It only seems fitting that the Fort Langley National Historic
Site would play a role in the Cranberry Festival. After all, the
cranberry was a mainstay of the historic fort's commercial
enterprise. "We bring the history of the cranberry," explained
Nancy Hildebrand, a site visitor experience manager. The Hudson
Bay Co. found the berry was a lucrative crop which it was able
to export. But long before then, the local established First
Nation had the berry as the centerpiece of its economy.
Different First Nations family groups had jurisdiction over
different food products. For some, it could be shellfish or
salmon. For the Katzie, it was the cranberry. Intermarriage to
gain access to the different foodstuffs was part of the complex
social structure of First Nations before European contact. The
historic site has information it uses to teach visitors about
the place this tart red berry has in the history of this
community. Before Fort Langley was built, the Stó: lô people of
the Fraser Valley harvested bog cranbe