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The Lheidli T'enneh Band also known as the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation and historically known as the Fort George Indian Band is the
First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...
band government In Canada, an Indian band (), First Nation band () or simply band, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subject to the ''Indian Act'' (i.e. status Indians or First Nations). Bands are typically small groups of people: the largest in ...
for the Lheidli T'enneh, a subgroup of the
Dakelh The Dakelh (pronounced ) or Carrier are a First Nations in Canada, First Nations Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people living a large portion of the British Columbia Interior, Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The Dakel ...
people whose traditional territory includes the City of
Prince George, British Columbia Prince George is a city in British Columbia, Canada, situated at the confluence of the Fraser River, Fraser and Nechako River, Nechako rivers. The city itself has a population of 76,708; the metro census agglomeration has a population of 89,490 ...
. The name means "The People from the confluence of the two rivers" in the
Carrier language The Dakelh () or Carrier language is a Northern Athabaskan language. It is named after the Dakelh people, a First Nations people of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, for whom Carrier has been a common English name derived from F ...
referring to how the
Nechako River The Nechako River (Carrier language, Dakelh: ᘅᐪᙠᗶᑋ) arises on the Nechako Plateau east of the Kitimat Ranges of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, and flows north toward Fort Fraser, British Columbia, Fort Fraser, then east ...
enters the
Fraser River The Fraser River () is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain (Canada), Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of V ...
at Prince George. The Lheidli T'enneh are Carrier people. Their traditional language, now spoken only by a few people, is a dialect of the Carrier language. The Lheidli T'enneh did not have permanent settlements in what is modern day Prince George until the arrival of the HBC post Fort George. Temporary and seasonal settlements were used across the traditional territory and archeological evidence of fishing camps along the Nechako and Fraser rivers as well as the Beaverly area.


19th and 20th centuries


HBC Trading Post

The Northwest Company established a trading post near the confluence of the Nechako and Fraser rivers in the early 1820s. The Northwest Company and Husdon's Bay Company merged in 1821. First Nations in the area were expected to bring furs to the post in exchange for goods. This original post was closed in 1824 but rebuilt in 1829 further down the Fraser river. The HBC Fort George Trading post was part of a series of HBC posts in the north. First Nations who traded with the HBC post soon developed a permanent settlement close to Fort George trading post along the Fraser river towards the confluence. In 1839 a census of the Lheidli village recorded 75 men, 50 women and 62 children for a total of 187. in 1883 the Fort George Indian Reserve was established, the footprint of which would later become the land wanted and acquired by the Grand Trunk pacific Railway to build its Prince George townsite. The Fort George Reserve No.1 encompassed 1366 acres. Three other reserve sites were also surveyed around the region. The land was considered to be agriculturally worthless and remote enough to not interfere the development. Census in the 1890s there were 29 houses with 124 residents in the village. People living in the village relied on hunting, fishing, and trapping and had also cultivated garden patches as trade with the HBC post diminished. Roman Catholic priests and Oblate missionaries from other posts in the region visited the Lheidli T'enneh often.


