Lejac is a locality on the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

line in the

Nechako Country The Nechako Country, also referred to as the Nechako District or simply "the Nechako" is one of the historical geographic regions of the Canadian province of British Columbia, located southwest of the city of Prince George and south of Hwy 16 on ...

region of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, located on the south shore of Fraser Lake between the communities of

Fraser Lake Fraser Lake is a village in northern British Columbia, Canada. It's located on the southwest side of Fraser Lake between Burns Lake and Vanderhoof alongside the Yellowhead Highway. The small community's population is primarily employed by eithe ...

(W) and Fort Fraser (E).

Name origin

Lejac derives its name from the now-closed

Lejac Residential School Lejac Residential School was a Canadian residential school in British Columbia that operated from 1922 to 1976 by the Roman Catholic Church under contract with the Government of Canada. Construction of the school was completed on 17 January 1922, ...

, which had been named for one of the co-founders of the residential school at

Fort St. James Fort St. James is a district municipality and former fur trading post in northern central British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the south-eastern shore of Stuart Lake in the Omineca Country, at the northern terminus of Highway 27, which con ...

. Though not on

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." Ind ...

itself, Lejac is a community of the

Nadleh Whut'en First Nation The Nadleh Whut'en First Nation is a First Nations government of the Dakelh people, whose territory is located in the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, around the east end of Fraser Lake. The nation has seven reserves which Crown-In ...

of the

Dakelh The Dakelh (pronounced ) or Carrier are the indigenous people of a large portion of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The "Carrier" name was derived from an English translation of ''Aghele'', the name from the neighbouring Sekani ...

(Carrier) people, whose main community, Nadleh Village, is adjacent to the original site of the fort, which is located in

Beaumont Provincial Park Beaumont Provincial Park is a provincial park located at the southeast end of Fraser Lake, between Fort Fraser and the town of Fraser Lake, British Columbia, approximately 40 km west of Vanderhoof, British Columbia Vanderhoof is a dis ...

. Nadleh was also referred to as Fort Fraser, though today's non-native community of that name was based around the CNR stop of that name, and is on the opposite side of the

Nechako River The Nechako River arises on the Nechako Plateau east of the Kitimat Ranges of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, and flows north toward Fort Fraser, then east to Prince George where it enters the Fraser River. "Nechako" is an angli ...

, which is connected to the outflow from Fraser Lake by the short

Nautley River Nautley River (Dakelh: Nadlehkoh - ″Where the salmon return creek″ or Nadleh - ″(fish) run″) drains Fraser Lake into the Nechako River in the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Only long, it is one of the shortest rivers in th ...

, whose name comes from the Nadleh Whuten people. Fort Fraser was the site of the first non-native agricultural undertakings in British Columbia.

Catholic pilgrimage site

Lejac is most notable for a now-annual pilgrimage by Catholic faithful to the grave of

Rose Prince Rose Prince (or Rose of the Carrier) was a Dakelh woman who has become the subject of a Catholic pilgrimage. Biography Rose Prince was born in Fort St. James, British Columbia, in 1915, the third of the nine children of Jean-Marie and Agathe Pr ...

, or "Rose of the Carrier", who had been a student at the residential school and is revered by Catholics for her uncorrupted body being discovered during the moving of coffins from an older cemetery to a new one. Many believe she will eventually be sainted, and so far has been approved by the Vatican for preliminary steps towards

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

, a precursor to official sainthood. Uncorrupted: The Story of Rose Prince
- A documentary film about Rose Prince.

References

{{coord, 54, 03, 00, N, 124, 45, 00, W, display=title Nechako Country Catholic pilgrimage sites Dakelh communities

Name origin

Catholic pilgrimage site

See also

References