Francois Lake, one of the region鈥檚 largest bodies of water, wasn鈥檛 always known by this name. To the Witsuwit鈥檈n people who have lived here since time immemorial, it was Nitagh Bin, (鈥渂in鈥� meaning 鈥渓ake鈥�). We don鈥檛 know what the English translation of nitagh is; according to Father Adrien Gabriel Morice, the Catholic priest who worked out of Fort St. James in the late nineteenth century, it came from the Indigenous word Nita-poen, which he claimed meant 鈥渓ip lake鈥� in the local dialect 鈥� a name that reflected the lake鈥檚 shape. When viewed from above, Francois Lake certainly looks like someone鈥檚 upper lip, but it is unlikely that anyone had that view in the age before airplanes.
How did a lake known to Indigenous people as Nitagh Bin become Francois Lake? One theory is that the first Euro-Canadian explorers to pass through this area confused the Witsuwit鈥檈n word nitagh with nedo, the Carrier word for 鈥淔renchman鈥� or 鈥渨hite man.鈥� In this way, Nitagh Bin became 鈥淟ac des Francais鈥� or 鈥淟ake of French,鈥� because most early European visitors were French-Canadian voyageurs. Father Morice labeled the lake 鈥淔rench Lake鈥� on his 1907 map of this area, though it appears as 鈥淔rancois Lake鈥� on the 1875-76 map of Central BC by George W. Dawson.
Regardless of its source, the name stuck, though today some people pronounce it 鈥淔rancis.鈥�
Many other well-known geographic features can trace their names to this area鈥檚 Indigenous people. The mountain we now know as 鈥淣adina鈥� was known to the Witsuwit鈥檈n as 狈别诲颈苍鈥檃, which according to elder Rita George means 鈥渟tands alone鈥� in the Witsuwit鈥檈n dialect. Similarly, Uncha Lake on the Southside derives its name from the Witsuwit鈥檈n word for 鈥渓arge area鈥� (Honcagh).
Even Ootsa Lake can trace its name to the Indigenous people who hunted and fished it. To the Witsuwit鈥檈n people, it was Utsewh Bin. Father Morice鈥檚 map does not name the lake we now call Ootsa, but Dawson labeled it Ootsabunket in 1875, which is similar 鈥極osa Bunket, the name given it by the Cheslatta Carrier people.
Some of our communities have strange names, too.
The source of the name given the unincorporated community of Tintagel (pronounced Tin-TAY-Gull by locals) has also been lost over time. Pat Turkki, author of 亚洲天堂 Lake & District: A History, suggested in 1972 that the community might have got its name from Josiah Clement Wedgwood, the first Baron of Wedgwood, a British politician and a descendant of the man who started the Wedgwood pottery firm. According to her, an official of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway asked Baron Wedgwood to suggest names for communities along the new rail line, and 鈥淭intagel鈥� was one of those names. (Sheraton was another).
While this story may be suspect, 鈥淭intagel鈥� definitely has its roots firmly planted in the United Kingdom. There is a village of the same name (pronounced Tin-TAWJ-uhl鈥� by the Brits) along the rocky coast of Cornwall. Also known as 鈥淭revena,鈥� (the Cornish word for 鈥渧illage on a mountain鈥�) the British settlement of this name has been around for at least a thousand years 鈥� and could date back to the Roman occupation of Britain. Though a noble built the nearby castle in the thirteen century, Tintagel has long been associated with Arthurian legend. Cleric and author Geoffrey of Monmouth (1094 鈥� 1155) claimed that King Arthur was conceived and born at Tintagel, and that the sorcerer Merlin lived in a cave nearby.
In 1967, members of the Tintagel (BC) Centennial Committee (which including Pete Hairsine, Don Lacey, and Fred Stearns) asked the UK鈥檚 Ministry of Works for a stone from the walls of Tintagel Castle. Measuring 24x12x9 inches, this 鈥渓ittle bit of old England鈥� was transported to North America by the SS Loch Loyal, a ship owned by Royal Mail Lines Ltd. Today, the rock that once stood high on a wind-swept cliff in Cornwall is the centrepiece of a memorial cairn at the Tintagel rest stop east of 亚洲天堂 Lake.
The tiny community of Clemretta cannot trace its roots back quite as far, but it too has a history. By the 1930s, there were enough homesteaders west of Colleymount to warrant a post office. The Cowan family agreed to host the new facility, but they had a problem: Canada鈥檚 Postmaster General required that each post office have a name, and the community that had grown up around the Cowan farm did not have one at that time.
Neighbours suggested several possibilities, but the winner came from an unlikely source.
鈥淢y brother Tom, he had two calves, one called Henrietta, the other called Clementine,鈥� recalled Hugh Cowan in the 1980s. 鈥淪o he got the bright idea of putting the two names together. I remember my dad saying, 鈥極h, we鈥檙e not sending that in,鈥� and I said, 鈥淥h, send it in.鈥欌��
The Postmaster General approved the name, and Clemretta became Canada鈥檚 newest post office.
Two other communities also owe their names in part to Canada Post.
Lee Newgard, a man supposedly born in St. Paul, Minnesota, settled near the west end of Francois Lake in 1915. He lived alone for several years, walking 47 miles to Houston twice a year for supplies. Somewhere along the line, he met Nora Middleton, and the two were married in December 1923.
In 1937, the Newgards petitioned the federal government for a post office. Like the Cowans six years earlier, the Newgards had to come up with a name for the facility. The name they chose was Noralee 鈥� a contraction of their given names 鈥� and it was approved without comment.
Bob Nelson, who homesteaded in the Ootsa Lake country early in the twentieth century, wasn鈥檛 so lucky. When the Postmaster-General asked him to give his post office a name, he initially couldn鈥檛 come up with one 鈥� until residents noted that the area in which he lived had a more temperate climate than did most others in the region.
Nelson, perhaps out of whimsy as much as desperation, suggested that the new community be named 鈥淏anana鈥� because it was located in the area鈥檚 鈥渂anana belt.鈥�
The Postmaster General was not amused. According to Arthur Shelford, who also homesteaded at Ootsa Lake, Canada Post鈥檚 top official would not consider 鈥渟uch a ridiculous name,鈥� and gave Nelson a choice of two others: Wisteria (a plant with purple flowers) and Eversley (a quaint village in Hampshire). Nelson chose the former, but spelled it 鈥�Wistaria.鈥�
The origins of Marilla, an unincorporated community at what was once the east end of Ootsa Lake, have also been lost over time. The Horr family 鈥� Myron Eugene, his wife Tena, and their son Roswell 鈥� were some of the area鈥檚 first settlers, arriving in 1909-10. Myron and Tena later retired to the US, but Roswell stayed in the East Ootsa area and established the community鈥檚 post office. Why he chose the name 鈥淢arilla鈥� remains a mystery, but it bears noting that there is a 鈥淢arilla Township鈥� in Michigan.
We know that before coming to the Lakes District, the Horr family lived in Aberdeen, Washington. Did at least one member of the family originally hailed from Michigan? It鈥檚 possible because, in 1883, a Myron Eugene Horr was appointed postmaster of Whittemore, Michigan 鈥� which happens to be only 183 km east of Marilla Township.
It鈥檚 a mystery begging to be solved. Yet in the end, does it really matter? Shakespeare would argue that it doesn鈥檛, because 鈥渁 rose is a rose by any other name.鈥�
(c) 2022 Lakes District Museum Society
