Stories Beneath the Surface

Long before its official opening on June 9, 1969, the Hugh Keenleyside Dam on the Columbia River had already massively changed the lives of those connected to the land in the dam’s reservoir area. The damming of the Columbia just upstream from Castlegar affected wildlife, flooded the former village and burial sites of the Sn̓ʕaýckstx (Sinixt), and displaced settlers and their families from their farms and livelihoods. Marketed as a means to control flooding and to help facilitate increased power generation, the Hugh Keenleyside Dam also brought disruption and loss. Buildings were burned or torn down, and homes and farms were abandoned. Even the cemetery in Mount Cartier was lost to the waters of the Arrow Lakes reservoir. Thousands of people were displaced, and communities were never the same. Originally…

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British Columbia History (Digital) - 1 Issue, 58.1 Spring 2025

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