Research Fellow

Dr Karen Wonders, is a Research Fellow, Institute of the History of Science, University of Goettingen, in Germany. Dr Wonders mentions Slumach on her Web site, First Nations Land Rights and Environmentalism in BC: "She speaks about Slumach as the "legendary Indian" who "had become famous for his hidden gold stash." Dr Wonders comments: "Unable to to speak English and illiterate, he [Slumach] had no defence to the fabricated charges against him."

There are no reasons why the charges would have been fabricated. There was no white skin to protect. All involved were "Indian." From the sources it is clear that Slumach shot Bee and the only reason to twist the evidence would have been to demonstrate that the shooting was in self defence. The records suggest that the Court would have liked to twist the evidence in favour of Slumach, but that the witness consistently denied that there was anything on board to threaten or attack Slumach with. Also, Slumach may have been illiterate and unable to speak English, but he had access to translators and a lawyer.

What bothers me is not the fairness of the trial, but the lack of compassion of the white population as a whole and the harsh and inhumane execution of an elderly "Indian" and fellow human being. Even if that was a usual punishment for murder in those days.

Dr. Wonder's refers to a questionable source of information, a 2005 German film: Auf Slumachs Spuren, [On Slumach's Trails]. The German treasure hunter Toni Lennartz claims in the film that all the records of the trial and the testimonies were lost in a fire, which is evidently not correct. But Toni's interest is not like Dr. Wonders in the fairness of the trial, but what the legal records could have said about Slumach's gold. He complains that the meager news reports of the time don't give any good information about the treasure. In truth the newspapers don't mention gold at all. Toni sets out on an expedition in the Pitt Lake mountains, aided by an entourage of experts and comes back with the suggestion that the gold was perhaps pyrite: False Gold.
Good joke! One hears the laughter of Volcanic Brown and all the other sourdoughs!