OT: (Sort of) Regina = Pile of Bones?!

[Squeak]

So, I'm sitting here watching Jeopardy and a clue comes on saying something like "This capital city of Saskatchewan has about 200,000 people and was previously known by the name, Pile of Bones". Where the hell did THAT name come from? I'm almost afraid to ask. lol Might be good that they changed the name, but Regina should probably be pronounced like a girl's name so people don't grin every time you say it.

 

[FirePixie]

OH! OH! I KNOW THIS!!!

Back in the old days (not even two centuries ago), Saskatchewan was nothing but roaming land for buffalo and the First Nations, Metis and the rare settler that lived there. Once settlement in the west started taking place, the buffalo numbers started to decrease. Most of this was from American sharpshooters who thought it would be fun to cut off the First Nations main food supply (the United States were also looking at taking over western Canada at this time), and the building of our transcontinental railway. So basically, almost all of the buffalo got wiped out. Their bones were piled up in massive hill, and many of those piles were in the place we now call Regina.

Other fun tidbits:
-Regina has a Pile of Bones Pancake Festival every summer (Damn, I want pancakes now, when is that happening this year?...)
-Regina and the majority of western Canada used to belong to the Hudson Bay Comany, before the Canadian Government bought it from them in 1869 for 300,000 pounds and then called all of it The Northwest Territories
-Regina was once the capital of the Northwest Territories
-I pay way too much attention in Canadian Studies

 

[Squeak]

LOL Okay, so I kinda wondered if it was due to buffalo roaming. And I did know about the Hudson Bay Company thing and that Regina was the capital of the Northwest Territories at one time, but I did NOT know that the bones were piled in a massive hill. Now, correct me if I am wrong, but WHERE the hell is this hill of bones? There are no hills in Regina! Unless you count that one man-made one by the highway not too far from where we saw Megadeth. LOL

 

[FirePixie]

The bones were cleaned up. I'm not sure if the bone hills were in Regina or just in the surrounding area.

I don't know many hills that aren't man made here in Saskatchewan. So flat... LIKE A PANCAKE!

 

[FirePixie]

Wait, the bones weren't in just one massive hill, but there were piles, and some were massive hills of bones. It's funny how a typo can screw up many. haha

 

[Squeak]

Ooooooooooooooooooh okay, got it. Now you got ME hungry for pancakes! Dammit. Maybe I'll have that as my midnight snack. haha I wonder what the did with all the bones. I'm betting they burned them or something.

 

[FirePixie]

Here's a pic

According to where I got the pic from the bones got ground up and were used as fertilizer.

 

[Squeak]

HOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY CRAP!!!!!!! That is DEFINITELY a massive hill. Yikes. Hell, that's bigger than the one "hill" I saw next to the freeway. LOL

 

[keely]

hahaha

 

[Squeak]

Wouldn't it be really metal to live in a town named Pile of Bones though? \m/

 

[COIN]

Wasnt it was actually called Pile O Bones?

Today, Regina is home to about 187,000 people. Years ago, however, Regina was just a "pile o' bones."

Long before the arrival of settlers, the Regina area was known by First Nations hunters as a place where buffalo grazed. The Cree Indians who came to the area used buffalo as their main source of food, clothing and shelter. The bones remaining from the buffalo hunt were gathered into huge round piles. These piles were about two metres high and 12 metres in diameter at the base. Shin bones and other long bones were placed at the bottom of the pile, radiating out like the spokes of a wheel. The Indians believed the buffalo would not leave an area that contained the bones of other buffalo. The Cree name for this special place was Oskana-Ka-asateki - "the bones that are piled together." The first settlement at the site was called "Pile O' Bones."

 

[Squeak]

Into Eternity should make a really metal song called Pile O' Bones. LOL \m/ \m/

 

[Sped]

It would be a cool name for a Regina based death metal band too.

 

[FirePixie]

Wasnt it was actually called Pile O Bones?

Today, Regina is home to about 187,000 people. Years ago, however, Regina was just a "pile o' bones."

Long before the arrival of settlers, the Regina area was known by First Nations hunters as a place where buffalo grazed. The Cree Indians who came to the area used buffalo as their main source of food, clothing and shelter. The bones remaining from the buffalo hunt were gathered into huge round piles. These piles were about two metres high and 12 metres in diameter at the base. Shin bones and other long bones were placed at the bottom of the pile, radiating out like the spokes of a wheel. The Indians believed the buffalo would not leave an area that contained the bones of other buffalo. The Cree name for this special place was Oskana-Ka-asateki - "the bones that are piled together." The first settlement at the site was called "Pile O' Bones."

It looks like you paid a lot of attention in Canadian Studies too... Except, we never learnt any of that. They're ripping me off from learning other information!!!

 

[HateWork]

pile of bones is pretty similar to temple of bones (a macabre song)...

but that is metal as fuck. just about every black metal band ever would love to have a photoshoot on a mountain of bones like that.

 

[jakesands5]

im from america, i didnt pay attention in canadian history class (just kidding anyway, americans dont care about canadian history).
anyway, regina kicks ass, they spawn the greatest prog metal band ever, it sounds like a dirty word, and it as a city was initially formed on the remains of the dead. how much more metal can you posibly get.
kinda pointless sub-question... does anyone know what gothenburg swedens story is.. like why its such a huge haven for metal? (im not very educated)

 

[Marlies]

I only know that Sweden takes care of musicians/artists better, you learn more in school I think and bands can get support for some things. I don't know more really, but I've read stuff like that in interviews with bands. Gothenburg is one of the bigger cities there, but I don't know why it seems to have a better reputation than the capital Stockholm.
I'd need my friend Cora/Gaunerin here...... but she's visiting Sweden right now

 

[HEAVYMETALHEAD]

Into Eternity should make a really metal song called Pile O' Bones. LOL \m/ \m/

I know a metal band that recorded a song called Pile O' Bones!!

and they even recorded for a major metal label back in the day, too.




Mark,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Into_Eternity/

 

[Marlies]

well, are you gonna tell us WHO???

ok I googled....... Panic on Metal Blade??? Never heard of.....

 

[Sarah W]

Wouldn't it be really metal to live in a town named Pile of Bones though? \m/

HAHA! That is so metal....I always knew that, and kinda wondered where that name came from. I figured it had something to do with that