Chemainus
Chemainus /ʃʌˈmeɪnəs/ is a community located in the Chemainus River Valley on the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Founded as a logging town in 1858, the Chemainus is now famous for its 39 outdoor murals. This outdoor gallery has given birth to many businesses, including a theatre, antiques dealers, the tourist industry stemming from the murals helped rejuvenate the town after its large sawmill closed in the early 1980s and was replaced by a smaller but far more efficient mill. The name Chemainus comes from the shaman and prophet Tsa-meeun-is. Legend says that the man survived a wound in his chest to become a powerful chief. His people took his name to identify their community, the Stzuminus First Nation, the railroad arrived in the 1880s and by the early 1920s the towns population had ballooned to 600 persons. Chemainus was eventually designated a populated area by Statistics Canada comprising the more built-up residential and commercial neighbourhoods. Its population had grown to 3035 residents by 2011.
A larger more inclusive Chemainus area is regarded as comprising part of the District of North Cowichan that lies north of the Chemainus River. This is the covered by the Chemainus Advisory Committee set up as a consultation body by North Cowichan. Chemainus Secondary School is located in the town, and serves as a school for students living in Chemainus, Crofton. A BC Ferry terminal is located in Chemainus, which service to Thetis Island. On 13 January 2006, a Boeing 737 aircraft was sunk off the coast in order to build an artificial reef, the sinking was documented in Sinking Wings, an episode of the Discovery Channel Series, Mega Builders. In the 1980s, British Columbias forest industry experienced a period of recession, largely caused by a substantial decrease in demand. Fordism is a system of methods based on principles of specialized mass production technologies. However, due to rising competition, energy crises and recession. Consequently, a new system of production, characterized by greater flexibility.
This transition placed a burden on coastal single-industry forest communities like Chemainus due to rising unemployment
National Historic Sites of Canada
Parks Canada, a federal agency, manages the National Historic Sites program. As of 2016, there are 976 National Historic Sites,171 of which are administered by Parks Canada, the sites are located across all ten provinces and three territories, with two sites located in France. There are related federal designations for National Historic Persons and National Historic Events, Sites and Persons are each typically marked by a federal plaque, but the markers do not indicate which designation a subject has been given. The Rideau Canal is a National Historic Site, while the Welland Canal is a National Historic Event, emerging Canadian nationalist sentiment in the late 19th century and early 20th century led to an increased interest in preserving Canadas historic sites. There were galvanizing precedents in other countries, in the United Kingdom, the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty was created in 1894 to protect that countrys historic and natural heritage. Domestically, Lord Dufferin, the Governor General from 1872 to 1878, initiated some of the earliest, high-profile efforts to preserve Canadas historic sites.
He was instrumental in stopping the demolition of the fortifications of Quebec City, at the same time, the federal government was looking for ways to extend the National Park system to Eastern Canada. In 1914, the Parks Branch undertook a survey of sites in Canada. Fort Howe in Saint John, New Brunswick was designated a historic park in 1914. The fort was not a site of significant national historic importance, Fort Anne in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia was designated in 1917. At the same time, the Department of Militia and Defence was anxious to transfer old forts, the first Commissioner of Dominion Parks, to develop a departmental heritage policy. On Harkins recommendation, the government created the Advisory Board for Historic Site Preservation in 1919 in order to advise the Minister on a new program of National Historic Sites. Brigadier General Ernest Alexander Cruikshank, an authority on the War of 1812 and the history of Ontario, was chosen as the Boards first chairman. Due to a lack of resources, the HSMBC limited itself to recommending sites for designation, of the 285 National Historic Sites designated by 1943,105 represented military history,52 represented the fur trade and exploration, and 43 represented famous individuals.
