PAH-lut-suss

Songhees Point is not just a great place to get a view of the city. It's long been a place with special power. The spindle whorl marker on the right side of this photo explains the significance of this site:

PAH-lu-tsuss means "cradle-board." Traditionally, once infants had learned to walk, their cradles were placed at this sacred headland because of the spiritual power of the water here. More recently, there was a settlement here, and subsequently an Indian reserve, that traded with the fort on the opposite shore. This place is also known as Songhees Point.

Yesterday''s photo was taken looking east towards the city from Songhees Point or PAH-lut-suss. Today's photo is looking west towards West Bay Marina in Esquimalt.

TheView from Beacon Hill

Victoria is blessed with a lovely little park right on the edge of the city center, Beacon Hill Park. The "hill" rises above Finlayson Point and Dallas Road and is graced on both the south and north sides with Camas meadows and bits of Garry Oak woods. At this time of year the Camas are blooming and the hillsides are dusted with their deep purplish blue. In the view above we are looking southwards across the Strait of Juan de Fuca towards the Olympic Peninsula in the USA. On the left is a spindle whorl that marks this as one of the locations sacred to the Native Peoples of this area.

PAH-lu-tsuss (Songhees Point)

This unusual object is one of seven placed around Victoria's Inner Harbour marking places of cultural significance to the Lekwungen (Songhees Nation). The carvings by Songhees artist, Butch Dick, are enlargements of a spindle whorl, a small disk traditionally used for spinning wool. The marker above is located at Songhees Point near the beginning of the Westsong Walkway, on a small headland called PAH-lu-tsuss, which means "cradle-board."

Traditionally, once infants had learned to walk, their cradles were placed at this sacred headland because of the spiritual power of the water here. More recently, there was a settlement here, and subsequently an Indian reserve, that traded with the fort on the opposite shore. This place is also known as Songhees Point.

Below left is a close-up of the marker. In the photo below right we can see another spindle whorl on the opposite shore of the Inner Harbour at Laurel Point. It marks a First Nations burial ground in use until 1850.The quote above and additional information about these markers can be found by clicking "Signs of Lekwungen." More information about Victoria's early days and relations between the Native Peoples and the European settlers may be found by clicking HERE.