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An Unsettling Story

I was speaking last week with James Charlie, chair of the Penelakut Sulxwe’en (Elders Group). James and his siblings were forced as children to attend the residential school on Kuper Island, just north of Salt Spring, now known by its original name Spune’luxutth or Penelakut Island. James has given testimony numerous times of his experiences at the school, including at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and his brother Raymond (Tony) Charlie has spoken at the Salt Spring Library to launch his book, “In the Shadow of the Red Brick Building.” Today, they continue to advocate for survivors and for increased awareness among the non-Indigenous public about the horrors experienced by children at the Kuper Island Industrial School and at other residential schools across Canada. They also feature in the recent CBC podcast “Kuper Island” and in the 1997 film documentary “Kuper Island: Return to the Healing Circle” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f-1v5mzFjI In 2020, foll…
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Indigenous interpretive panels unveiled at SYOWT / Shiya’hwt Ganges

Photo: Jill Harris, Tyee Joseph, Florence Edwards, Florence James, Maiya Modeste, Joe Norris, Darrel Siimaltun, Gerry Edwards, Myrus James On Sunday, September 24th 2023, the Salt Spring Indigenous Signage Project unveiled four Indigenous interpretive panels along the shoreline next to Ganges Alley in downtown Ganges - SYOW̱T / Shiya’hwt in the SENĆOŦEN and Hul'q’umi'num’ languages respectively (pronounced the same, roughly “shi-YAH-hwt”). At the event celebrating the completion of the project, Elders, Knowledge Keepers, artists and youth leaders from the participating First Nation communities from both language groups were honoured and then treated to a meal at the Lions Hall. Afterwards, Penelakut Elder Snumithiya Jill Harris wrote: “Everything turned out so well; it was a wonderful event and thank you all for treating us so well. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit as did other Elders. We were so well fed that we all fell asleep as soon as we got to the ferry landing.” …
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Celebration and honouring of Penelakut People at Fernwood

On May 17th, Penelakut and Salt Spring communities came together to witness the unveiling of new interpretive signage by Fernwood Wharf, and to share a celebratory meal on the lawns of the Fernwood Café. The crowd included Penelakut Elders, knowledge keepers and community members, Fernwood School students, and many Salt Spring community members. Also present were members of the extended Sampson family, descendants of Penelakut Lucy Peatson and Henry Sampson, an early settler at Fernwood. The two panels, back to back on a cedar frame, explore the historical and current relationship of the Penelakut People to Tl’elhum (Salt Spring Island) and its surrounding waters using art, photographs and testimony. Created under the guidance of the Penelakut Sulxwe’en (Elders Group) the panel content is the result of four years’ relationship-building between the Penelakut people and the small Salt Spring project team, part of the Salt Spring Historical Society and Archives. On th…
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Remembering the children of Kuper Island

Photo: June 19, 1941 view of Kuper Island Indian Residential School In the early 1980s my family and I put our kayaks in at Southey Point for the short crossing to Kuper Island, as it was called then. Circumnavigating Kuper, we passed the village and ferry dock on the island’s west side, coming face to face with the shuttered hulk of the Kuper Island Indian Residential School. Hunched on the hilltop overlooking the shore, the three-storey red-brick edifice – closed in 1975 and yet to be demolished by the Penelakut Tribe – seemed to exude menace even then. At the time I thought I had a fair idea of the forced assimilation and abuse of Indian children under Roman Catholic administration, and while horrific I somehow imagined the trauma to a regrettable, but closed chapter of Canada’s now-distant past. My understanding of its ongoing and insidious nature deepened in the ensuing years as I engaged with Elders from the surrounding Indigenous communities, working to build communi…
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