The mountain pass over which Highway 6 passes today was a formidable barrier to pioneers during the province's early history of European settlement. By 1914 roads and railways had been built to connect British Columbia, but a road link over the Monashee Mountains, between the Okanagan and the Arrow Lakes, was still needed.
During the First World War the Canadian government arrested many people they deemed 'enemy aliens' and put them in internment camps. They were forced to work almost for free, and in 1915 several hundred of these internees were sent to build the section of what would become Highway 6 that connected Cherryville and Edgewood.
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This project has been made possible by a grant from the Endowment Council of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund, and with the support of the University of the Fraser Valley's Community Health and Social Innovation Hub.
We respectfully acknowledge that the former site of Monashee Internment Camp lies within the ancestral, traditional, and unceded territory of the Okanagan, Sinixt, Ktunaxa, and Secwépemc First Nations.
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Monashee
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Archaeology at the Monashee Camp
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During the First World War the Monashee Mountains were the site of an internment camp for those deemed 'enemy aliens' by the government. Hundreds of men were forced to work on deplorable conditions to build the road over the mountains that we today call Highway 6.
In the summer of 2021 a team of archaeologists led by Dr. Sarah Beaulieu from the University of the Fraser Valley, excavated the former site of the camp. Their work brought forth many new revelations about this dark chapter of Canadian history.
This short documentary tells the fascinating story of what they uncovered.
This documentary was created by Greg Laychak from UFV's Community Health and Social Innovation Hub with the support of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund.
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This documentary was created by Greg Laychak from UFV's Community Health and Social Innovation Hub with the support of the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund.
