Burn Your Village To The Ground (100 Years Since Lheidli Edition)

Posted on 5 March 2015

Listen:

What this is:
March 6, 2015 is the 100th anniversary of the city of Prince George. I’m happy to celebrate, but I also think it’s important to reflect on how we got here. An important part of the story is what happened to the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation in order to make way for the city: the burning of their village and their removal to the reserve of Shelley, on the outskirts of town.
This track is an expansion of the A Tribe Called Red song “Burn Your Village to the Ground“. All the music, as well as the monologue in the middle (an excerpt from the movie Addams Family Values), is part of the original track.
I’ve added portions of interviews with land use planner Lisa Krebs and Lheidli T’enneh band member Rena Zatorski about the burning of the Lheidli village prior to that monologue, and the second half includes clips from stories on missing and murdered women and residential schools from northern British Columbia. The final words are from Lheidli elder Edi Frederick welcoming everyone to the traditional lands of the Lhedli T’enneh.
The goal is to shine a light on the complicated history surrounding the creation and ongoing existence of Prince George, and make us think about how best to move in to the future together.
Credits:

Music and Addams Family sample: A Tribe Called Red
History of Lheidli, Truth and Reconciliation, and first missing and murdered women audio clip: Betsy Trumpener, additional audio from my own archives
Image source: lheidli2015.ca