Chris Arnett

An introduction to First Nations' history in the Gulf Islands

The east coast of Vancouver Island is a rolling forested plain that narrows towards the south where the mountainous spine of the island edges towards the sea, and two rivers, the Cowichan and Chemainus, drain the ancient forests through valleys and fertile deltas. Offshore, a maze of smaller islands forms a seemingly impassable wall along the Gulf of Georgia - the inland sea which separates Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands from the distant mountains of the continental mainland.

A rain shadow cast by the Olympic Peninsula provides the east coast of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands with a distinctive climate characterized by mild, wet winters and long, cool summers. With the stabilization of present sea-levels some 5,000 years ago, human beings began to efficiently and sustainably exploit the riches of land and sea abound. Wealth was available from the air to the ocean. In winter, ducks by the thousands flocked to wetlands and natu…

Tsuhatluts, The Dangerous, Fierce, Powerful being of Salt Spring Island

Salt Spring Island is famous for many things— the Saturday market, the scenery, the cheese, the beer and a woman who tried to abduct children and eat them. Many years ago at the north end of the island there was a small village at P’q’unup (“white shell ground”) with a healthy population of young children. One summer day while they were playing on the beach a tall female stl’eluqum, (“dangerous, fierce, powerful being”) emerged from the water and strode toward them. “Tsuhatluts thu snes”, she shrieked “I am Tsuhatluts (Tzu-HAT-luts) of whom your mothers have spoken.” They all knew the history of Tsuhatlutz, who abducted the young, smeared their eyes with pitch and carried them away from their families to be cooked in her great earth oven in the woods. Until now she was only a story. The children were transfixed with fear at her sudden appearance. She easily picked them up one by one and, before placing them in her great basket, she dabbed pitch on their eyes to seal them shut.…

Power and Lightning on the Mountain - The Indigenous Story of Mount Tuam

Dominating the southwest end of Salt Spring Island is Mount Tuam, another distinctive iconic island landscape and the only local placename to retain a semblance of the original SENCOTLEN and Hul’q’umi’num’ word—CUAN or Ts’uween (pronounced “ts – uWHlAN” approximately). The word is descriptive and refers to the steep terrain that seems to come straight down to the water’s edge. The current name Tuam is an English corruption of the original, and ancient, place-name. An earlier version of the word— Chuan—was applied to the whole island in 1852 after the Governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island, James Douglas, made his first trip by canoe from Victoria to Nanaimo. As he passed Swartz Bay and Salt Spring loomed in the distance, he asked his guide the name of the place. The guide, thinking Douglas was referring to Mount Tuam, gave him the indigenous name which Douglas transcribed as Chuan. He made a crude map of the trip and used the placename to refer to the entire island as Chuan…

Snuw’uyulh and the Sansum Narrows Monster

An important part of snuw’uyulh (putting the thought in the child’s head/cultural teachings) is sxwi’em’ (“sh-why-m” approximately)— a great Hul’q’umi’num’/Sencotlen word that describes ancient times, places in the landscape, and narratives. The root of the word is “change” or “transformation” —the only constant thing in the universe. These stories are connected to landscapes that by their form reflect aspects of the story. The narratives associated with these places do not explain the landscapes— rather the landscapes explain the narratives. The stories are not a projection by people onto landscape but encode 4 millenia of intergenerational experience. There are variations of sxwi’em’ according to different families, but the fundamental structure of each narrative is the same. It is up to the listener to bring what they know already—prior knowledge of time and place —or a willingness to go there. Salt Spring Island has sxwi’em’ manifest in certain landscapes that serve as visi…

Indigenous History of Salt Spring Island

In this series we will look at the Indigenous history of Salt Spring Island from the perspective of snuwuyulh (“snuh-WHY-ulth” approximately)—a Hul’q’umi’num’ word broadly translated as “cultural teachings.” The word has a literal meaning of “putting the thought into the child’s head”—a reference to a learning process that occurred from an early, indeed, prenatal stage of life to those born here. Early exposure to cultural teachings through stories and place-names produced knowledgeable people and a sustainable economy that persisted for thousands of years until the 19th century. Snuwuyulh reminds us that learning is an ongoing process and that everyone here is “like a child” when it comes to the human history of the island. Salt Spring Time offers some bare grounding in local “cultural teachings”—putting the thought in there— thanks to the many teachers past and present from Salt Spring Island, Saanich, Cowichan, Penelakut and Nanaimo. Salt Spring Now and Then Salt Sprin…

Chris Arnett

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