LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
Local History/Geography Resources |
PG Folk Map |
|
Indigenous Placename Map (Bill Poser) Dakelh Keyoh
http://www.billposer.org/DakelhPlacenames/DakelhYunBilingual.html Lheidli T'enneh Dictionary http://www.billposer.org/LheidliCarrierDictionary/ History of Prince George (City of PG website) https://www.princegeorge.ca/Things%20to%20Do/Pages/Learn%20about%20Prince%20George/HistoryofPrinceGeorge.aspx Prince George Historical Photograph Collection https://search.nbca.unbc.ca/index.php/prince-george-historical-photograph-collection Exploration Place (Fraser-Fort George District) Archives and Collections http://www.theexplorationplace.com/collections/archives-collections Canadian Encyclopedia: Prince George http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/prince-george/ BC Archives: Prince George http://search-bcarchives.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/prince-george-b-c-history Prince George Culture & History https://www.hellobc.com/prince-george/culture-history.aspx Prince George, BC, history you probably didn't know http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/prince-george-b-c-history-you-probably-didn-t-know-1.2983933 Prince George Citizen - digital archives of all local papers http://pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca/ Settlers' Effects: Prince George 1805-1972 http://www.settlerseffects.ca/pls/cats_web/web_exhibitions.show_exhibition?weid=54&lang=EN Plant Indicator Guide for Northern BC https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/docs/Lmh/Lmh46.pdf Local Indigenous Historical Timelines BC Elders version pdf | Lheidli T'enneh version pdf Prince George Geoscape Guide pdf download Fort George Herald, Sep 6, 1913 (p. 1 and 6) pdf download Prince George Local History Slides (from Garvin Moles Collection) https://photos.google.com/share/... PG Census Data - Prince George Citizen Feb 11th, 2012 census_data_pg.png Prince George Heritage Context Study pdf download Prince George: Socio-historical, geographical, political, and economic context profile (2014 EQUIP report) equip_report_2014-11-14.pdf |
I've been puttering away at this digital map of Prince George for a year or two; mainly with low-tech freehand and tracing & spotting using Lidar imagery and 1:250000 NTS Maps for references. This map answers some "sense of place" questions for me:
The City of Prince George has some interesting maps and a PGMap app with a variety of uses for students:
https://www.princegeorge.ca/City%20Services/Pages/Maps.aspx |
Inquiry
Exploring local history and geography can take many forms. Researchers and students can begin with a topic, or can simply dive into the research material and see what what they find. Once initial research is done, it is important to settle on a question. Based on Prince George and its region, here are some examples or areas or themes from which to derive questions:
TIME PERIODS
TIME PERIODS
- Early history or Indigenous peoples versus early history of pioneers and settlement
- Fur Trade era, railway and sawmill era, pulp mills and rapid growth era, modern era, etc.
- Early "characters" such as George Hammond, Charles Millar, Six Mile Mary, Granny Seymour
- Interesting mayors such as W.G. Gillette, Carrie Jane Grey, Harold Moffat
- Parks and their stories, e.g. Fort George Park / Lheidli Tenneh Memorial Park, Moore's Meadow, Ginter's Meadow, Cotttonwood Island, Duchess Park, Paddlewheel Park
- Streets and Roads, i.e. the history behind the names -- start with The Street Names of Prince George - Our History by Canadian Federation of University Women (2005 edition)
- Neighbourhoods or historic areas, e.g. South Fort George, Central Fort George, Downtown, Millar Addition, College Heights. Island Cache
- The Reserve at Shelley
- Local features, e.g. Connaught Hill, The Cutbanks, Hudson Bay Slough
- evolution of landscapes, layers of history, development and expansion, erasing vs preserving the past
- evolving use of greenspace and recreational space, how our community responds to need for recreation
- housing, crime, homelessness, racial tolerance, development concerns, social services vs business in the downtown
- schools (elementary, secondary, college, university), hospital/health care, courts and policing, civic government
- sawmills, pulpmills, stores, oil refinery
- trains, planes, automobiles, paddlewheelers (plus scows and barges)
Aerial view of Prince George, BC, 1958
|
|
Find more images like these at Exploration Place (Fraser-Fort George District) Archives and Collections
Make Mr. PeeGee your Zoom background, courtesy of City of Prince George
Make Mr. PeeGee your Zoom background, courtesy of City of Prince George
Prince George 1944. Note the WWII army camp at what is now 15th and Central, the general state of development, and the number of bridges. The meander scars (old courses of the Nechako River) are visible winding through downtown
Prince George 1957. Note the WWII army camp is mostly dismantled and fading into the forest. The John Hart Bridge is under construction, subdivisions have been added, and buildings can be seen at the site of what is now the jail east of the Fraser River.
BarkervilleJohn Fraser, son of explorer Simon Fraser, was buried in Barkerville.
Video - Grave of J.A. Fraser in the Barkerville Cemetery. As the story goes, Fraser headed west from Canada West (Ontario) to Barkerville after his father died without leaving much of an estate. John was a troubled soul, and hit rock bottom when his main claim appeared to be useless, the mortgage on his family farm back in "Ontario" was foreclosed, and he was rejected by the love of his life. He committed suicide in 1865, and it was during his funeral when news came out to the cemetery that his claim had struck it rich. Right place at the wrong time, I guess. Check out this amazing collection of Barkerville backstories: Bonepicker - Youtube page - @GoldRushBackstories |
Barkerville Cemetery (photo: public domain)
|
Loon Calls and other Canadian noises
|
Here's a "Canadian Values Test" you can give to your class -- ask who can make a loon call. After your class goes chaotic for while, ask them where they learned it and when do they get a chance to use it. Ask about what other sounds define what it means to be a Canadian, and have them make them. Works for the little ones all the way up to the too-cool Grade 12s. It's therapeutic.
|
File: audio clip of my Social Studies 9 class making loons class
| ||