Nicholas Joseph Auger's Family
Nicholas (Joseph) Auger ~1800-1885
Present day reasoning for marriage in western societies centers on individualism, instead of a collective society perceptive. The purpose of marriage is cultural, and has changed over time. During Nicholas Auger's era, marriage brought families, communities and Nations together, strengthening ties. It was a normal practice between the men of the fur trade era to marry into the First Nations communities when working at a Fur Trade Fort.
As was the custom of the day, Nicholas Auger married into the First Nations communities, were he lived at the time and had three wives, according to HBC records. Cecila(Cecile), Native American (based on census records), born at Fort Simpson NWT. Marie Kawmeauwatumageu (Cree/Metis) and Amelie (born by the the Nass (Nisga'a). Amelie married Nicholas (Joseph) Auger in a church ceremony on March 14, 1853. Cecila and Marie were Country wives, meaning they had traditional ceremonies. Cecila and Amelie, with many of their children moved to the Colquitz Creek community, situated on the on the unceded territories of the Songhees, when Nicholas became a Victoria Voltigeur.
Miraculously the family survived the measles epidemic that tore through Nisg̱a'a Nation Territory, by the Nass river (Fort Simpson) in 1848. As Hudson Bay Company(HBC) employees, they would have had access to the newly developed vaccine. It was common practice to vaccinate the HBC employees and their families. Sadly not all were so fortunate, and the outcome was horrific. After the family moved to the coast they also survived the smallpox outbreak in 1862.
In 1862, a person infected with smallpox arrived in Victoria aboard a steamship travelling from San Francisco. The disease spread to an encampment north of the city, where traders from many First Nations stayed. The few efforts colonists made to control the disease were disorganized. Some demanded the eviction of Indigenous people from colonial communities to protect themselves from the disease. When the residents of the north encampment left for their homelands, the disease spread across the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. The disease had devastating impacts on many peoples, including the nations of Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw, Tlingit, Heiltsuk, Haida, Tsimshian and Tŝilhqot’in, as well as some Coast Salish and Interior Salish nations. On the coast alone, some 14,000 Indigenous people died, representing a loss of roughly half of the region’s population. - Smallpox in Canada
Catherine Auger
Catherine Auger (Metis/First Nations - Fort Simpson NWT), was born March 16, 1831 in Fort Simpson NWT. Her father was Nicholas (Joseph) Auger, and mother Cecilia (Cecile).
When Catherine's dad became a Victoria Voltigeur she moved to the Colquitz Creek village with her family, and married HBC employee William Cook.
Joseph Auger
Catherine's brother, Joseph Auger (Metis/First Nations - Fort Simpson NWT), was born in 1844 at the Nass, Fort Simpson, BC. His mother was Cecila(Cecile), Native American, born at Fort Simpson NWT and father, Nicholas, was French and Iroquois (Haudenounee).
In 1858 gold fever had brought the worse of the worse from San Francisco to Fort Victoria, according to Douglas. Fears over being annex by the Americans had grown, leading Douglas to write to Britain about his concerns. It was during these unsettling times, on December 8, 1859, Joseph Auger arrived from Fort Simpson, BC, to be with his family. The night he arrived, he was murdered. His body was found the next morning.
Celeste Auger
Celeste Auger (French and Haudenounee) and Nisg̱a’a), was born in 1837 at the Nass, Fort Simpson, BC. His parents are Nicholas (Joseph) Auger and his wife Amelie, born 1810 (Nisg̱a’a). Nicholas, Amelia and other family members moved to Fort Victoria in 1851.
John Cook
Fort Victoria Brick Project: Bellow, John Cook, was the grandson of Nicholas (Joseph) Auger, through his daughter Catherine Auger (born Fort Simpson NWT). Catherine's mother was Cecilia (Indigenous, born Fort Simpson NWT).
Growing up in a fur trade family, John was the first generation born on Songhees Nation Territory, and not a Hudson Bay Company employee. John worked as a farrier. His mother, Catherine Auger, was a teenager when she moved to the coast with her very large family in 1851 when British Columbia was created.
