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I will be using this sandbox for distributing information pertaining to the Kenny Dam.


Relocation of the Cheslatta T'En

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Flooding of native land

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At the request of the Department of Fisheries (DFO) and Department of Indian Affairs (DIA), the Murray Dam and the Skins spillway were constructed across the Cheslatta River to help cool water temperatures in the upper Nechako River in order to minimize the impact on salmon spawning from the development of the Kenney Dam.[1] As a result of the discharged water from the Murray Dam and the spillway, the traditional lands which had been home to the Cheslatta T'En people for at least 10,000 years were flooded and caused the relocation of approximately 200 Cheslatta people.[2] Villages were demolished and burned prior to the flooding with most families unable to return to collect their belongings and as water levels rose, it has been noted that coffins and skeletons from their traditional grave sites were washed away with skeletal remains being allegedly found in and around Cheslatta Lake.[3]

Relocation and compensation

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The Cheslatta T'En people were given approximately 10 days notice before they were relocated to live in overcrowded tents at a temporary location 30 miles north of their reserves in Grassy Plains.[4] They were responsible for transporting their own belongings by means of wagons and consequently were forced to leave most of their traditional possessions behind.[5] After months of living in poor conditions at the temporary location sites, the Cheslatta people were eventually resettled on marginal farms scattered over large areas, which proved disconcerting for this once close-knit community.[6] According to DIA documents, the Cheslatta people asked for $108,000 in compensation along with payments for their new land, traplines and monthly pensions, however requests were denied and claims were dismissed.[7] Payments in the form of money were demanded for their new land and any constructional improvements within their community.[8] The Cheslatta people were compensated an average of $77/hectare with no payment covering moving expenses, compared to non-native individuals who received relocation compensation of $1,544/hectare along with covered moving expenses.[9] It was only a year after the Murray Dam was constructed that the band members received their compensation payments.[10]

The Cheslatta people were also regulated on where to hunt and when to fish which combined with the land payments forced many people to seek welfare benefits.[11] Their native practices became increasingly difficult as they were forced to conform to a new way of living and consequently death tolls rose from tuberculosis, suicides and alcoholism as a result of their poor living conditions.[12] Requests for assistance in health care, education and housing were denied until 1964 when the relocation sites were officially turned into federal reserves.[13]

DIA records show unanimous support by the Cheslatta people for the surrender of their native land, however many band members state that no formal assent was conducted and the signatures on documents are forged by Indian affairs officials.[14] It is also widely debated whether or not the legal rights of the Cheslatta people were presented as many claim that they were unaware of their power to refuse the requests of the Government of British Columbia, along with their ability to have a third-party advisor.[15] The Cheslatta people also claimed the Alcan had assured them that most grave sites would be be unaffected by rising water levels, however any grave sites running the risk of inundation would be transferred to higher grounds and that they would be informed.[16] Alcan, however, claimed that the Cheslatta had agreed to flooding the grave sites, so long as two recent graves were moved and commemorative markers were placed above the flood waters. In accordance with this understanding, Alcan moved two graves while the rest of the grave markers were burned.[17]

Subsequent settlements

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In 1990, the Cheslatta filed a $122 million court case against the Canadian government over DIA fraud, duress and breach of trust, however the case was settled out of court for slightly less than $7 million.[18] In 1998, Members of the Cheslatta Carrier Nation filed a Statement of Claim with the Supreme Court of British Columbia disputing all agreements and licenses issued to Alcan by the Federal and Provincial governments. The appeal was dismissed in Alcan's favour with no further legal actions in effect.[19]

On January 30, 2012, Rio Tinto Alcan finalized the transfer of approximately 11,000 acres of land to the Cheslatta Carrier Nation. The Cheslatta received the land as a form of freehold ownership with an estimated value of $1.2 million [20]


Group Feedback

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Hey all,

I managed to cut down the length of my work and so I think it's short enough to go live with the whole document in the early afternoon. I'm going to keep making modifications but let me know if the writing is too simple..

Chuksha (talk) 10:59, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

Hey, I think the writing is good. The only thing I might change is that there are a lot of subsections, any way we can fold some of them together? I think "controversy" could go under the relocation and compensation part, for instance. And maybe the legal suit and return of land could be bundled into a section on "Subsequent settlements" or something like that? Just to simplify a bit? --Ebsutton (talk) 20:14, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

Hey, it looks looks good! I agree about the subheadings though. Do you think we should add a sentence to let people know what the Murray Dam was for? People might wonder why it matters in our article. Also, I think there are a few things that need those [ ] around them.--Tgreer00 (talk) 20:45, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

Yeah I like those new subsections. Also the First two sentences in the flooding section discuss why the Murray Dam was built which was to cool the Nechako tributaries to limit the risk to the salmon but I think you mean how it relates to the Kenney dam yeah?

