Remembering Smithers' Chinatown

Kira Westby

In 2015, we came across something surprising in the archive of our local newspaper, the Interior News: a reference to a local Chinatown. For context, the Bulkley Valley Museum is located on the territory of the Witsuwit’en (Wet’suwet’en) Nation1 in north-central British Columbia—a nearly 700-kilometre direct flight from Vancouver, or a 1,152-kilometre journey along the Cariboo Highway. The museum’s collection centres on the history of the town of Smithers and the surrounding area, known colonially as the Bulkley Valley. Smithers is a small town that was founded in 1913 as a divisional headquarters for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway being built from Winnipeg to the coastal town of Prince Rupert. Today Smithers has a population of roughly 5,500 people. While non-European culture—especially the Witsuwit’en, on whose territory the community sits—is…

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British Columbia History (Digital) - 1 Issue, 57.4 Winter 2024

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