There was a strong bias in favour of commemorating sites in Ontario over other parts of the country, at one point, some members of the HSMBC concluded that there were no sites at all in Prince Edward Island worthy of designation. Lawrence, and in Niagara, promoting a loyalist doctrine of unity with Britain. Proposals to designate sites related to the immigration of Jews and Ukrainians to Canada were rejected, such was the view of Canadian history by the Board in the first half of the 20th century. As time passed and the system grew, the scope of the program, by the 1930s, the focus of the heritage movement in Canada had shifted from commemoration to preservation and development
History of the west coast of North America
The west coast of North America today is home to some of the largest and most important companies in the world, as well as being a center of world culture. As used in article, the term west coast of North America means a contiguous region of that continent bordering the Pacific Ocean. The eastern Islands of the Pacific Ocean off the west coast, the west coast of North America likely saw the first sustained arrival of people to the continent. For example, it has estimated that in 1492, one-third of all Native Americans in the United States were living in California. In the western half of Mesoamerica, the oldest known settlements date to approximately 2000 BCE, a succession of cultures started with the very early Capacha culture, which appeared on the Pacific coast of modern Mexico about 1450 BC and spread into the interior. Each of these cultures rose and was conquered by a more militarily developed culture. While not all of these civilizations had large settlements along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, regional communications in ancient Mesoamerica—and especially along the west coast—have been the subject of considerable research.
There is evidence of trade routes starting as far north as the Mexico Central Plateau and these trade routes and cultural contacts went on as far as Central America. These networks operated along the west coast with various interruptions from pre-Olmec times, in 1513, Spanish explorers were the first Europeans to reach the west coast of North America, on the Pacific coast of the Panama isthmus. From the point of view of European powers in the age of sailing ships, the arduous journey around Cape Horn at the tip of South America and north meant nine to twelve months of dangerous sailing. Explorers flying the flag of Spain reached the New World beginning in 1492 with the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. Spanish expeditions colonized and explored vast areas in North and South America following the grants of the Pope and these formal acts gave Spain the exclusive rights to colonize the entire Western Hemisphere, including all of the west coast of North America. The first European expedition to reach the west coast was led by the Spaniard Vasco Núñez de Balboa.
In an act of enduring importance, Balboa claimed the Pacific Ocean for the Spanish Crown, as well as all adjoining land. This act gave Spain exclusive sovereignty and navigation rights over the entire west coast of North America, the commonly held belief at the time was that the west coast of North America was in modest sailing distance of Asia to the west, or the two might actually physically connect. Confirmation of the connection, and discovery of this Strait of Anián, were key elements in Spains efforts to establish direct trade routes with China. See Early knowledge of the Pacific Northwest, the Pacific Coast of Mexico and Central America was not especially conducive to economic development during this era. The northern Mexican coast was too dry for substantial agriculture or ranching that would support settlements
Duncan, British Columbia
Duncan is a city on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It is the smallest city by area in the nation, the city is about 50 kilometres from both Victoria to the south and Nanaimo to the north. This gives Duncan a much greater population than that contained within the city limits. People in areas of North Cowichan bordering on Duncan usually use Duncan as their mailing city, Duncan is the seat of the Cowichan Valley Regional District. The name Cowichan is an anglicization of Halkomelem Quwutsun, which means the warm land, public transit is provided in conjunction between BC Transit and the Cowichan Valley Regional Transit System. The community is named after William Chalmers Duncan and he arrived in Victoria in May 1862, in August of that year he was one of the party of a hundred settlers which Governor Douglas took to Cowichan Bay. After going off on several gold rushes, Duncan settled close to the present city of Duncan and he married in 1876, and his son Kenneth became the first mayor of Duncan.
There is a Kenneth Street, as well as a Duncan Street, Duncans farm was named Alderlea, and this was the first name of the adjacent settlement. In August 1886, the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway was opened, no stop had been scheduled at Alderlea for the inaugural train bearing Sir John A. Macdonald and Robert Dunsmuir. In the early 1900s, Duncans Chinatown was the centre for the Cowichan Valleys Chinese population. Chinatown was concentrated in a block in the southwestern corner of Duncan. At its largest point, Duncans Chinatown included six Chinese families and 30 merchants who supplied goods and services to the loggers, cannery, the city tore the buildings down in 1969 to build a new law courts complex. Some materials from the buildings were used at Whippletree Junction. In the 1980s, the city was noted in coverage related to the 1985 bombings at Narita Airport in Japan and aboard Air India Flight 182, resident Inderjit Singh Reyat purchased bomb parts and a radio used to conceal a bomb at Duncan stores.