Acquisition of Reserve No.1 by the Railway

In 1908, the
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway running from Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay) to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a Pacific coast port. East of Winnipeg the line continued as the National ...
(GTP) identified the Reserve No.1 land as an ideal area for a railway and station site, and attempted to claim that all of the 1366 acres was needed for railway purposes, and thus circumvent negotiations with the Department of Indian Affairs. This was rejected. The Department of Indian Affairs wished to protect the Lheidli T'enneh's interests but also supported railway development. By 1910, the DIA agent in the area was concerned about the influence of white settlers on the Lheidli T'enneh, including the supply of liquor to the village and that "civilization has overtaken them too rapidly" DIA Indian Agent John McDougall however saw that the Lheidli T'enneh had come to see the value of the land and employed that in negotiations. Between 1908 and 1911, several offers for the acquisition of the Reserve No.1 lands were made by the GTP and others such as Charles Millar (of BC Express) who wanted to develop the land. The Department of Indian Affairs in conjunction with railroad representatives made several offers for the land. In 1910, Chief Louis described the attachment to the land and village to McDougall, who reported that "Land, Cash, and farm equipment" would be needed to overcome resistance, and the band was considered to be averse to a sale. McDougall met with Chief Louis again in December 1910 offering (/acre) but Chief Louis told McDougall that "they could not in their present mind surrender this reserve". A vote was held at a meeting two days later with members of the Band over age 21. the vote approved the surrender of the reserve land 12–11, but Chief Louis asked to talk with his people and the Band did not consider the vote final. The Band appointed Oblate Missionary E.C Bellot as an emissary to Ottawa with a larger cash demand of $1000 per acre, which was refused by DIA representatives. Upon return to Fort George, a new vote by the Band unanimously turned down the sale. During this time, the business developers of Fort George Townsite opposed the sale of the reserve lands as it would lead to its rival building a competing town while South Fort George, which was built close to the old HBC Post and the village, welcomed the railway and its townsite. In 1911, federal
Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the U.S. government. Agents established in Nonintercourse Act of 1793 The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the Un ...
W.J. MacAllan took on the negotiations with assistance from Reverend Father Coccola. Father Coccola conflicted role as he had interests in the well-being of the Lheidli T'enneh but was also negotiating on behalf of the railway company which might connect to his mission on Stuart Lake. Father Coccola had wanted to relocated the Lheidli T'enneh to a safer area where they would be away from settlers and could be schooled in agriculture and in religion. Coccola suggested to the band that "if it tolerated intoxicating liquor and moral disorders, he would be the first to insist to have them removed". Coccola made several statements that he would convince or persuade the Band to relocate if they refused offers, and even involved himself in pricing amounts that could be offers to the Lheidli T'enneh. With several offers and refusals, the Lheidli T'enneh saw a split in support for a land sale. Chief Louis favored the surrender of the land, but Joseph Quah, an influential leader in the Band, wanted a higher price. On November 18, 1911, Fort George Indian Band agreed to sell the Reserve No.1 lands for (one quarter to be paid immediately) which included $25,000 for construction on reserve No.2 and No.3 and the preservation of the original village cemetery. The band committed to relocate by June 1912. The vote for this agreement saw 32 in favor and one against, and three abstentions. The timeline was difficult to keep as new buildings had to be constructed. Delays in contracts being awarded by the government to build a new village meant that few could move by the deadline and Band members planted crops needed later in the year. The June 1912 payment was withheld as the DIA saw the planting as refusal to leave. Chief Louis argued that the agreement stated that the payment was to be made in June and was not contingent on relocation. Winter was also coming and the crops would be needed if the new village was not built or supplies given to the Band. The new village was completed in 1913 with Band members moving there in September. The old village was destroyed "to force the Indians away" and ensure that it was not reoccupied. The ''Fort George Herald'' reported the destruction of the old village as "the torch of the white man will be thrust into the remaining houses and the village will disappear quietly in a cloud of smoke". Indian Agent W. J. MacAllan's accounts of the situation reveal a need on his part and the part of the GTP to strong arm the bandmembers out, targeting two cabins in the village that were empty as the residents were away hinting "I knew that to set fire to the cabins would cause a flare up of intense excitement and give me the break I needed, for a crisis had to be created before the deadlock could be broken". The site of Reserve No.2 (Shelley) was much further away from the new Prince George townsite and other communities. The land was not particularly fertile for agriculture and the Band suffered economically. The site of the old village and the HBC post would become Fort George Park. The cemetery would become Reserve No.1A.


21st century

There are over 700 members of Lheidli T'enneh First Nation. Many also live off the reserve.


