For more than 10,000 years, the Ktunaxa people, also known as the Kootenai or Kootenay, have occupied a traditional territory that spans what is now known as southeastern British Columbia.

In ancestral times referred to by the Ktunaxa as the animal world, there were references made many times by the Creator to when there will be ʔaqⱡmaknik̓ (people).

Let me tell you a little bit about my friend Rosa who passed away only a few days ago.

Fernie City Hall is the home of the Miner’s Walk, a tribute to Fernie’s mining legacy featuring municipal gardens, local sculpture, and interpretive panels.

The communities of Coal Creek and Michel-Natal, where the coal seams were lucrative, survived for over 50 years.

Akamina #1 was the first oil well drilled in BC. This was done in 1907 by the Royal Canadian Oil Company.

Imagine beginning your work day, every day, in pitch blackness. The only sounds you hear are those of your fellow workers…

The first Court House was simply a shack that used for less than one year. Then in April, 1899, the courts moved to a “grander” building which measured 28 feet square.

In the early days, snow shoeing, tobogganing and skating were the winter sports most enjoyed by Fernie residents.

Fernie owes its existence to the start-up of the local coal mines in 1897 and the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1898.

The reason why two railways served the Elk Valley from 1904 to 1936 is intimately intertwined with the history of Canada, Canadian/American relations, Federal/Provincial politics, and corporate competition.

There was a time in Western Canada when vanilla extract could only be obtained from a specially licensed druggist.