Canada's Digital Collections  - Home   -  People  -  Museum  -  Sources  -  Feedback  -  Glossary
Beginnings  -  Lheidli T'enneh  -  Meeting of Two Cultures  -  The Pioneer Experience


Glossary

Abstemiousness Sparing especially in eating or drinking.
Anthropologists A scientist who studies the distribution, origin, classification and the relationships of people.
Babiche Moose hide.
Bit Carrier for Lake Char.
Brachylophosaurus A member of the Hadrosaur, or Duckbill dinosaur family, the Brachylophosaurus lived 65–95 million years ago in swampy, well vegetated land. These 7-metre-long dinosaurs could walk on either two or four legs, and probably waded and swam in the numerous bodies of water.
Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Construction of the Canadian Pacific started in 1881. This railway united the East with the West, and was the first railway to travel as far west as Vancouver.
Canoe A long, light, narrow boat with sharp ends and curved sides. It is usually propelled by hand-driven paddles. The Lheidli T’enneh hollowed out two-thirds of the diameter of a poplar-tree trunk to make a canoe. The resulting upper edges were forced out by means of cross-bars that were made gradually larger until the canoe had attained the requisite width.
Climbing Spars A steel framework with spikes attached that may be fixed to one’s boots for climbing.
Crosscut Saw A saw designed chiefly to cut across the grain of wood.
Cutbanks Large, sandy banks that serve as prominent landmarks in Prince George, caused by erosion as a result of the changing movement of the Nechako and Fraser Rivers.
Dakai Carrier for Rainbow Trout.
Dak'et Carrier for autumn.
Dam Beavers live in burrows or in lodges in stream banks. To assure adequate water depth streams are dammed, using branches, logs, mud and stones.  Access to both burrows and lodges is below the surface of the water for protection from predators.
Dayun’un Carrier for Medicine Man.
Dead Falls A trap constructed in such a way so that a heavy log falls on the animal, killing or disabling it.
Erosion The wearing away of the earth's surface, usually as a result of running water.
Exorcist Someone who expels an evil by a ritualistic ceremony.
Extinction The death of an entire species.
Fin Boom A string of logs anchored in the river which guides logs along the river to the sawmill.
Fish Cache A secure storage space held above ground, out of animal reach, by long poles.
Fort George Canyon A narrow, rocky pass on the Fraser River located west of Fort George.
Gs Carrier for Chinook salmon.
Gentleman's Hat A man’s top-crowned hat usually made of beaver pelts.
Glaciers A large body of ice moving slowly down a slope or valley or spreading outward on a land surface.
Grand Trunk Pacific The Grand Trunk Pacific runs from Winnipeg to the West Coast, ending at Prince Rupert. Its name comes from the fact that the Grand Trunk is the main line from the Prairies to the West Coast. It supports many smaller branches, much like the trunk of a tree supports its branches.
Grebes Family of swimming and diving birds closely related to the loon.
High Rig A method of logging in which the logger, called a high rigger, climbs a tree and cuts off the top.
Hingwus Carrier for soapberry.
Hooghunaich’o Carrier for water hemlock.
Ichthyosaur This marine reptile lived during the middle Triassic Period and throughout the Cretaceous Period. They ranged in size from 1–10 metres in length. These reptiles had numerous sharp teeth and fed primarily on fish.
Immune Having a high degree of resistance to a disease.
Immunize To produce a large degree of resistance to a disease.
Infusion To steep in a liquid without boiling. Infusion was used to extract the useful qualities of a substance.
Jackscrews A screw operated jack for lifting or for exerting pressure.
K’ enmai Carrier for Saskatoon berries.
Keystone Species A species of animal on which associated animals depend for support. (For example, starfish are keystone species off the coast of British Columbia. They feed on clams which would otherwise eat all other sea animals in the region. If starfish are removed, the clams flourish, and the marine animal population plunges.)
Khit Carrier for winter.
Lheidlit’en Literally, “Where the two rivers meet.” The Lheidli T’enneh name for the confluence of the Nechako and Fraser Rivers.
Lheidli T’enneh Literally, “People from where the two rivers meet.” The Natives living at the confluence of the Nechako and Fraser Rivers, and area.
Ltha-Koh-Cho Carrier for the Fraser River.
Matriarchy A system of social organization in which descent and inheritance are traced through the mother's line.
Mosasaur The Mosasaur was a marine reptile that lived about 70 million years ago when oceans covered much of British Columbia. They could reach up to 9 metres in length and had hinged jaws to allow them to devour large prey.
Min-U-Ties The Carrier word for the first salmon to come upstream, it means “chief.”
