The first time I camped at English Bay Provincial Recreation Area on Cold Lake’s northwest shore in Alberta, I immediately felt it was special. There was a lot to take in: the quiet rustling of aspen and birch leaves in the lake breeze, the wide-open expanse of Cold Lake, and the dense boreal forest along the gold-sand shoreline.
I felt instant peace and could feel this land was legendary. I knew a much older story lived here, one that began long before this campground existed. Being next door to Cold Lake First Nations (CLFN), I wondered about the history, culture, and stories connected to this shoreline. So, I looked into it and found a story every visitor to this land should know.
Disclaimer: As an ally, I do not intend to explain the Cold Lake First Nations’ relationship with the land or how they feel about what has been done to it. Instead, I am using my love for this place and appreciation for its people as a doorway into a history that everyday campers and visitors may not know. I believe this story is important to tell.
Jíye Hochįlai (Berry Point) at English Bay Provincial Recreation Area
Dene Natats’edahi Nene (The People’s Living Land)
English Bay Provincial Recreation Area is a small campground along the shores of Cold Lake in northeast Alberta. It has a few campground loops, outhouses, a beach and a boat launch. You can learn more about the campground in our Guide to Campgrounds in Alberta’s Lakeland Region. The welcome sign acknowledges the park’s location within the traditional territory of the Denésųłıné and the Cold Lake First Nations.
Jíye Hochįlai (Berry Point): The historic local French/Indigenous-hybrid descriptive name for the geographic point.
Dene Nanats’edahi Nene: The traditional Denésųłıné name, reinforcing that the shoreline, surrounding boreal forest, and waters of Cold Lake are a living ecosystem that has nourished and sustained the Dene people since time immemorial.
The area holds a deep historical and cultural significance for the Cold Lake First Nations. It was and is a critical hunting, trapping and gathering ground. The bushes along the shore are dense with wild berries (hence the name) and other important resources.
It also has archaeological significance, as prehistoric artifacts and early Indigenous campsites were discovered here. Stone tools, pottery and other artifacts found here date back over 4,000 years. These reflected thousands of years of continuous living and land use along the lakeshore.
Spiritual Importance of Berry Point
The land in this area cares for gravesites, the resting places of ancestors. This makes it a sacred place that connects today’s First Nations to past generations. Local people have deep historical and spiritual ties to the landscape and have cared for and protected it for generations.
The English Bay campground was built in 1950, though it was small and primitive. However, when the province developed plans for a significant expansion, it gave the Dene people another reason to continue to protect this territory.
Cold Lake First Nations Protects Their Territory
In 2011, the Province of Alberta planned to expand the small, primitive campground into a larger and more extensively developed park for larger RVs. It would remove trees, plants, and wildlife and construct a modern road and gravel pads for 185 campsites. This expansion would plow through sacred lands, including burial and archaeological sites.
Cold Lake First Nations built a Peace Camp on the land next to the campground, within the proposed development site. Protestors stayed there for three months, physically blocking access to the proposed development site.
“This is the area where we hold ceremony, where we gather berries and traditional medicines. It holds the grave-sites of our ancestors. We erected this peace camp to ensure we can continue to practice our spiritual, cultural and treaty rights. Rights are more important than RVs.” – Protester Carrie Lawrence, CLFN Newsletter
A Call Out for Support
CLFN wrote a formal letter appealing to allies for support and received some from the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Len Webber. He wrote to the then-premier, Ed Stelmach:
“I want to register my support for the Cold Lake First Nation and their right to full consultation before any development occurs on their traditional territory. The area that the Province is seeking to develop, the English Bay Provincial Recreation Area, holds tremendous cultural and historical significance for the Cold Lake First Nation. The expansion of recreational areas is not as important as respecting the rights of First Nation peoples. Every level of government must acknowledge and protect the constitutional rights of Aboriginal peoples.
I hereby urge you, as Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation, to suspend all development of this area until proper consultation has been conducted with the Cold Lake First Nation and their concerns have been properly addressed.”
The Court of Queen’s Bench ruled in CLFN’s favour and ordered the Alberta government to halt work on the campground expansion. The Nation was also ordered to clear out the peace camp.
What happened later in court
The Alberta government appealed, and the Alberta Court of Appeal majority found the consultation adequate. One judge, however, disagreed. The CLFN filed an application to the Supreme Court of Canada to appeal the decision, but the court declined to hear their appeal.
Construction continued, but with careful cultural land management
Fortunately, the local people’s legal and physical resistance forced a change in the development plans. The parties reached a design compromise in 2016. The province shifted towards more careful cultural land management and ensured that known gravesites and archaeological sites on Berry Point were protected.
They redesigned the campground around these sites and did not build over Berry Point itself. The expansion shrank, and instead of 185 sites, it built 47 new sites in a different area and configuration. All development, including the new access road and expanded parking lot, avoided burial or archaeological sites.
The dual-language signage lets visitors know that this is the traditional territory of the Denésųłıné, and that it is a special place.
“It’s been [over] 11 years since the protests at Jíye Hochįlai (Berry Point) brought a proposed development of Province-run RV sites to a screeching halt. The results of these protests would restore traditional land ownership and protect these ancestral lands from further encroachment.” – CLFN Newsletter.
Culture Camp Continues
The Culture Camp next to the English Bay Provincial Recreation Area was reconstructed and is still used today. I came across it while paddling and hiking in the area. I was impressed by its sustainable, low-impact structures and the signs of learning and instruction happening there.
It supports youth education and hosts specific camps throughout the year. Youth and attendees learn traditional teachings, including survival and artisan skills, Indigenous history and culture, and the passing down of ancestral knowledge.
It also shares Dene culture with non-members. For example, their Fall Culture Camp hosts students from outside schools. It shares traditional activities like hide tanning, fish drying and others. You can view photos of the CLFN Fall Culture Camp.
Jíye Hochįlai (Berry Point) has a story worth knowing
Today, visitors come to English Bay for all the same reasons I did. It’s a beautiful spot for camping, beach days, paddling and fishing. The quiet forest, long wild shoreline and crystal-clear (cold) water of Cold Lake make the perfect place to spend a few days in nature.
Learning the story of Jíye Hochįlai changes how I see and experience this place. I enjoy the campground immensely, and I am grateful to do so. But I also honour the land where Dene people lived, travelled, gathered food and medicines, hunted, fished, held ceremonies, and buried their ancestors. That history is not distant. It is still here, now, today, and its people still live it.
The Culture Camp next door is evidence of that history, culture and spirituality alive. It’s a living connection between generations and not just a story about things that happened long ago. That’s what I felt when I first came here. It’s that connection, and the story that began long before any of us arrived, that I hope visitors take away from English Bay.
When you visit, enjoy it as I do. But remember that beneath this recreational area and its shoreline, the land and lake that surround it are places the Dene people have cared for, used, and remembered for thousands of years.
I thank them for sharing it with me.
