Socioeconomic issues: History
First Nations
First Nations people inhabited this area eons before European explorers and fur traders made their way to this part of Canada's wild north. Charlie Lake Cave excavation finds (near Fort St. John) date back to around 11 000-10 500 BC. These finds raise doubts about the widely accepted notion that aboriginal dwellers migrated from the North. Ornamental bead and flint findings suggest that migration more likely came from the South. If this is so, many history books and the theories behind them will have to be rewritten. For further information and pictures on the Charlie Lake dig, please see Charlie Lake Cave: A very early occupation site in northern British Columbia and A Journey to a New Land.)
Initially, the Peace River was used extensively as a travel route for the local First Nations Beaver (Dane-Zaa) and the Sikinna to places as far away as McLeod Lake and Fort Ware. The first record of trade between these two First Nations communities and the Westbound Cree was in 1718. From 1770 to 1810 European explorers, including Alexander McKenzie and Simon Fraser, used the Peace River to come in search of furs. By 1794. Rocky Mountain Fort (eventually renamed Fort St. John) was established and in 1799 the first trading post was completed near the confluence of the Moberly and Peace Rivers.
For time immeasurable, local First Nations people have made the Peace River area their home. It is the place of their ancestors, their traditions and their future. It is a vital part of their lives, their culture. In the words of West Moberly First Nations' Councilor, Clarence Willson,
"We have a cultural camp every year where we bring our elders and our youth out and make dry meat, prepare hides and generally hunt and pick berries. The last couple of years we have been out on Gething Creek and farther up on Carbon Creek. This year we will be having two camps, one of which will be on the Peace/Halfway Rivers" (personal email, June 2006).
According to The Site C Heritage Resource Inventory and Assessment done by Spurling in 1980 for BC Hydro,
"Equivalent in importance... are the numerous prehistoric and proto-historic Native American sites, which would be negatively impacted by the proposed development. In total, 78 heritage sites will be inundated by dam development" (p.2).
Listed among these are burial grounds and places of mythological importance (p.131). Sloughing, clear-cut logging, construction, building development, new roads and utility services will destroy more sites as well (pp.97-117).
Initially, the Peace River was used extensively as a travel route for the local First Nations Beaver (Dane-Zaa) and the Sikinna to places as far away as McLeod Lake and Fort Ware. The first record of trade between these two First Nations communities and the Westbound Cree was in 1718. From 1770 to 1810 European explorers, including Alexander McKenzie and Simon Fraser, used the Peace River to come in search of furs. By 1794. Rocky Mountain Fort (eventually renamed Fort St. John) was established and in 1799 the first trading post was completed near the confluence of the Moberly and Peace Rivers.
For time immeasurable, local First Nations people have made the Peace River area their home. It is the place of their ancestors, their traditions and their future. It is a vital part of their lives, their culture. In the words of West Moberly First Nations' Councilor, Clarence Willson,
"We have a cultural camp every year where we bring our elders and our youth out and make dry meat, prepare hides and generally hunt and pick berries. The last couple of years we have been out on Gething Creek and farther up on Carbon Creek. This year we will be having two camps, one of which will be on the Peace/Halfway Rivers" (personal email, June 2006).
According to The Site C Heritage Resource Inventory and Assessment done by Spurling in 1980 for BC Hydro,
"Equivalent in importance... are the numerous prehistoric and proto-historic Native American sites, which would be negatively impacted by the proposed development. In total, 78 heritage sites will be inundated by dam development" (p.2).
Listed among these are burial grounds and places of mythological importance (p.131). Sloughing, clear-cut logging, construction, building development, new roads and utility services will destroy more sites as well (pp.97-117).