Rancherie

Rancherie (also Rancheree ) is the Canadian - English term for an inhabited area of ​​First Nations on an Indian reservation in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

The word is an adaptation of the Spanish word Ranchería that describes the living quarters of the ranch worker. It came up in front of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858 and was used in the following period the gold rushes and the colonization of large parts of the colony.

In modern usage it often refers to new residential areas. Traditionally, it describes the oldest of urban area the area as typical wooden huts that were built scattered around a church.

In some reserves, there are several residential areas. There the Rancherie identifies a specific - usually the oldest - of the areas. Rancherie does not refer to a complete reserve, but only to the designated settlement area. The term is also used outside of the language usage of the First Nations and is part of the vernacular in most small towns in British Columbia, in whose neighborhood there are Indian reservations.

The Indian Rancherie in Vancouver

In Vancouver, the term Indian Rancherie received a completely different meaning. This was an area in the city in which to about 1889 concentrated the prostitution industry.

The Kanaka Rancherie in Vancouver

The term can be used in its historical importance also for other populations as indigenous people. Best known is the Kanaka Rancherie in Vancouver's Lost Lagoon. She was from the earliest days to Gastown in the 1920s the starting point of the local Hawaiian community.