Duncans tourism slogan is The City of Totems, the city has 80 totem poles around the entire town, which were erected in the late 1980s. In 2007 the city of Duncan deemed copyright privileges of the poles in the city. The use of the images for commercial purposes requires the City of Duncans approval. Duncan has a large First Nations community and is the home of the Cowichan Tribes
Comox, British Columbia
Comox is a town of 13,000 people located on the southern coast of the Comox Peninsula in the Georgia Strait on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The warm dry summers, mild winters, fertile soil and abundant sea life attracted First Nations thousands of years ago, when the area was opened for settlement in the mid-19th century, it quickly attracted farmers, a lumber industry and a fishing industry. For over fifty years, the village remained isolated from the world other than by ship until roads. The town is home to a Royal Canadian Air Force base CFB Comox. The mild climate has attracted many retirees to the area in the 21st century, resulting in a rate of growth. The nearby Comox Glacier is visible from parts of the town and is the areas signature landmark. Archaeological evidence suggests there was an active Coast Salish fishing settlement at Comox for at least 4,000 years. At the time of first contact with Europeans, the Pentlatch Nation and these wooden stakes can still be seen at low tide—local archaeologist Nancy Greene has estimated that up to 200,000 wooden stakes still remain in the mud flats.
Several of these stakes were carbon dated, revealing the oldest to be made from a hemlock tree c.750 CE. Some scientists estimate that the weirs could have supported a population of several thousand people, the Pentlatch harvested the abundant shellfish in Comox Bay. Centuries of discarded shells resulted in a strata of shell fragments along the shoreline of present-day Comox now known as the Great Comox Midden. By the 19th century, the Kómoks had been out of their lands by a particularly fierce group of Kwakwakawakw, the Lekwiltok. The Kómoks migrated south to present-day Comox, where they allied with the resident Pentlatch against their common enemy, in 1862, a smallpox epidemic swept across Vancouver Island, killing an estimated 30% of First Nations people. A census of First Nations in the Comox Valley taken in 1876 revealed that the local First Nations population had dwindled to only 88 Kómoks and 21 Pentlatch and he named the region Nova Albion—Latin for New Britain. Drakes detailed logs—and the exact location of Nova Albion— were lost in a 17th-century fire, in 1791, a Spanish expedition led by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores produced a crude chart of the Strait of Georgia and possibly visited Comox.
Captain George Vancouver arrived the year, tasked by the British government with charting the northwest coast of North America. Vancouver, in concert with the Spanish expedition, entered the Courtenay River estuary between the locations of Courtenay and Comox and charted the shoreline of Comox. By the middle of the 19th century and American settlements had sprung up in the Vancouver area and on southern Vancouver Island
First Nations
The First Nations are the predominant Aboriginal peoples of Canada south of the Arctic. Those in the Arctic area are distinct and known as Inuit, the Métis, another distinct ethnicity, developed after European contact and relations primarily between First Nations people and Europeans. There are currently 634 recognized First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. Under the Employment Equity Act, First Nations are a group, along with women, visible minorities. First Nations are not defined as a minority under the Act or by the criteria of Statistics Canada. Within Canada, First Nations has come into general use—replacing the deprecated term Indians—for the indigenous peoples of the Americas, individuals using the term outside Canada include supporters of the Cascadian independence movement, as well as U. S. tribes within the Pacific Northwest. The singular, commonly used on culturally politicized reserves, is the term First Nations person, North American indigenous peoples have cultures spanning thousands of years.
Some of their oral traditions accurately describe historical events, such as the Cascadia earthquake of 1700, written records began with the arrival of European explorers and colonists during the Age of Discovery, beginning in the late 15th century. European accounts by trappers, traders and missionaries give important evidence of early contact culture, in addition and anthropological research, as well as linguistics, have helped scholars piece together understanding of ancient cultures and historic peoples. Combined with development, this relatively non-combative history has allowed First Nations peoples to have an influence on the national culture. Collectively, First Nations, and Métis peoples constitute Aboriginal peoples in Canada, Indigenous peoples of the Americas, First Nations came into common usage in the 1980s to replace the term Indian band in referring to groups of Indians with common government and language. Elder Sol Sanderson says that he coined the term in the early 1980s, others say that the term came into common usage in the 1970s to avoid using the word Indian, which some Canadians considered offensive.
