Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Queen City from Pile of Bones

Wascana is an anglicization of the Cree word for "pile of bones." Wascana is also the name of small spring run-off creek in south central Saskatchewan, so named for the large piles of bison bones in the area. "Pile-of-Bones" was the first name for a small site along the Wascana Creek adjacent to the future route of the Canadian-Pacific Railway, and the hamlet that resulted. The choice of this site for the headquarters of the Northwest Territories was a national scandal at the time, but the choice stuck anyway. The town was renamed Regina in 1882 after Queen Victoria, i.e. Victoria Regina (regina is Latin for "queen"), by her daughter Princess Louise, wife of the then-Governor General the Marquess of Lorne. Wascana Creek was dammed to create Wascana Lake, around which Wascana Centre was built.

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