Thanks guys

Chuksha (talk) 21:11, 31 March 2012 (UTC)


The filling of the reservoir flooded the homes of the Cheslatta T'En people, who received little compensation until a later settlement. Approximately 65 non-Aboriginal families in the Ootsa Lake area, from the communities of Ootsa, Streatham, and Wistaria, were also displaced.[21] Alcan compensated 90 landholders $2.3 million (at about $25,000 each) as a result.[22]

  1. ^ Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Accessed 30 March 2012.
  2. ^ Windsor, J.E. (2005). "Annihilation of Both Place and Sense of Place: The Experience of the Cheslatta T'En Canadian First Nation within the Context of Large-Scale Environmental Projects". The Geographical Journal. 171 (2): 146–165. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4959.2005.00156.x. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Windsor, J.E. (2005). "Annihilation of Both Place and Sense of Place: The Experience of the Cheslatta T'En Canadian First Nation within the Context of Large-Scale Environmental Projects". The Geographical Journal. 171 (2): 146–165. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4959.2005.00156.x. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ Windsor, J.E. (2005). "Annihilation of Both Place and Sense of Place: The Experience of the Cheslatta T'En Canadian First Nation within the Context of Large-Scale Environmental Projects". The Geographical Journal. 171 (2): 146–165. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4959.2005.00156.x. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ Windsor, J.E. (2005). "Annihilation of Both Place and Sense of Place: The Experience of the Cheslatta T'En Canadian First Nation within the Context of Large-Scale Environmental Projects". The Geographical Journal. 171 (2): 146–165. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4959.2005.00156.x. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Windsor, J.E. (2005). "Annihilation of Both Place and Sense of Place: The Experience of the Cheslatta T'En Canadian First Nation within the Context of Large-Scale Environmental Projects". The Geographical Journal. 171 (2): 146–165. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4959.2005.00156.x. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Byl, Dick (1992). The Cheslatta Surrender. A Legal Analysis of a Surrender Given by the Cheslatta Carrier Nation to Her Majesty in Right of the Government of Canada on the 21st of April 1952. p. 48.
  8. ^ Byl, Dick (1992). The Cheslatta Surrender. A Legal Analysis of a Surrender Given by the Cheslatta Carrier Nation to Her Majesty in Right of the Government of Canada on the 21st of April 1952|. p. 5.
  9. ^ Windsor, J.E. (2005). "Annihilation of Both Place and Sense of Place: The Experience of the Cheslatta T'En Canadian First Nation within the Context of Large-Scale Environmental Projects". The Geographical Journal. 171 (2): 146–165. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4959.2005.00156.x. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Accessed 30 March 2012.
  11. ^ Windsor, J.E. (2005). "Annihilation of Both Place and Sense of Place: The Experience of the Cheslatta T'En Canadian First Nation within the Context of Large-Scale Environmental Projects". The Geographical Journal. 171 (2): 146–165. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4959.2005.00156.x. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ Windsor, J.E. (2005). "Annihilation of Both Place and Sense of Place: The Experience of the Cheslatta T'En Canadian First Nation within the Context of Large-Scale Environmental Projects". The Geographical Journal. 171 (2): 146–165. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4959.2005.00156.x. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Wagg, Dana (1993). The Cheslatta Story: In Brief. p. 2.
  14. ^ Windsor, J.E. (2005). "Annihilation of Both Place and Sense of Place: The Experience of the Cheslatta T'En Canadian First Nation within the Context of Large-Scale Environmental Projects". The Geographical Journal. 171 (2): 146–165. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4959.2005.00156.x. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Accessed 30 March 2012.
  16. ^ Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Accessed 30 March 2012.
  17. ^ Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Accessed 30 March 2012.
  18. ^ Windsor, J.E. (2005). "Annihilation of Both Place and Sense of Place: The Experience of the Cheslatta T'En Canadian First Nation within the Context of Large-Scale Environmental Projects". The Geographical Journal. 171 (2): 146–165. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4959.2005.00156.x. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "Cheslatta Carrier Nation v. British Columbia" (PDF). http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/050/documents_staticpost/cearref_37519/45281/t12.pdf. Retrieved 31 March 2012. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ Billard, Rebecca. "Rio Tinto Alcan returns Cheslatta Carrier Nation's traditional territory". BCLocalNews. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  21. ^ Christensen, 55.
  22. ^ Christensen, 56.
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