THE MEETING OF TWO CULTURES

The first European to visit the Lheidli was Simon Fraser and his party in 1806. Wishing to impress the Natives with the power of his musket, he primed it, rammed a bullet down its muzzle, and fired. The Natives ran away and hid—the majority in underground houses. He fired a second time, knocking down things that the Natives had hung up. Then he cut up some tobacco, lit up his pipe and offered each Native a small pull. The Carrier, however, were not acquainted with tobacco at this time, and after sniffing it, threw it away. They thought that this man, who could blow smoke from his mouth, was a cremated Native who had returned from the land of the dead (Jenness 1934).

In 1807, the Hudson’s Bay Company established a fort at the confluence of the Ltha-Koh Cho and Tsi chakoh, which they renamed the Fraser and Nechako Rivers. They named the fort after King George III, the sovereign at the time. The Europeans brought a new industry (the fur trade), new diseases, and a new religion with them. This had enormous effects on the Lheidli T’enneh and their culture.

The Fur Trade   -  Disease   - Missionaries
Beginnings   -  Lheidli T'enneh   -  Meeting of Two Cultures The Pioneer Experience
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