No legal definition of the term exists, some Aboriginal peoples in Canada have adopted the term First Nation to replace the word band in the formal name of their community. While the word Indian is still a term, its use is erratic. Some First Nations people consider the term offensive, while others prefer it to Aboriginal person/persons/people, the term is a misnomer given to indigenous peoples of North America by European explorers who erroneously thought they had landed on the Indian subcontinent. The use of the term Native Americans, which the United States government and it refers more specifically to the Aboriginal peoples residing within the boundaries of the United States. The parallel term Native Canadian is not commonly used, but Natives and autochthones are, under the Royal Proclamation of 1763, known as the Indian Magna Carta, the Crown referred to indigenous peoples in British territory as tribes or nations. The term First Nations is capitalized, unlike alternative terms and nations may have slightly different meanings
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra was a Spanish naval officer born in Lima, Peru. Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra joined the Spanish Naval Academy in Cádiz at 19, in 1773 he was promoted to Ship Ensign, and in 1774 to Ship Lieutenant. Bodega y Quadra was born in Lima, Peru to Tomás de la Bodega y de las Llanas of Biscay and Francisca de Mollinedo y Losada of Lima and his family was of Basque origin. In 1775 under the command of Lieutenant Bruno de Heceta, the Spanish explored the Pacific Northwest and this followed the first Spanish expedition by Juan Pérez in 1774, who had failed to reach and claim the upper northwest coast for Spain. The expedition consisted of two ships, the Santiago, commanded by Hezeta himself, and the schooner Sonora, commanded by his second in command, Bodega y Quadra was given the lesser position of second officer on the Sonora despite the fact that he outranked the others. So he was passed over for promotions, the Spaniards were given orders to explore the coast and to go ashore so that the newly discovered territories would be recognized as Spanish lands.
Most important for the expedition was the identification of colonial Russian settlements, the ships left San Blas, New Spain, on 16 March 1775. Illnesses, poor sailing capacities of the Sonora, on 13 July 1775, they reached the vicinity of Point Grenville and Destruction Island in the present day U. S. state of Washington. While searching for a place for the ships to anchor. He immediately realized his mistake and signaled the Santiago to not follow, the wind direction and changing tide trapped the Sonora between Sonora Reef and Point Grenville. The Santiago anchored a few miles to the south, in Grenville Bay, the Sonora attracted the attention of a nearby Quinault village. Many Quinault visited the schooner, trading with the crew and giving gifts of food, early the next day an armed party from the Santiago went ashore and quickly conducted a possession ceremony, which was observed by some Quinaults. Later that morning, Bodega y Quadra decided to send six sailors ashore to collect water, a large number of Quinaults appeared and killed the shore party.
Bodega y Quadra was unable to help as the party had taken the only boat. At noon he weighed anchor, hoping to escape the shoals at high tide, progress was slow as the wind was low and the crew significantly reduced. Nine large canoes carrying about 30 Quinaults carrying bows and shields followed and they made signs of friendship which Bodega y Quadra rejected. Bodega wanted to avenge his lost sailors, was overruled by Heceta, Quinault ethnologists have come up with theories about the sudden attack, one being that the land-claiming ceremony was understood for what it was. Of particular note was the placement of a cross on the beach
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Canada. It is part of the Canadian province of British Columbia, the island is 460 kilometres in length,100 kilometres in width at its widest point, and 32,134 km2 in area. It is the largest island on the West Coast of North America and this area has one of the warmest climates in Canada, and since the mid-1990s has been mild enough in a few areas to grow subtropical Mediterranean crops such as olives and lemons. Vancouver Island has a population of 759,366 according to the Canada 2011 Census, nearly half of that figure live in the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria. Other notable cities and towns on Vancouver Island include Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Parksville and Campbell River. Victoria, the city of British Columbia, is located on the island. Vancouver Island has been the homeland to many indigenous peoples for thousands of years, the island was explored by British and Spanish expeditions in the late 18th century.
Quadras name was dropped from the name. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, Vancouver Island is the worlds 43rd largest island, Canadas 11th largest island, and Canadas second most populous island after the Island of Montreal. It is the largest Pacific island anywhere east of New Zealand, Vancouver Island has been the homeland to many indigenous peoples for thousands of years. The groupings, by language, are the Kwakwakawakw, Nuu-chah-nulth and their cultures are connected to the natural resources abundant in the area. The Kwakwakawakw today number about 5,500, who live in British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island and they are known as Kwakiutl in English, from one of their tribes, but they prefer their autonym Kwakwakawakw. Their indigenous language, part of the Wakashan family, is Kwakwala, the name Kwakwakawakw means speakers of Kwakwala. The language is now spoken by less than 5% of the population—about 250 people, today 17 separate tribes make up the Kwakwakawakw.
