Payments Overdue for Williston Reservoir Mess

Williston Reservoir and Silt

Originally uploaded by TFM.

According to Vaughn Palmer of the Vancouver Sun , the Tsay Keh Dene and the Kwadacha (Athapaskans) of north-central British Columbia are finally going to see restitution for suffering caused by the flooding of the Williston Reservoir in the 1960s. (Williston Reservoir is North America’s largest artificially created lake, according to Palmer.) Williston Reservoir sits behind the WAC Bennett Dam, located on the Peace River near MacKenzie, BC. The reservoir has long been a source of trauma for native communities in the region. It covers old village and historical sites, including the Hudson Bay Company’s Fort Grahame. It disrupted game movements. It forced the relocation of native communities. The waterway is still full of debris which makes boat travel dangerous.

I visited Tsay Keh Dene a couple of times in the early 2000s to conduct traditional knowledge research. The legacy of the reservoir was never far below the surface of our interviews or the memories of our informants (pun intended). I found it especially bizarre to be mapping an extensive cultural landscape of trails, camps, hunting and collecting sites all of which exist underneath the water.

Terms of the settlement have (now) been announced. Read them here in the press release from the BC Government.

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