The Fort George Indian Band Reserve was first established in 1892 where the Fraser and Nechako rivers meet, and the current site of downtown Prince George. In 1911, federal Indian agent W.J. MacAllan negotiated a land sale agreement between the Lheidli T'enneh, the federal government and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The 100 or so band members and their belongings were transported to land north of the city known as the Shelley Reserve. When the band assembly resisted being removed from their village, MacAllan participated in arson of vacant buildings to motivate band members to accept the move.
21st century
The Lheidli T'enneh Treaty
On October 29, 2006 the Lheidli T'enneh became the first people to initiate a treaty with British Columbia and Canada within the framework of the British Columbia Treaty Process created in response to the Delgamuukw case. It remains for the treaty to be ratified by a vote of Lheidli T'enneh band members, by the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, and by the Canadian Parliament. On February 9, 2007 the Treaty 8 First Nations launched a legal challenge of the ratification of Lheidli T'enneh treaty. The Treaty 8 First Nations asserted that Canada, British Columbia and the Lheidli T'enneh did not adequately consult them about the overlap of the Lheidli T'enneh treaty area and the area of Treaty 8. The Treaty 8 First Nations sought an interlocutory injunction preventing the ratification of the treaty until such time as the parties resolves the issues of the overlap. Justice Wilson of the Supreme Court of British Columbia denied the plaintiff's application for an interlocutory injunction. A similar challenge was launched by the Secwepemc Nation on March 12, 2007. The Lheidli T'enneh band members did not ratify the treaty in a treaty ratification vote held on March 30, 2007. In the vote 123 people voted against the treaty and 111 voted in favour of it. In response to this outcome, the British Columbia Treaty Commission undertook a "Lheidli T’enneh Communications Probe" to determine why the treaty was not ratified. This included a survey carried out by the Mustel Group, a marketing and public opinion research firm based in Vancouver. The Lheidli T'enneh nation is currently preparing for another ratification vote. Clayton Pountney was elected as Chief on April 10, 2019. Pountney replaced Dominic Frederick who was first elected as Chief in 2004.
The City of Prince George, as part of its 100th anniversary celebrations, hosted the 2015 Canada Winter Games. The Lheidli T'enneh were the Official Host First Nation, the first time the Games acknowledged a First Nations as a formal partner.
Treaty debate
In June 2018, the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation voted against a proposed treaty with the federal and provincial governments, which would have granted self-governance powers.
Pipeline explosion
The Lheidli T'enneh First Nation was affected by an explosion on the Enbridge BC Pipeline in October of 2018. The explosion forced about 100 members of the Band to evacuate their homes, even though nobody was hurt in the explosion, and no property was damaged apart from the pipeline itself. In 2019, the First Nation filed a lawsuit seeking a permanent injunction which would prevent Enbridge from operating the pipeline in their territory and reserves, and require the company to dismantle the pipeline and restore the affected lands to their natural state.
