Lheidli T'enneh Band

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 band government for the Lheidli T'enneh, a subgroup of the Dakelh people whose traditional territory includes the City of Prince George, British Columbia. The name means "The People from the confluence of the two rivers" in the Carrier language referring to how the Nechako River enters the Fraser River at Prince George.

Lheidli T'enneh First Nation

Lheidli T'enneh

Band number 611
CountryCanada
ProvinceBritish Columbia
Government
 • TypeFirst Nations Council
 • ChiefClayton Pountney
Population
 (Feb 2015)
 • Total415
 66 males, 52 females on reserve. Remainder live off reserve[1]
Time zoneUTC-7 (Pacific Time Zone (PTZ))
 • Summer (DST)DST
Postal code span
V2K 5X8
Area code(s)250
Websitewww.lheidli.ca
Main Office: 1041 Whenun Road, Prince George, BC, V2K 5X8

The Lheidli T'enneh are Carrier people. Their traditional language, now spoken only by a few people, is a dialect of the Carrier language.

19th and 20th centuries

The Fort George Indian Band Reserve was first established in 1892 where the Fraser and Nechako rivers meet, and the current site of downtown Prince George.

In 1911, federal Indian agent W.J. MacAllan negotiated a land sale agreement between the Lheidli T'enneh, the federal government and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The 100 or so band members and their belongings were transported to land north of the city known as the Shelley Reserve. When the band assembly resisted being removed from their village, MacAllan participated in arson of vacant buildings to motivate band members to accept the move.[2]

21st century

The Lheidli T'enneh Treaty

On October 29, 2006 the Lheidli T'enneh became the first people to initiate a treaty with British Columbia and Canada within the framework of the British Columbia Treaty Process 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, and by the Canadian Parliament.

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.

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 denied the plaintiff's application for an interlocutory injunction.

A similar challenge was launched by the 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.

The Lheidli T'enneh nation is currently preparing for another ratification vote.

Clayton Pountney was elected as Chief on April 10, 2019.[3] Pountney replaced Dominic Frederick who was first elected as Chief in 2004.[4]

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.[5]

Treaty debate

In June 2018, the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation voted against a proposed treaty with the federal and provincial governments, which would have granted self-governance powers.[6]

Pipeline explosion

The Lheidli T'enneh First Nation was affected by an explosion on the Enbridge BC Pipeline in October of 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.[7] In 2019, the 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.[8]

References
  1. "Registered Population - Lheidli T'enneh". Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  2. Peebles, Frank (Mar 7, 2015). "City's 100th anniversary built on village's ashes". Prince George Citizen.
  3. "Lheidli T'enneh Governance 2019". Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  4. Balzer, Kyle (April 11, 2019). "Meet the new Lheidli T'enneh First Nation Chief and Council". PrinceGeorgeMatters.com. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  5. "Lheidli 2015". Host First Nations Secretariat. Archived from the original on 20 October 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  6. "Lheidli T'enneh First Nation votes no to government treaty". CBC News. June 24, 2018. Members of the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation in north-central B.C. have voted against a treaty that would have provided them with land, resource rights and the power to self-govern.
  7. News (2018-10-10). "'It was huge': Enbridge gas pipeline ruptures, sparking massive fire and evacuation north of Prince George, B.C. | Financial Post". Retrieved 2019-03-17.
  8. "First Nation affected by B.C. pipeline explosion files lawsuit against Enbridge | Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. 2019-02-27. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
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