Drummers perform at the 150th anniversary of the hangings.
Photo by Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press
Adapted from The Vancouver Sun and The Province
by Nila Gopaul
Listen to the story– Level 2
Reading by Corey Muench
The year was 1864.
B.C. was a British colony.
Gold was discovered in the Cariboo.
And there was conflict. Men died.
The B.C. government wanted
to build a toll road to the Cariboo.
The government wanted people to pay to use the road.
The Chilcotin First Nation protected its land.
It fought against the building of the road.
The government called five First Nations chiefs
for peace talks.
But there were no talks.
The government arrested,
and then later hanged all five chiefs.
Another chief went to talk
to the government.
He was hanged, too.
It took B.C. 150 years
to say sorry
to the Chilcotin First Nation.
In October 2014,
Premier Christy Clark said sorry.
The chiefs of 1864
were not wrong, says Clark.