Cheslatta Trail

The Cheslatta Trail, in the language of Dakelh Tset'ladak t'seti, is a former trade route in the Canadian province of British Columbia, the Dakelh of the villages Behlk'achele and Sdughachola on Cheslatta Lake up to a village of the Nadleh Whut'en First Nation led on Fraser Lake. With the construction of the Kenney Dam, with its 97 m high dam from 1951 to 1967 the Cheslatta Lake was in 1954 flooded to more than 90,000 hectares, which is about 200 Cheslatta had its four villages on the lake shore and river walk, and their country to the extent of 1053 ha leave within ten days. The one year later paid compensation was only one-twentieth of the usual sum, the graves of their ancestors were swept away, they first lived in crowded tents. To compensation did not occur until 1993. Was not until 1964, the new villages have been combined to form a reserve.

The Cheslatta path was one of the trails as Grease or " grease trails " referred to ways in which the butter-like fat candles of fish ( Thaleichthys pacificus ), which was a treasured commodity throughout the North West of America, was transported.

From Nadleh where another path from Fraser Lake began to Stuart Lake, passed the path of what is now Beaumont Provincial Park, crossed Highway 16, then to contact direction Drywilliams Lake. Today, the trail starts at kilometer 7.5 of the Holy Cross Forest Road, ie 6 km west of Beaumont Park on Highway 16, crosses 60 km forest area and this happened several lakes, namely Klez, Chowsunkut, Hallet, Bentzi, Targe Lake and the Holy Cross Lake. In the village Belhk'a chek at the mouth of Knapp Creek in the Lake Cheslatta the path ends.

Since 2002, the Cheslatta Carrier Nation maintains a 25,000 -acre forest, which may only be used by it. In 2009, the Community Development Trust involved in the restoration of some sections of the path.

Comments

• Former trade
• History of the Indians
• History of British Columbia