A trio of new signs unveiled Wednesday in Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park aim to further educate the community on the history of the park's new namesake.
The signs are part of the Prince George Heritage Commission's stable of 25 interpretive signs throughout the city's downtown core. They feature text written by The Exploration Place curator Bob Campbell and photos from the museum's archives and highlight the history of the Lheidli T'enneh village, the cemetery and the Fort George fur trading post.
It provides an opportunity for people to learn and not jump to conclusions, said Lheidli T'enneh Chief Dominic Frederick.
When asked about whether he feels comments on the village's history and the park's cemetery are intentionally ignorant, Frederick said his response is that they're not.
"They just don't know. They need to learn the history," he said.
"So we covered that with some good words in terms of where we're going with this (the signs)."
As the sign close to the park's band shell explains, the Lheidli village stretched from the present-day museum to the northern tip of the park and housed nearly 190 band members by 1839.
It was burned down in the fall of 1913, shortly after the land's sale to the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway.
The decision to change the park's name from Fort George Park to Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park in the spring was a controversial one.
Coun. Murry Krause, who brought the name change to city council, said the number of inquiries he has received from city residents has decreased, but there are still those who question him on the switch.
"But I know there's people still thinking about it and some people still resentful," said Krause.
"I'm just hoping that with time it will be an accepted thing."
One of the hurdles for some people to get over was the concept of the park having had its Fort George name forever, said Krause.
"I think it's important to acknowledge that the park is younger than I am. The park was named a park in 1958.
"So it hasn't been a park forever. It had a number of purposes over the years after the people were moved from here to the Shelley reserve," he said, adding that there will be some people who will always refer to the space as Fort George Park just as there will be those who won't remember its original name.
Plans are still underway to change the large Fort George park sign at the museum side entrance to the park.
