Cheslatta Carrier Nation Backgrounder

Historical Timeline

Pre-Contact -
The people of the Cheslatta Carrier Nation are Dene Carrier people.  A hunter/gatherer society, they roam a vast area primarily centered on what is now the Nechako Reservoir in central British Columbia. They subsist on fresh water fish, caribou, deer, and the bountiful berries, herbs, and medicines in their territory.  They live in established villages at Eutsuk, Tetachuck, Ootsa, and Cheslatta Lakes. Their primary trading partners are the Haisla at Kemano and Kimsquit and the Nuxalk at Bella Coola. Cheslatta are closely related to Carrier communities of Saikuz, Nadleh and Stellat’en and Ulkatcho. Trading posts are established in Fort Fraser, Fort Babine, and Hazelton where they first encounter European settlers. 

1806 - Fort Fraser Hudson Bay Company post established

1838 and 1861 - Smallpox devastates the Cheslatta villages

1905 - First European settlers at Ootsa Lake

1916 - Indian Reserves established at Cheslatta

1930’s - Cheslatta starts their own trading post at Belgatchek village

1950 - Unbeknownst to Cheslatta, the BC government grants the Aluminum Company of Canada rights to all the water in the Cheslatta Territory

1952 -
Kenney Dam is completed blocking all flow in the Nechako River, the largest tributary to the Fraser River. There is no spillway at the dam. As a measure to protect the salmon, in late March 1952, Canada directs Alcan to build a temporary dam on Cheslatta Lake. It takes 8 days for the dam to be built and water starts to rise on April 8. On April 21, 1952, as rising water threatens to inundate the villages, Alcan and government officials force the Cheslatta people to evacuate, taking only their basic belongs on their backs, leaving everything else behind. Within weeks of the eviction and without Cheslatta’s knowledge, Alcan contractors burn the villages to the ground, erasing all vestige of Cheslatta life and culture. The Cheslatta people are left to their own devices to survive in an atmosphere of lies and false promises.  People camp in tents and squat in abandoned shacks.  Depression overwhelms the lost people and soon alcohol, drugs and hopelessness begins to consume the Cheslatta, one at a time.

18 days notice given to Cheslatta to move
120,000 acres flooded
3 villages burnt to the ground
Over 60 Cheslatta graves washed away 

1955 - Cheslatta cemetery at IR#9 completely flooded destroying over 30 graves, including the legendary Chief Louie

1964 - New Cheslatta Indian Reserves are finally designated by Canada, but it is too late for many of the people who are lost in a spiral of violent, unnatural deaths

1983 - Running water and sewer system finally installed into Cheslatta homes

1984 - Cheslatta sues Canada over “breach of fiduciary obligation” re: 1952 eviction

1992 - Cheslatta cemetery at Skatchola is diked, preventing further erosion

1993 - Cheslatta settles claim against Canada

1995 - Government of BC cancels Alcan’s Kemano Competition Project

1996 - Cheslatta applies for and is awarded 7 million/m3 year license to underwater timber

1997 - BC and Alcan settle out of court over KCP cancellation. Cheslatta not consulted

1998 - Cheslatta sues Alcan, BC, and Canada over 1997 Settlement Agreement

1999 - Cheslatta invites Alcan to the negotiation table

2000 - Cheslatta and Alcan sign Memorandum of Understanding

2000 - Cheslatta puts court case in abeyance

2004 - Cheslatta enters into Land Management Agreement with Alcan

2007 - Rio Tinto takes over Alcan, becoming Rio Tinto Alcan (RTA)

2010 - Cheslatta Carrier Nation dictionary released

2012 - RTA returns 11,800 acres of Cheslatta lands alienated in the 1950’s including the old village sites

2012 - Cheslatta and RTA commence ‘New Day’ negotiations

2012 - Cheslatta formally proposes to build Kenney Dam Water Release Facility

2013 - Cheslatta files application for a water licence on the Nechako River

2014 - Cheslatta invites British Columbia to commence discussions on reconciliation

2019 - Cheslatta and BC sign Settlement Agreement

2020 - Cheslatta and Rio Tinto sign ‘New Day’ agreement

1961, 1976, 1981, 1992, 2007, 2011, 2015 - One in 200-year flood events from the Skins Lake Spillway that inundate Cheslatta Lake cemeteries. 2007 and 2015 are the largest.