As the provincial government seeks public input in adding up to 75 new roadside stop-of-interest signs around B.C., three quarters of the existing 139 signs need to be fixed, reinstalled or replaced "because the content and the language is out of date," according to Heritage B.C.'s 2015 inventory.
The content and language is where the real work needs to happen.
There are four of these signs in the Fraser Fort-George regional district.
The Spruce Capital sign talks about Simon Fraser's expedition cutting the first spruce logs in 1807 near the junction of the Nechako and Fraser Rivers to build Fort George before jumping ahead to Prince George's 1940s nickname as the "Spruce Capital of the World."
The Yellowhead Pass sign is named after Tete Jaune, a blonde fur trader at Jasper House.
The Pine Pass sign notes the John Hart Highway was built through the pass in 1952, followed by the railway in 1958 and the gas and oil pipelines after that.
At Summit Lake, just north of Prince George, the Arctic Divide sign marks the continental divide, with water north of that point flowing to the Arctic Ocean and south to the Pacific.
"Indians, explorers and fur traders portaged their canoes over this low summit for centuries, using the waterways as natural travel routes," the sign concludes.
That one word - Indians - is the only mention of aboriginal peoples residing in the region, then or now.
To the west, there is a highway sign at Moricetown Canyon saying the largest village of the "Bulkley Valley Indians" was once located there, before the site was named after a Catholic missionary.
"Salmon, staple food of the Indian, concentrated in the canyon and were caught with basketry traps, dipnets, and harpoons," the sign reads. "Indians still catch salmon with long gaff hooks and smoke them at this historic native fishery."
Of the seven stop-of-interest signs in the Cariboo Regional District, only one mentions indigenous inhabitants. The Chilcotin War sign west of Williams Lake at Dean River states:
"In 1864, Alfred Waddington's crew constructing a road from the Bute Inlet to Cariboo was almost wiped out by resentful natives about 65 miles to the south. The war party then killed members of a pack train here and spread terror across the whole interior. Government Seymour's patrols captured the suspects who were convicted and hanged at Quesnel."
Even the signs that recognize a culture and a people before the pioneers are condescending and provide virtually no information. The Totem Poles sign near Hazelton reads: "These stately monuments in cedar proclaim the owner's clan status and inherited family traditions, but were never associated with religion. Clan crests portrayed mythical creatures, sometimes in human form, from the legendary history of the clan. As a unique primitive art form, the poles are fitting examples of the artistic talents of these native people."
The sign overlooking Okanagan Lake near Summerland is the worst of all. It states: "Before the unimaginative, practical white man came, the fearsome lake monster, N'ha-a-itk, was well known to the primitive, superstitious Indians. His home was believed to be a cave at Squally Point, and small animals were carried in the canoes to appease the serpent. Ogopogo is still seen each year - but now by white man!"
All of these area signs were put up in the 1960s, reflecting both the language and the historic sensibilities of the era. Yet these signs remain on the sides of B.C. highways 50 years later for tourists to wonder just how racist, intolerant and ignorant British Columbians must be.
Of the six newest provincial stop-of-interest signs, erected in 2008, only one is devoted solely to First Nations history and culture.
Adding new stop-of-interest signs isn't about rewriting history but about broadening our understanding of it, beginning with the removal of hurtful and offensive language. B.C.'s pioneer history is fascinating and worth celebrating but so is the history and culture of the province's indigenous peoples.
If the goal of the new signs, as MLA Shirley Bond stated in her press release, is to encourage visitors "to explore the many authentic experiences B.C. has to offer," then telling the truth about our past and present would be a good start.
