Hailey C.

The History of Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park

Hailey C.
Prince George Regional Fair
Prince George, BC

The story of Lheidli T’enneh memorial park is that years ago the people of the Lheidli T’enneh lived at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park. The Lheidli T’enneh is built on the strength of their people. The park is located in Prince George, BC. The land is a park now, but it once was the land where the Lheidli T’enneh lived.

Some of the main events are that the Lheidli T’enneh first started building a village in the early 1800’s. The Lheidli T’enneh loved to hunt and fish. The area the Lheidli T’enneh lived in was good for getting salmon. Then in 1820 a fur trading post opened with Simon Fraser and other Indigenous clans. The Lheidli T’enneh had trading post and salmon traps in the Chilako and the Nechako River. But then during spring 1823 the trading post moved to the Nechako and Fraser River. Then in 1823 the trading post shut down due to someone getting murdered. In 1913, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway wanted development on the land of the Lheidli T’enneh and then kicked the Lheidli T’enneh off their land. Then in the fall of 1913 Lheidli T’enneh’s village got burnt down and they never got back to their land. In 1950 the land turned into a park called Fort George Park which included a museum, a playground, waterpark, and gardens. Then on June 21st, 2015 the park decided to rename the park a Lheidli T’enneh Memorial park to honor and respect the Lheidli T’enneh. 

The main people in these events are the Lheidli T’enneh, Simon Fraser and the Grand Pacific Railway.

What sources and evidence did you consult for your project? What different perspectives did they provide on your topic?

The main sources I used are the interpretive signs around Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park to help, I also used museum information since there is a museum at the park that has information and I used the City of Prince George website. The different perspectives they gave me are that the signs had more information about the things the Lheidli T’enneh like to do around their land and about their village. The museum info gave me more of a history-based info about how the re-naming came along and when the land got burnt down. The City of Prince George website just gave some tiny info I needed to fill in the gaps of some questions to help me make my understanding stronger of the topic.

What is the historical significance of your topic?

The historical significance of this topic is that we get to learn who lived on the land before us and how the people before us on the land cared for the land. Also, this taught us for the future to respect the Lheidli T’enneh culture because lots of different things happened to them which were not good. The impacts of my topic reflect that it really hurts to see your land get taken away. Especially since lots of the Lheidli T’enneh grew up on that land that caused trauma. It is sad to see your home be gone and for you to no longer have a safe space. The land being burnt definitely affected the Lheidli T’enneh and it made their hearts broken and they didn't feel at home. The change that took place is the name of the park being switched to Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park which probably made the Lheidli T’enneh community feel proud and acknowledged way more! 

Why did you choose this topic? 

I chose this topic because since I was a kid I have always loved going on walks at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park. So, once I grew older and Heritage Fair was coming up, I decided this would be my topic since I always walk there. I wanted to learn more about the place I loved so much. I wanted to learn the history and about the Lheidli T’enneh. I also thought it would be easier to explain a topic I was already interested in from the start. I was also happy to do my topic on something local!