Prince George lies at the confluemce of the Fraser and Nechako rivers, some of BC's most important salmon spawning rivers. The area is the traditional territory of the Dakelh (in the past sometimes referred to as Carrier) First Nations. Dakelh means "people travelling by water." Today many First Nations still live in the Prince George area and the Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council, an organization which includes nine member groups, is located in the city.

Lying withing Fort George Park (home of The Exploration Place) is the Lheit-Lit'en Cemetery, overlooking the Fraser River. The park was the site of the North West Company's post built here in 1807 by Simon Fraser and named Fort George, after King George III. The cemetery has been largely disturbed, but still features very interesting nineteenth-century tombstones with inscriptions in the Carrier script, developed by missionaries for the transcription of the Dakelh language.

After its founding in 1807 Fort George played a secondary role to Fort St. James on Sturat Lake. When the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTP) announced in 1907 that it was building a new trans-continental railway across Canada, many assumed it would pass through Fort George. It did and land speculators moved in and created two townsites. In 1915 the towns people voted to change the name of the place to Prince George. The GTP sliced right through the middle of the Fort George Indian Reserve and the First Nations protested, but lost the battle in court. At this time the GTP did turn over land at Shelley, west of Prince George, to the Sekani. 

With the approach of the railway, the towns boomed. The average day's take in a single bar in South Fort George was $2,000, and the red light district flourished. After this initial splurge, however, there was little growth in Prince George until it became a strategic location during World War II when 9,000 soldiers were stationed at that point.

Today Prince George is the largest city in north central BC and is an industrial hub for the area. It is home to the Univesity of Northern BC, founded in 1987. UNBC's motto is En Cha Hunà, a Dakelh term translated as "respecting all forms of life" ‘which encapsulates UNBC's spirit of academic freedom, respect for others and willingness to recognize different perspectives.

Resources:

The Exploration Place (formerly Prince George Museum):
http://www.theexplorationplace.com/

Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council:
http://www.cstc.bc.ca/cstc

University of Northern BC:
http://www.unbc.ca/about/