Musket A heavy, large-calibre, shoulder firearm.
Mustard Plaster An old-time equivalent of Vick’s Vapo-Rub ©, this mixture is made of equal parts hot mustard powder and flour, with just enough hot water to make a thick paste.  It is applied to a patient’s chest to relieve nasal congestion and coughs.
Nat-t-tsel Carrier for dried sockeye salmon.
Nootka Sound Nootka Sound is located on the west side of Vancouver Island near Gold River, British Columbia.
Oluth Carrier for spring.
Onorhynchus nerka Latin for sockeye salmon.
Oolichan Oil Oil from the Oolichan fish which is high in nutrients.
Parasites An organism living in or on another organism from which it obtains benefits and which it usually injures.
Patriarchy Social organization marked by the supremacy of the father in the clan or family, the legal dependence of wives and children, and the reckoning of descent and inheritance in the male line.
Peaveys A stout, hooked lever ending in a strong, sharp spike that is used to manoeuver logs.
Pit Houses Traditional Carrier winter dwelling.  These are made by digging a three-foot-deep pit in the earth and then building a dome around it out of logs and birchbark.  The dome is then covered with earth, leaving a hole in the top that serves as both an entrance and a smokehole.
Pleistocene Epoch Beginning two million years ago, this epoch saw the most recent ice ages and the peopling of North America.
Potlaching A traditional ceremonial feast of the First Nations in British Columbia.  A prominent feature of this ceremony is the host’s lavish distribution of gifts requiring reciprocation.
Quarantine The isolation of people or animals to prevent the spread of any infectious diseases they may be harbouring.
Quinine A bitter crystalline alkaloid from cinchona bark used in medicine.
Reserves A tract of public land set aside for the use of Natives.
Retire Johnson closed his hotel, refusing to sell it to a new owner.
River Rat Men who patrol the fin booms, clearing log jams as the logs make their way down the river to the sawmill.
River Scow A large flat-bottomed boat with broad square ends used chiefly for the transportation of bulk material.
Sa Carrier for the sun.
Salicylates A salt of salicylic acid used in the treatment of rheumatism. Salicylates are found in modern painkillers such as Advil and Aspirin.
Salvation Deliverance from the power and effects of sin.
Shaman A religious leader who possesses spiritual enlightenment and assists in the health and well-being of others.
Shin Carrier for summer.
Spawn To produce or deposit eggs. Salmon return to their place of birth to spawn after having spent four or five years on British Columbia's coast. Many salmon die on this journey.
Sweathouse Accommodating anywhere from one to several people, most sweathouses were rounded structures with a pole framework overlaid with earth or mats. Much like a modern-day sauna or steambath, water was poured over hot rocks to create high humidity and heat inside the structure.
Tae loe has lay Carrier for "The salmon have arrived." 
Taloh Carrier for sockeye salmon.
Tertiary Period: First period of the age of mammals, or of the Cenozoic era.
Tete Jaune Tete Jaune is a small town east of Prince George named after a Carrier fur-trader.   Because the trader had blond hair, the Europeans called him "Tete Jaune" or "Yellowhead."   During the fur trade, Tete Jaune Cache (or "T. Jaune" as it is most affectionately known) was one of the main fur caches in this part of British Columbia.
Toh Carrier for whitefish.
Tohco Carrier for sturgeon.
Trapline A designated area of forest in which a trapper may trap animals, ranging from 80 to 2,400 square kilometres in size.
Tsabai Carrier for Dolly Varden.
Tsalhtsetsun Carrier for low-bush cranberry.
Tsi chakoh Carrier for the Nechako River.
Tundra Vegetation Flowering dwarf herbs.
Tyrannosaurus rex This frightening carnivore lived approximately 65–68 million years ago. It could reach a lenght of 15 metres and a height of 6 metres. The skull measured 1.35 metres in length and its teeth were 8–16 centimetres long and 2.5 centimetres wide. The Tyrannosaurus Rex was most likely both a hunter and a scavenger.
Urbanization The movement of a population from rural areas to more urban ones.
Vaccine A preparation of dead micro-organisms, or living infectious organisms that is administered to produce or artificially increase immunity to a particular disease.
Viral Agent The causative agent of certain diseases.
Wasting Loss of strength and weight.
Watershed A region or area bounded peripherally by water parting and draining ultimately to a particular watercourse or body of water.
Weir An enclosure set in a waterway for taking fish.
Yalhtsue Carrier for dwarf blueberries.

Beginnings  -  Lheidli T'enneh  -  Meeting of Two Cultures  -  The Pioneer Experience
Canada's Digital Collections  - Home   -  People   -  Museum  -  Sources  -  Feedback  -  Glossary