I was born in North Vancouver and moved up to Kamloops British Columbia. When I was a toddler. I have spent much of my life living within the Kamloops valley. I always thought of Kamloops being a small town, but it was not until I moved away for my nursing degree up to Terrace BC. Terrace is a small town on the northwest coast of British Columbia and has a population of over 18,000 people compared to Kamloops with a current population of over 90,000 people (City Population, n.d.). When I moved to Terrace, I started to learn about the rich history of the town’s geographical development and the people who inhabited the land.
North of Terrace in 1700, there was an eruption of a volcano that became to be the site of the last volcanic eruption in Canada and created the lava bed that was inhabited by the Indigenous peoples (Ludwig, 2021). The volcano is located by the Tseax River, and the eruption killed 2000 people within two different Tsimshian villages (Ludwig, 2021). Today this lava bed is now a memorial park where tourists can see waterfalls, caves, and other tourist attractions created by the eruption in 1700 (Ludwig, 2021).
The people who inhabited the land long before the settlers came in the late 1800s were the Tsimshian Nation, in the small towns of present-day Prince Rupert and Terrace B.C (Encyclopedia, 2019). There is evidence that the Tsimshian nation has been populating the territories since 1500 B.C.E. and archaeological findings have found indications of trading relationships with other nations of goods (Encyclopedia, 2019). These relationships helped the nations thrive in an environment that can be unforgiving. As the European settlers moved up towards the northwest coast, the Tsimshian people began trading many goods, such as furs and meat, with the settlers as they developed trade relationships with the Europeans (New World Encyclopedia, 2020). In the late 1800’s, the Europeans journeyed up the Skeena River with the first salmon cannery and settled in the Tsimshian territory, attempting control over the resources and land within the area (Encyclopedia, 2019). As the Europeans began to settle in the Tsimshian territory, the spread of smallpox infiltrated their camps; within 3 years, the populations of the Tsimshian decreased by over 80% (New World Encyclopedia, 2020).
In 1905, a settler named George Little founded Terrace, however the historical site was previously a Tsimshian village prior to settler immigration (Artibise & Favrholdt, 2015). The city was founded in preparation of the railway making its way through northern BC (Artibise & Favrholdt, 2015). The last ice age created terraces along the banks of the Skeena River, giving Terrace its name (Artibise & Favrholdt, 2015). Separated from the coast by the mountains, Terrace gets half the amount of coastal rainfall compared to its neighboring town of Prince Rupert (Artibise & Favrholdt, 2015). As Terrace grew as a town, it became a hot spot for transportation, industry, and eventually tourism from all directions (Artibise & Favrholdt, 2015). Today, the city is a popular location for the forest industry and continues to support the sawmilling, logging, pulp, and paper industry (Artibise & Favrholdt, 2015). Terrace continues to grow as tourism brings people from the northern areas of the Yukon, Haida Gwaii, and Alaska, down south to enjoy many of the tourism attractions that are available in Terrace (Artibise & Favrholdt, 2015).
Terrace is located on the northwest part of British Columbia and has a coastal climate with an abundance of wildlife. Terrace is home to a rare form of black bear, the Kermode Bear (BritishColumbia.com, n.d.). These bears were hunted to near extinction and are under protection by the government, the bears’ pale colour can range from light brown to blue grey (BritishColumbia.com, n.d.). The northwest region of BC is home to mountain goats, trumpeter swans, and has a large bear population (BritishColumbia.com, n.d.). This area has the only bear sanctuary in Canada and houses many grizzly bears, as well as wolverines, wolves, porcupines, and other wildlife (BritishColumbia.com, n.d.). The Dawson Cariboo was located on Haida Gwaii was discovered in the 1800’s and disappeared in the early 1900’s according to the Haida peoples (British Columbia 2000). The government introduced the Black-tailed deer in 1900 and has an immense impacted the habit on the Haida islands since (British Columbia, 2000).

References
https://www.citypopulation.de/en/canada/agglo/british_columbia/965__terrace/

Nass Valley & BC’s Volcanic History

https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/tsimshian
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/tsimshian
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/terrace

Northern BC & Haida Gwaii