The Lheidli T'enneh Treaty

On October 29, 2006, the Lheidli T'enneh became the first people to initiate a treaty with
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
within the framework of the
British Columbia Treaty Process The British Columbia Treaty Process (BCTP) is a land claims negotiation process started in 1993 to resolve outstanding issues, including claims to un-extinguished indigenous rights, with British Columbia's First Nations. Three treaties have ...
created in response to the Delgamuukw case. It remains for the treaty to be ratified by a vote of Lheidli T'enneh band members, by the
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia () is the deliberative assembly of the Legislature of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The other component of the Legislature is the lieutenant governor of British Columbi ...
, and by the
Canadian Parliament The Parliament of Canada () is the federal legislature of Canada. The Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate and the House of Commons, form the bicameral legislature. The 343 members of the lower house, the House of Commons, are styled a ...
. On February 9, 2007, the Treaty 8 First Nations launched a legal challenge of the ratification of Lheidli T'enneh treaty. The Treaty 8 First Nations asserted that Canada, British Columbia and the Lheidli T'enneh did not adequately consult them about the overlap of the Lheidli T'enneh treaty area and the area of
Treaty 8 Treaty 8, which concluded with the June 21, 1899, signing by representatives of the Crown and various First Nations of the Lesser Slave Lake area, is the most comprehensive of the eleven Numbered Treaties. The agreement encompassed a land m ...
. The Treaty 8 First Nations sought an interlocutory injunction preventing the ratification of the treaty until such time as the parties resolves the issues of the overlap. Justice Wilson of the
Supreme Court of British Columbia The Supreme Court of British Columbia is the superior trial court for the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Court hears civil and criminal law cases as well as appeals from the Provincial Court of British Columbia. There are 90 judici ...
denied the plaintiff's application for an interlocutory injunction. A similar challenge was launched by Secwepemc Nation on March 12, 2007. The Lheidli T'enneh band members did not ratify the treaty in a treaty ratification vote held on March 30, 2007. In the vote, 123 people voted against the treaty and 111 voted in favour of it. In response to this outcome, the British Columbia Treaty Commission undertook a "Lheidli T’enneh Communications Probe" to determine why the treaty was not ratified. This included a survey carried out by the Mustel Group, a marketing and public opinion research firm based in
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
. The Lheidli T'enneh nation is currently preparing for another ratification vote.


Canada Winter Games

The City of Prince George, as part of its 100th anniversary celebrations, hosted the 2015 Canada Winter Games. The Lheidli T'enneh were the Official Host First Nation, the first time the Games acknowledged a First Nations as a formal partner.


Fort George Park renaming

In 2015, Prince George City Council voted in favor of renaming Fort George Park, which is the location of the original HBC post and Lheidli T'enneh village, to Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park. In 2017, 11 human remains were found in an area of the park being developed for a new shelter. The area where remains were found is outside the fence line of the established Cemetery (reserve No.1A), but the fence line of the cemetery is disputed, and remains are likely to be found in a large area around the Cemetery.


Treaty debate

In June 2018, Lheidli T'enneh First Nation voted against a proposed treaty with the federal and provincial governments, which would have granted self-governance powers.


Pipeline explosion

The Lheidli T'enneh First Nation was affected by an explosion on the Enbridge BC Pipeline in October 2018. The explosion forced about 100 members of the Band to evacuate their homes, even though nobody was hurt in the explosion, and no property was damaged apart from the pipeline itself. In 2019, Lheidli T'enneh First Nation filed a lawsuit seeking a permanent injunction which would prevent Enbridge from operating the pipeline in their territory and reserves, and require the company to dismantle the pipeline and restore the affected lands to their natural state.


Potlatch (Balhats)

In November 2019, the Lheidli T'enneh hosted their first potlatch (Balhat) in 73 years.


Notable members

* Kym Gouchie * Marcel Gagnon


References

* * * *
news article about treaty signingTribal council seeks to delay treaty ratification
*


External links


Lheidli T'enneh web site

Lheidli Carrier Dictionary

Official Lheidli T'enneh Treaty website
*
First Nation Profile
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Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: * Aborigines (mythology), the oldest inhabitants of central Italy in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of se ...
{{Authority control Dakelh governments