Mapmakers Unkind to Original Indigenous Name-Givers
News Item: The Vancouver Parks Board is conducting a ‘colonial audit’ that includes the provenance of place names… One of history’s many injustices is the way in which so many Indigenous geographical names were erased in favour of European nomenclature. Admittedly, even those names that survive can offer challenges in spelling and pronunciation for non-Aboriginals. More recently, some names that were appliex—sympathetically or otherwise—to suggest Aboriginal title have come into disrepute. Long used to denote “an American Indian woman or wife” and employed 11 times throughout the province, ‘Squaw’ has been declared to be unacceptable and is being deleted (no easy task) from maps if not memory. Some words and terms have changed meaning Certainly it has nothing on Hul’qumi’num’s Cowichan (an Anglicized corruption) or Chemainus or Khenipsen or Koksilah or Quamichan, Somenos, Tzinqauw, Tzouhalem or a host of...
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Old Plaque Recalls RCAF 429 Squadron aka Bison Squadron
Collecting militaria isn’t just a hobby for many but a personal crusade to keep Canada’s military heritage, particularly that of the First and Second World Wars, alive. In short, the collectors I’ve met over the years are very, very serious about their ‘hobby’ which has made some of them recognized authorities in specific areas such as regimental histories (to name but one). For some reason that I’ve never quite understood, there appear to be more collectors of army and air force memorabilia than navy. When one considers how our Royal Canadian Navy grew from a handful of small ships at the otubreak of the Second World War to the third largest navy in the world, this seems surprising. I started collecting early. I base this observation after growing up in a naval city, Victoria, home to CFB Esqimalt. Thanks...
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Labour Day: All Talk, No Action From Labour or Government
UPDATE – May 24, 2019 Believe it or not, I’m pleased to have to eat my words regarding the ongoing and seemingly never-ending neglect of Morden Colliery Provincial Historic Park. I had despaired of its ever being saved from ultimate collapse. After more than 40 years of complete disinterest by successive administrations, the current NDP government has announced that South Wellington’s historic headframe/tipple is about to undergo a $1.4 million face-lift. Morden’s historical significance is almost beyond calculation—a miraculously surviving example of one of the most ambitious and elaborate concrete constructions of its day (1913) when concrete was yet in its infancy. (And one of two survivors of only three in North America, all the rest having been built of timbers and later demolished or burned.).) Visitors are struck by its gangling array of arms, legs and cross-braces that...
Read MoreMore about lost treasures, large and small, in British Columbia
Speaking of lost treasure, as I did last week, sent me into my voluminous files to find an article I originally wrote for The Islander, the Sunday magazine of The Daily Colonist, way back in 1964 (when I was still a twinkle in my father’s eye). There’s something about lost treasure that has universal appeal no matter how slight the foundation on which some legends are based. Then again, maybe credibility isn’t the real issue, that it’s more a matter of just reading a great story in the comfort of an armchair than ever walking the talk and actually looking for it. Whatever the case, herewith some more yarns to set your juices flowing… For all of British Columbia’s exciting history of lost treasures, the official record of treasures that have been found is rather slim. In fact, other...
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