Ghost Peoples

In 1956 the Canadian government declared the Arrow Lakes Indian Band extinct. There was only one problem – they were still alive. But the government was about to begin negotiations with the USA for the Columbia River Treaty that would dam the Columbia and create a reservoir stretching from Castlegar in the south to Revelstoke in the north. This two hundred mile long lake would eventually wipe out all archaeological traces of a culture that had endured for over five thousand years. Ghost Peoples is the story of the Sinixt: their origins, their culture, their history and their present situation. This story is not one of blame but one that hopes to shine a light on a darkness that pervades our history so that it can be reconciled. Our story is not complete without the truth of our prehistory; our landscape is barren without its original inhabitants.