Charlie Lake Tse’k’wa cave shortlisted for TIABC Indigenous award

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Tse’k’wa cave in Charlie Lake has been a gathering site for Dane-zaa people for over 12,000 years. (Ed Hitchins, Energeticcity.ca)

CHARLIE LAKE, B.C. — A local historical site with roots dating back to the Ice Age has been shortlisted for a top honour for Indigenous tourist destinations.

Tse’k’wa Heritage Society’s national historic site in Charlie Lake has been shortlisted for the honour by the Tourism Industry Association of BC (TIABC) in the ‘Indigenous operator or experience’ category.

Also known as the Charlie Lake cave, the site has been owned by three northeast B.C. First Nations – Doig River First Nation (DRFN), Prophet River First Nation (PRFN) and West Moberly First Nations (WMFN) – since 2012.

The cave is one of the only national historic sites in Canada to be owned by the Indigenous community, and has been a gathering site for the Dane-zaa people of the region for 12,000 years.

The nomination for Tse’k’wa came from Spinal Cord Injury BC program, Access BC. Tse’k’wa Heritage Society’s executive director, Alyssa Currie, spoke to Energeticcity.ca about the nomination.

“It is a really exciting nomination,” said Currie. “Less than five years ago, we were building public infrastructure and really transforming Tse’k’wa as a site into a tourism destination.

“So now, to be nominated among these other incredible operators is really exciting.”

The infrastructure that began in 2021 included accessibility trails and signage for visitors as well as an amphitheatre and archeological dome structure.

According to TIABC, the award nominations reflect “the passion, innovation and dedication found throughout BC’s tourism industry.”

Currie said the nomination is also reflective of the entire Tse’k’wa team, from top to bottom.

“We would not have been able to reach this level of success without the support of our communities, our knowledge holders [and] our elders,” said Currie. “This award, this nomination, this shortlisted finalist position, belongs to them just as much as it belongs to anybody within the Tse’k’wa organization.”

Currie said being in the final three slots alongside Tofino’s Best Western Plus Tin Wis Resort, owned by the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, and Takaya Tours, operated in Vancouver by the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, is being “in good company.”

The TIABC award winners will be announced on Thursday, March 5th during the organization’s conference in Kelowna.

More information about the Tse’k’wa Heritage Society is available on its Facebook page or website.