Colonial Influences on Regalia

Colonial Influences on Regalia

INITIATION DRAFT — Ayaawx teaching page explaining how colonial contact changed, disrupted, or altered traditional Tsm̱syen regalia practices.

Overview

Tsm̱syen regalia once followed strict ayaawx:

• who could wear it,
• what materials were allowed,
• what crests could appear,
• and when garments could be displayed.

Colonial contact introduced new materials, new expectations, and new pressures that changed regalia production and use. Some changes were adaptations for survival; others were imposed or misunderstood.

Understanding these influences protects our youth and our Houses from repeating harmful patterns.

Impact on Materials

Before colonization, regalia was made from:

• mountain goat hair,
• cedar bark,
• sinew,
• abalone,
• tanned hides,
• carved wood and bone,
• and fur.

After trade ships arrived, new materials entered our system:

• Milton cloth (broadcloth),
• embroidery thread,
• metal buttons,
• flannel,
• manufactured dyes,
• shells and beads from global markets.

Some of these became deeply woven into feast culture. Others created confusion between traditional law and decoration.

Impact on Meaning

Traditionally:

• regalia = law,
• clothing = clothing.

Colonial society encouraged “costuming” Indigenous cultures for:

• church pageants,
• government displays,
• tourism images,
• museums,
• photographs staged by outsiders.

This blurred the distinction between:

• a robe worn under ayaawx, and
• a garment worn for entertainment.

This confusion still affects our communities today.

Missionary Influence

Missionaries discouraged:

• abalone use,
• crest displays,
• transformative masks,
• naxnok dances,
• noble regalia worn by matriarchs.

They attempted to replace regalia with:

• church garments,
• modest clothing requirements,
• bans on feasts,
• bans on masks and dances.

These pressures pushed some families to hide regalia or discontinue certain items.

Influence on Wealth Distribution

Regalia, wealth, and crest rights were traditionally exchanged through:

• Gwiikxw,
• name transmissions,
• territory acknowledgements.

Colonial laws and the potlatch ban disrupted:

• the ability to raise names,
• the production of wealth items,
• the public distribution of regalia.

House economies were damaged when wealth items were confiscated or hidden.

Commercialization of Indigenous Image

The rise of tourism and photography led to:

• “studio regalia,”
• props used by outsiders,
• pan-Indigenous designs mixing nations together,
• garments produced for sale instead of ceremony.

Some modern regalia styles originate from this pressure — not from ayaawx.

Loss of Specific Weaving Traditions

The cedar-bark and mountain-goat-hair robes suffered:

• disruptions due to disease,
• missionary suppression,
• economic hardship,
• loss of skilled weavers,
• forced schooling,
• goat population changes.

This led to a shift toward:

• button blankets,
• flannel robes,
• machine-produced fabrics.

The noble meaning remained, but the materials changed.

Influence on Crest Usage

Colonial society introduced:

• personal identity over House identity,
• “DIY regalia,”
• people choosing crests based on preference rather than lineage,
• garments made without permission,
• crest mixing across Nations.

Under ayaawx, crest misuse is a breach:

• crest = law,
• crest = House authority,
• crest = inherited right.

Colonial individualism disrupted this understanding.

Vests and School Regalia

Modern school programs introduced:

• vests for all children,
• mixed crest patterns,
• simplified clan symbols.

This increased cultural pride — but it also blurred the distinction between:

• vest (clothing), and
• robe (authority).

Ayaawx must be re-taught to correct this confusion.

Reasserting Ayaawx Today

Modern Tsm̱syen artists and Houses are restoring meaning by:

• reviving goat-hair weaving,
• restoring crest protocols,
• teaching robe permissions,
• documenting House histories,
• correcting misuse through ha’lidzap or gentle teaching,
• rebuilding relationships between matriarchs and regalia makers.

Restoration is not a return to the past — it is the re-strengthening of ayaawx in a modern world.

Summary

Colonial influence:

• introduced new materials,
• disrupted ancient regalia,
• blurred meaning,
• weakened crest law,
• created confusion between clothing and ceremony.

Ayaawx restores the truth:

• regalia is law,
• crests are inherited,
• permissions matter,
• and House honour guides all decisions.

Notes

INITIATION DRAFT — Will expand with House-specific examples, weaving revival stories, and matriarch teachings.