Additional Images

Provenance:

From the Estate of Mildred Valley Thornton Hon. CPA, FRSA, Canada, accompanied by a letter dated 21st February 2016 from Bryan Thornton, Mildred’s Grandson;
Private collection, Toronto, ON

Literature:

Robin Fisher, “SU-Á-PU-LUCK” from Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 13, 1994

Note:

After the death of Chief Láwa, in 1895, Joe Capilano became chief of the Squamish Nation and a leading political activist on First Nations issues. In 1906, Capilano, Cowichan Chief Charley Isipaymilt, and Secwepemc Chief Basil David led a delegation to voice their concerns for native land claims. The men travelled to Ottawa, where they met Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, and then on to London, England to meet King Edward VII. “The petition expressing their grievances was not presented directly to the monarch but had to be sent through diplomatic channels. It asserted that aboriginal title to the land had never been extinguished, that settlers had moved onto the land without its owners’ approval, that appeals to the Canadian government had been fruitless, and that native people, who lacked the vote, were not even consulted by Indian agents on matters affecting their lives.

On his return home Su-á-pu-luck was received with great enthusiasm by his people but he had to admit that, apart from generating some much-needed publicity for his cause, the trip had achieved nothing concrete. While the meeting with the king was a pleasant occasion, the real problems of native people in British Columbia would have to be dealt with by Canadian governments. The trip to Britain was, however, an important step for native people in the process of taking political protest into their own hands.”