Tatla Lake, or “Tatl'ah Biny,” is located on the western edge of the Chilcotin grasslands.
This lake, along with Chilcotin and Alexis Lake, form a triangle which are all approximately 40 kilometers apart. Tatla Lake is one
of the three main fishing grounds that the Tsilhqot'in congregate to in the spring
months.1
The Tsilhqot'in early winter hunting and trapping ground is in and around the lower
elevations of lakes such as Tatla Lake. It was also noted in 1872 that the “Stone Tsilhqot'ins” under Chief Keogh occupied the land from Tatla Lake
to the Chilko River.2 The lakes in the Chilcotin region are an important resource to the Tsilhqot'in, demonstrated by the connectivity throughout
the various areas of the region via trails, such as the one that connects the fishery
at Little Eagle Lake to Tatla Lake.3
In the aftermath of the “Chilcotin Massacre,” William George Cox and his men were sent by Governor Seymour to chase rogue Tsilhqot'in near Tatla Lake.4 In 1875, George Mercer Dawson surveyed the Chilcotin region, including Tatla Lake. Tatla Lake, like many Indigenous named places, is an example
of a place settlers/explorers visited and then named them for themselves. This act
was an erasure of the community and life that existed prior to European settlements.5