Rock Bay Mural Project

Over the last year or so a small bay off the Gorge called Rock Bay and the nearby shoreline area has been cleaned up. The area is now fenced and the fence diplays a large number of mural paintings from local First Nations artists and their youthful assistants. Above and below are a couple of samples from this attractive project. The project is called the Rock Bay Mural Project and you can find out more about it by clicking HERE. The work above, entitled "Horsetail Herb" is by Darlene Galt. Below is a design by Butch Dick called "Grandfather Sun".

Songhees Point

Songhees Point is a great place to view the Inner Harbour but it is also a sacred place to the Songhees First Nation, whose land it is. Though they are aged and faded, this pair of totem poles exudes a powerful presence here.

War Canoes

Just like we have a variety of motor vehicles to meet various needs, First Nations people who lived on our coast had different canoes for different purposes. We are probably more used to imagining the very large sea-going canoes that are often pictured rather than the slender, shallow draught dugouts pictured here. These are war canoes and were designed to carry warriors on raiding expeditions along the coast. The canoes used in ferrying families and households from one campsite to another were much larger. The war canoe race above took place on Saturday and was the first such event here for more than 100 years. The canoes are here pictured as they swept past Laurel Point in the Inner Harbour on the way to the race's end at Ship Point.

Halkett Island

Local Native Peoples used small islands for burials. The one pictured above is now called Halkett Island. A plaque on the Selkirk Walkway reads as follows:

In 1850, the "Island of the Dead" contained subsurface burials, but was mostly covered with small sheds, burial boxes and canoes containing human remains. The deceased were often placed in a fetal position and wrapped in a cedar bark mat. Adults were placed in a European-made, metal trimmed trunk and children were often placed in wooden cracker boxes.

Life sized carved wooden memorial figures representing prominent individuals were a common feature of burial locations.

The Lekwungen people, from the old Songhees reserve across the water, came to the island at twilight for feeding of the dead ceremonies. Sticks with chunks of sap were thrown into a fire to keep it blazing until midnight. Ritual words and chanting proceeded, as food to feed the dead was thrown into the fire.

Burials were no longer placed here after 1867, when a fire set by three Victoria boys got out of control and burned off the island. The boys' parents were heavily fined under the Indian Graves Protection Act. The island was taken away from the Songhees in 1924 by a Federal Indian Reserve Commission, but was restored to them by court order in 1993.

Joseph Pemberton, Victoria's most prolific early map maker, gave the name Halkett to the island in 1851. The Halketts were a well known, prominent British Navy family at the time.

(From a plaque placed on the shoreline near Halkett Island by the City of Victoria)

Halkett Island

This small rocky island lies in the middle of the Gorge just east of the Selkirk Trestle (to the right in the photo). It was originally a burial island and marked the boundary between two family groups of the Lekwungen, now known as the Songhees and the Esquimalt First Nations.

In 1850, the "Island of the Dead" contained subsurface burials, but was mostly covered with small sheds, burial boxes and canoes containing human remains. The deceased were often placed in a fetal position and wrapped in a cedar bark mat. Adults were placed in a European-made, metal trimmed trunk and children were often placed in wooden cracker boxes.

Life sized carved wooden memorial figures representing prominent individuals were a common feature of burial locations.

The Lekwungen people, from the old Songhees reserve across the water, came to the island at twilight for feeding of the dead ceremonies. Sticks with chunks of sap were thrown into a fire to keep it blazing until midnight. Ritual words and chanting proceeded, as food to feed the dead was thrown into the fire.

Burials were no longer placed here after 1867, when a fire set by three Victoria boys got out of control and burned off the island. The boys' parents were heavily fined under the Indian Graves Protection Act. The island was taken away from the Songhees in 1924 by a Federal Indian Reserve Commission, but was restored to them by court order in 1993.

Joseph Pemberton, Victoria's most prolific early map maker, gave the name Halkett to the island in 1851. The Halketts were a well known, prominent British Navy family at the time.

(From a plaque placed on the shoreline near Halkett Island by the City of Victoria)

National Aboriginal Day

Yesterday (June 21) was National Aboriginal Day in Canada and some of the local native people provided some great entertainment at Ship Point on the Inner Harbour. Scroll down to see the dancer that the young fellow below was watching.
The splendidly costumed young dancer below, member of a group called the "Little Ravens," kindly agreed to be photographed between performances. I think that's his proud papa in the background there.

Camosun - "Place to Gather Camas"

Pictured above is a Camas Lily (Camassia quamash). This indigenous wild flower gave Victoria its original name of Camosun or "place to gather camas." The bulb was regularly harvested by the Songhees Nation. Their harvesting and cultivation practices for this plant resulted in the beautiful meadows that inspired Hudson Bay Factor James Douglas to build Fort Victoria on the site of the modern city. Some remnants of these meadows, known now as the Garry Oak Ecosystem, may still be seen in Beacon Hill Park. Were it not for this flower there might well not be any modern city of Victoria.