Post by Low Light Mike on Mar 8, 2008 21:56:51 GMT -8
I'm sure that some people on this forum may have opinions on this piece:
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www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080308.wxbcname08/BNStory/National/home
B.C. has Strait of Georgia on its mind
Province weighs changing venerable West Coast place name to Salish Sea to reflect early aboriginal presence
MARK HUME
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
VANCOUVER — One of the oldest and most recognizable place names on Canada's West Coast will soon be changed if the British Columbia government adopts a suggestion put forward yesterday at a meeting of the First Nations Summit.
Under the proposal, the Strait of Georgia, named by Captain George Vancouver in 1792, would become the Salish Sea to better reflect an aboriginal presence that predates the first European explorers by thousands of years.
The name change was pitched to Aboriginal Relations Minister Mike de Jong by George Harris, a representative of the Chemainus First Nation, on Vancouver Island.
Mr. Harris said he thought the body of water between Vancouver Island and the B.C. mainland, which was first put on the map by Captain Vancouver to honour then-reigning King George III, should carry a name favoured by Coast Salish tribes.
He said renaming the famous strait would "show the outside world that there's a gesture on behalf of the province of British Columbia to recognize that we're the original inhabitants, the indigenous people of our land."
Mr. Harris said there are many places in B.C. "that are named after somebody or some thing that we can't relate to," and he pointed out natives were in the area long before Captain Vancouver's ships, the Discovery and Chatham, sailed through Juan de Fuca Strait, between the southern tip of Vancouver Island and the north coast of Washington State, and began to explore the inside waters.
King George III, who is best remembered for losing the British colonies in North America, and for going mad, had been on the throne for 41 years when Captain Vancouver applied his name to the strait.
But archeological evidence on the West Coast indicates aboriginal communities had been established around the Strait of Georgia and its southern extension, Puget Sound, more than 8,000 years before the Royal Navy showed up.
"It is time to get rid of Georgia," Grand Chief Edward John said in endorsing Mr. Harris's recommendation.
Mr. de Jong, who is currently trying to repair relationships between his government and natives, offered an immediate and enthusiastic response.
"I think it's a hell of an idea," he said. "I think the notion of reaching back into the province's true history, a history that actually extends far beyond 150 years ... is an idea whose time has come," Mr. de Jong said. "I like your idea and it fits with what the Premier and the government are hoping we can do."
Mr. de Jong added: "I am going to take your idea and take it around the block in Victoria," indicating he would put it before his cabinet colleagues in the provincial capital.
British Columbia is currently marking its 150th anniversary, but native leaders have bitterly complained they feel left out of the celebrations, which fail to recognize their long presence in the area.
The Salish Sea is a name natives have been increasingly using for the Strait of Georgia and it has been catching on.
When the federal and provincial governments put together an environmental action plan for the Georgia Basin several years ago, it was called the Coast Salish Sea Initiative.
In 2006, an atlas was published mapping islands in the strait. It was titled Islands in the Salish Sea.
But renaming the Strait of Georgia, which would require a formal application to the Geographical Names Board of Canada, may run into some strong opposition.
Not only is the name featured on countless nautical charts and maps, in tourism books and on the masthead of the popular weekly, The Georgia Straight, it is an important historical reference point for B.C.
Bill Blore, a B.C. representative of the Monarchist League of Canada, said he is troubled by the proposal.
"It's a terrible idea, and that's not to play down the significance of native culture," Mr. Blore said.
"But why are we always destroying our history? They could certainly name something else after first nations if they wanted to, and leave alone the names we already have."
He said there would undoubtedly be public complaints if the change were made.
"I think a lot of us feel we are losing our culture," he said.
Aboriginal place names are common throughout Canada (the nation takes its name from an aboriginal word, as does the city of Toronto) and renaming is not uncommon.
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www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080308.wxbcname08/BNStory/National/home
B.C. has Strait of Georgia on its mind
Province weighs changing venerable West Coast place name to Salish Sea to reflect early aboriginal presence
MARK HUME
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
VANCOUVER — One of the oldest and most recognizable place names on Canada's West Coast will soon be changed if the British Columbia government adopts a suggestion put forward yesterday at a meeting of the First Nations Summit.
Under the proposal, the Strait of Georgia, named by Captain George Vancouver in 1792, would become the Salish Sea to better reflect an aboriginal presence that predates the first European explorers by thousands of years.
The name change was pitched to Aboriginal Relations Minister Mike de Jong by George Harris, a representative of the Chemainus First Nation, on Vancouver Island.
Mr. Harris said he thought the body of water between Vancouver Island and the B.C. mainland, which was first put on the map by Captain Vancouver to honour then-reigning King George III, should carry a name favoured by Coast Salish tribes.
He said renaming the famous strait would "show the outside world that there's a gesture on behalf of the province of British Columbia to recognize that we're the original inhabitants, the indigenous people of our land."
Mr. Harris said there are many places in B.C. "that are named after somebody or some thing that we can't relate to," and he pointed out natives were in the area long before Captain Vancouver's ships, the Discovery and Chatham, sailed through Juan de Fuca Strait, between the southern tip of Vancouver Island and the north coast of Washington State, and began to explore the inside waters.
King George III, who is best remembered for losing the British colonies in North America, and for going mad, had been on the throne for 41 years when Captain Vancouver applied his name to the strait.
But archeological evidence on the West Coast indicates aboriginal communities had been established around the Strait of Georgia and its southern extension, Puget Sound, more than 8,000 years before the Royal Navy showed up.
"It is time to get rid of Georgia," Grand Chief Edward John said in endorsing Mr. Harris's recommendation.
Mr. de Jong, who is currently trying to repair relationships between his government and natives, offered an immediate and enthusiastic response.
"I think it's a hell of an idea," he said. "I think the notion of reaching back into the province's true history, a history that actually extends far beyond 150 years ... is an idea whose time has come," Mr. de Jong said. "I like your idea and it fits with what the Premier and the government are hoping we can do."
Mr. de Jong added: "I am going to take your idea and take it around the block in Victoria," indicating he would put it before his cabinet colleagues in the provincial capital.
British Columbia is currently marking its 150th anniversary, but native leaders have bitterly complained they feel left out of the celebrations, which fail to recognize their long presence in the area.
The Salish Sea is a name natives have been increasingly using for the Strait of Georgia and it has been catching on.
When the federal and provincial governments put together an environmental action plan for the Georgia Basin several years ago, it was called the Coast Salish Sea Initiative.
In 2006, an atlas was published mapping islands in the strait. It was titled Islands in the Salish Sea.
But renaming the Strait of Georgia, which would require a formal application to the Geographical Names Board of Canada, may run into some strong opposition.
Not only is the name featured on countless nautical charts and maps, in tourism books and on the masthead of the popular weekly, The Georgia Straight, it is an important historical reference point for B.C.
Bill Blore, a B.C. representative of the Monarchist League of Canada, said he is troubled by the proposal.
"It's a terrible idea, and that's not to play down the significance of native culture," Mr. Blore said.
"But why are we always destroying our history? They could certainly name something else after first nations if they wanted to, and leave alone the names we already have."
He said there would undoubtedly be public complaints if the change were made.
"I think a lot of us feel we are losing our culture," he said.
Aboriginal place names are common throughout Canada (the nation takes its name from an aboriginal word, as does the city of Toronto) and renaming is not uncommon.
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and other explorers who came through and renamed things after their own people.
