Annihilation of both place and sense of place: the experience of the Cheslatta T’En Canadian First Nation within the context of large‐scale environmental projects

The water resources of Canada are today, and have always been, of major importance to the welfare of Canadians. Throughout most of Canada's history, these resources have been viewed within a supply–management framework and, frequently, exploited through the construction of ‘megaprojects’, often with little or no concern for issues such as environmental harm and social and community disruption. As in many parts of the world, those most affected by such large‐scale water resource developments have been aboriginals (in Canada, ‘First Nations’ peoples). Although the issues of environmental, social and economic damage to First Nations as a result of water megaprojects have been investigated, little has been written about the impact of such projects – especially dam construction – on the loss of sense of place of deracinated peoples. This paper investigates one example of such loss of sense of place, that of the Cheslatta T’En forcibly removed from their ancestral lands in the 1950s so as to allow for the construction of a private hydroelectric dam by the Aluminum Company of Canada (Alcan).