nlaka'pamux, stʼatʼimc, dakelh, tsilhqotʼin, and secwepemc, among others. aftermath up until the 1862–1863 epidemic, the colonial authorities acquired indigenous land through treaties. governor james douglas had signed 14 land cession treaties on vancouver island, known as the douglas treaties. in 1864, after the epidemic, the colony's chief commissioner of land and works joseph trutch decided to stop recognizing indigenous title and abandon the treaty process. this set the precedent of british columbia taking indigenous land by fiat rather than treaty. the large population losses also caused widespread native village abandonment and consolidation, cultural loss, increased conflict and hostility with colonists. in haida gwaii, following the 1862 epidemic, over nineteen villages diminished to four by the early 20th century. the tsilhqotʼin people resisted when a wagon road began to be built through their territory without permission, resulting in the chilcotin war. one of the foremen of the road-building project threatened the tsilhqotʼin with smallpox. the war ended with the hanging of six tsilhqotʼin chiefs. in 2014, british columbia premier christy clark formally exonerated the executed chiefs and apologized for these acts, acknowledging that "there is an indication was spread intentionally."