A Free Community Event to Commemorate the 200th Anniversary of David Thompson in the West Kootenay—September 5, 2011
The City of Castlegar Heritage Society will hold a free community event on September 5, 2011 at 1pm in Millennium Park in Castlegar to commemorate the 200th anniversary of David Thompson’s arrival in the West Kootenay.
On September 5, 1811, David Thompson and his crew reached the confluence of the Columbia and Kootenay rivers where they had an historic meeting with the First Nations—the first direct European-First Nations contact in our region.
As part of the event in the park, the historian Jack Nisbet will give a talk with slides on Thompson’s epic voyage. Marilyn James, the appointed spokesperson for the Sinixt Nation, will speak on the importance of the event for the First Nations people of our region.
An aboriginal drumming circle will also mark the event.
Harry Wong, grandson of Alexander Christian, the leader of the last Sinixt family to live at the confluence, has agreed to attend the event and launch a sturgeon-nose canoe—perhaps the first such occurrence on the Columbia in many decades.
Following the talk, people will be invited to walk along the banks of the Columbia with local historians to consider where Thompson may have landed.
Refreshments will be provided. There will also be craft activities for small children.
Please bring your own lawn chair or blanket to sit on.
The event is sponsored by: Columbia Basin Trust, the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance, the Castlegar Arts Council, the City of Castlegar Heritage Society, and the City of Castlegar.
For more information call Duff Sutherland at 250-365-2779 or Deb McIntosh, at 250-365-6440.