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On July 15th,
2011, the Sts’ailes celebrated a
significant achievement in taking on
their new legal name which was made
official on May 2, 2011.
Formerly the Chehalis Indian
Band, the new name means “The Beating
Heart” and has traditional and cultural
significance that was celebrated with
ceremony, singing and dancing during the
Sts ‘ailes Day celebration.
In conjunction with the renaming
of this First Nation Community, the
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural
Resource Operations agreed to and
supported the request to rename the
Harrison West Forest Service Road (FSR)
to the Sts’ailes FSR.
The Sts’ailes
elders and community members were
unanimous in recommending that the road
be named after the people who have lived
along the west side of Harrison Lake for
thousands of years.
The community of Sts’ailes is
excited about the road renaming because
it signals respect, recognition of the
Sts’ailes ongoing connection to Harrison
Lake and a desire to work cooperatively.
The acceptance of this
recommendation by the Ministry of
Forests, Lands and Natural Resource
Operations is important to the Sts’ailes
because it helps to publicly validate
the Sts’ailes people, their history and
connection to the land.
The Forest Service
Road runs down the middle of the
Sts’ailes traditional territory and is
located within the Chilliwack Forest
District.
It is approximately 70 km long
following the West side of
Harrison Lake starting from the end of
the Morris Valley Road just off of
Highway 7
and ending in Port Douglas where
it connects a through route to Pemberton
on the In-SHUCK-ch FSR.
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