a "friendly Indian" in the context of the then-recent Fraser Canyon War farther south along the Fraser, and also maybe a mark of wealth, cloth being an expensive trade good at the time).
During the gold rush, a small boomtown emerged at Pavilion, as it was an important junction between the Old Cariboo Road, which from Pavilion climbs up over Pavilion Mountain to Cut-off Valley to Clinton, British Columbia, and the trail (soon after road) through Marble Canyon to the Bonaparte River and what would become the route of the Cariboo Road. In addition to miners' huts and packtrain encampments, by the time of the Cariboo Gold Rush lands had been alienated by settlers and the ranchhouses served as hostelries to Cariboo-bound travellers.
The ranches at Pavilion are some of the oldest land-grants in the province. The most prominent of them was staked by a Captain Martley as part of a military-officer settlement program. It has since become part of the Diamond S Ranch.
First Nation
The Pavilion Indian Band, a.k.a. the Tskwaylaxw First Nation or Tscweylecw First Nation, are joint members of the Lillooet Tribal Council of the St'at'imc and also the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council of the Secwepemc. The Pavilion dialect is a mix of St'at'imcets and Secwepemc'tsn and many of the placenames in the surrounding country are Secwepemc'tsn.