James and I left Oak Bay Marina on July 8 and headed for Saturna, arriving in time to enjoy a few days of exploration before the Sunday service. St. Christopher, Saturna is one of our many faithful lay-led parishes where the people just get on with the work of looking after one another and their building with steadfastness and generosity. I’ve been there before but hadn’t really looked at the amazing cross that is behind the altar, carved some 100 years ago with a lighthouse at the bottom.
From Saturna we headed out for three weeks of vacation which saw us heading north, crossing the strait to the Sunshine Coast and then circling Cortes Island before heading back down south to do a parish visit on Gabriola Island.
Those three weeks included every kind of weather. When it turned cold, wet and rainy, I took advantage of the time to do some reading to prepare for the Salt of the Earth retreat. As the retreat centered in themes of empire this included reading Chris Arnett’s The Terror of the Coast: Land Alienation and Colonial War on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, 1849-1863.
I would recommend this book to all of us who are privileged to live in this part of God’s creation. It’s a difficult read as it lays out in no uncertain terms how after the Nootka Crisis and the withdrawal of the Spanish, these islands and inlets were settled by the British using gunboat diplomacy. The names of these gunboats became the colonial names of islands and inlets that had long been occupied by the Indigenous Nations of this place: HMS Thetis (36 guns), HMS Ganges (84 guns), HMS Alert (17 guns). It is taking us a long time as settlers to learn the original names for these places.
Alert Bay: ‘Yalis (Kwak’wala)
Ganges Harbour: Shiya’hwt (Hul’q’umi’num’) / SYOWT (SENĆOŦEN)
Thetis Island: Stu’kin (Hul’q’umi’num’)
Source: David Arnett
It is also taking us a long time as settlers to face the violence of our own history. We like to pretend that these lands were terra nullius before we arrived, when in fact they were inhabited by complex and beautiful Peoples and Nations. The first European settlers used a shameful amount of violence, from gunboats to hangings in Bastion Square, to force the First Peoples of these islands and inlets to submit.
As you are able, please join me in the church hall of St. Peter’s Quamichan on Wednesday, Sept. 30 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. for The Truth About Cowichan, an overview of the colonial history of the Cowichan Valley. I’ll spend some time sharing what I have learned from Chris Arnett’s book, from historian Jesse Robertson and from others about the colonial history of the Cowichan Valley.
With all the hype and anxiety right now about the Cowichan decision it is imperative that we understand how these lands were never ceded and but were settled with gunboat diplomacy.
While registration is free and not required, to help us in our planning please click on the following link to indicate your intention to attend.
