A Fascinating and Tragic Tale of Survival

The Cheslatta Carrier Nation is based at Southbank, on the south shore of Francois Lake, 23 kilometres south of Burns Lake. Many members of the Cheslatta Carrier Nation live on 17 Indian Reserves scattered over a vast area known as the ‘Southside’. Prior to 1952, the people of the Cheslatta Carrier Nation lived for centuries on the shores of Cheslatta and Murray Lakes. We enjoyed a peaceful, self-sustaining existence. Through the centuries, the Cheslatta people developed a complex system of roads, trails and paths connecting our small villages to the communities of Grassy Plains, Fraser Lake and Vanderhoof.

In 1950, the BC Government granted the Aluminum Company of Canada (Alcan) the rights to all of the water in Cheslatta traditional territory which flowed into the Nechako River. This was the start of a giant hydroelectric project in which Alcan was to dam the Nechako River which would flood Ootsa, Tetachuk and Tahtsa Rivers, creating the 400-kilometer-long Nechako Reservoir. Our lives would be forever changed.

Please enjoy this video in which Cheslatta Senior Policy Advisor, Mike Robertson, details the history of the Cheslatta people.

To learn more about our history, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Cheslatta Carrier Nation History Book

We are working with a professional writer Frank Peebles from Francois Lake, to research, document and write a history on Cheslatta going back many generations. We have been partially funded by Nechako Kitimat Development Fund on this project.

PROFESSIONAL RESEARCHER

We are conducting high-level archival/historical research in the use and occupation of the Cheslatta Territory. We have retained professional researcher Nolan Thiffault on a termed, 6 month contract. Nolan has transcribed the Fort Fraser trading post journals that documents in great detail, the importance of the Cheslatta t'en during the period 1887-1914. This will be published and distributed within the next 30 days.

ARCHAEOLOGY

We have applied for an Archeology permit and will commence intensive archaeological recognizance this summer. This project will provide some exciting employment and educational opportunities for Cheslatta members for the next few years.