Some Kwakwakawakw groups are now extinct, Kwakwala is a Northern Wakashan language, a grouping shared with Haisla and Wuikyala. The Nuu-chah-nulth are indigenous peoples in Canada and their traditional home is on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The Nuu-chah-nulth speak a Southern Wakashan language and are related to the Makah of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington State. The Coast Salish are the largest of the southern groups and they are a loose grouping of many tribes with numerous distinct cultures and languages
Brentwood Bay, British Columbia
Brentwood Bay, is a small neighbourhood in the municipality of Central Saanich, on the Saanich Peninsula. It lies north of the city of Victoria and south of Sidney on the tip of Vancouver Island. Situated on the Saanich Inlet, it includes the Butchart Gardens, the Victoria Butterfly Gardens, the region plays host to various wineries and restaurants, and features hiking and a variety of wildlife in Gowlland Tod Provincial Park. Brentwood Bay is part of the Central Saanich Municipality, one of 13 that make up the Greater Victoria area and it is located on Highway 17A just west of Highway 17, the main route running the length of the Saanich Peninsula. It is served frequently by the Brentwood-Mill Bay ferry, the MV Mill Bay, black Point starring David Caruso in 2001 The Mermaid Chair starring Kim Basinger in 2004 Gracepoint television series in 2014 - Remake of UK Broadchurch 2013 Brentwood Bay on BritishColumbia. com
Colwood, British Columbia
Colwood is a city located on Vancouver Island to the southwest of Victoria, capital of British Columbia. Colwood was incorporated in 1985 and has a population of approximately 15,000 people, Colwood lies within the boundaries of the Victoria Census Metropolitan area or Capital Regional District, in a region called the Western Communities, or the West Shore. It is one of the 13 component municipalities of Greater Victoria, one of Colwoods best known landmark is Hatley Castle, now home to Royal Roads University. It is a Scottish Baronial mansion and grounds originally built as a residence for James Dunsmuir, but they decided to stay in London and Windsor, near the European front. The government transferred the estate to the Canadian Armed Forces and it adapted the site for use as Royal Roads Military College, a naval training facility from 1941-mid-1990s. The military college was closed in the 1990s, and the estate is now the campus of the public Royal Roads University, the original residence is surrounded by extensive formal gardens, including a featured Japanese garden.
The Fisgard Lighthouse in Colwood is one of Canadas National Historic Sites, built by the British in 1860, when Vancouver Island was not yet part of Canada, Fisgards red brick house and white tower has stood faithfully at the entrance to Esquimalt Harbour. Once a beacon for the British Royal Navys Pacific Squadron, today Fisgard still marks home base for the Maritime Forces Pacific of the Royal Canadian Navy, Colwood is home to historic Fort Rodd Hill, another Canadian National Historic Site. Built by the British in the 1890s, this coast artillery fort was designed to defend Victoria, visitors come to explore the three gun batteries, underground magazines, command posts, guardhouses and searchlight emplacements that are the vestiges of a bygone era. Set on a wide open waterfront park near the Fisgard Lighthouse, visitors can see the sea and mountain views, go for bird watches, as it lies geographically to the south of Victoria, Colwood is western Canadas southernmost city. The median household income in 2005 for Colwood was $68,798, Colwood is a part of the School District 62 Sooke.
There are six schools, John Stubbs, Hans Helgesen, David Cameron, Sangster. There is one school, Dunsmuir. There is a school program called Pacific Secondary School. A new high school, Royal Bay Secondary School, opened in 2015, Colwood is home to Royal Roads University. Esquimalt Lagoon is a beach and wildlife preserve with a view of Hatley Castle, a small plaque on a concrete cairn in the shore of the Esquimalt Lagoon outlines its history. Royal Roads - To seaward lies an anchorage or roadstead first used in 1790 by the Spanish, unloading place for large vessels serving Victoria in days of sail, it was once a scene of disaster. On April 1,1883 a southeasterly gale swept the haven, beaching the ships Southern Chief, Connaught, erected by the Themopylac Club 1973
