1888: Tsimequor, indigenous Snuneymuxw

ExecutedToday.com ^ | December 12, 2014 | Meaghan Good

[CheshireTheCat]

On this date in 1888, Tsimequor, a member of the Snuneymuxw First Nation, was executed in Nanaimo, British Columbia for a bizarre murder that clashed Aboriginal and white Canadian cultures.

What happened is explained in Jeffrey Pfeifer and Ken Leyton-Brown’s book Death By Rope: An Anthology of Canadian Executions:

The matter that brought Tsimequor to public attention arose out of a tribal custom designed to help members of the community better deal with grief following the death of a child. The custom dictated that when a child died, it was the practice for all other persons in the tribe who bore the same name to immediately change their names. In this way, relatives of the deceased child would be less likely to be reminded of their loss.

Tsimequor’s son Moses died in 1888 and, as per custom, all the Snuneymuxw who were named “Moses” changed their names to something else.

But there was one little boy in the community whose name was Moïse — “Moses” in French — and Tsimequor demanded that he change his name as well. The four-year-old’s parents refused, and days later somebody killed their son....

[ComputerGuy]

Snuneymuxw
Rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it?

[21twelve]

Even back then folks had “triggers” and used cancel culture.

[MercyFlush]

Yeah, the British always took a dim view of the natives murdering people. That privilege was reserved to the Royal Army.