By Martha Perkins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, North Shore B次元官网网址
The Creator wasnB次元官网网址檛 happy.
He had blessed the Skwxwu7mesh with an abundance of natural resources and beauty, and yet they were forgetting the teachings of their medicine people and spiritual leaders.
Despite repeated warnings, the people now known as Squamish Nation continued to disrespect the land and each other.
And so the Great Flood came.
Seeking escape, the Skwxwu7mesh loaded their families and supplies into canoes. Many perished as the land beneath them was swallowed up by water. Those who survived were able to tie their canoes to the top of NchB次元官网网址檏瘫ay虛, the tallest mountain in their territory, until the waters receded. Chastened, the Skwxwu7mesh returned to their settlements with a newfound commitment to follow the CreatorB次元官网网址檚 ways. They would be wise stewards of the land.
Fast forward thousands of years to 1860. The British Navy sent a survey team to the coast that, seven decades earlier, Captain George Vancouver had meticulously mapped out. The captain of the survey ship was George Henry Richards. As he sailed up the Howe Sound, he couldnB次元官网网址檛 help but be impressed by the snow-capped volcanic peak of the highest mountain in the Coastal Mountain range.
For reasons lost in the mists of time, Cpt. Richards was also deeply impressed by the recent exploits of an Italian B次元官网网址渇reedom fighterB次元官网网址� named Giuseppe Garibaldi. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Garibaldi was B次元官网网址渁 republican who, through his conquest of Sicily and Naples with his guerrilla Redshirts, contributed to the achievement of Italian unification under the royal House of Savoy.B次元官网网址�
Firing his shipB次元官网网址檚 guns, Cpt. Richards christened the mountain in honour of a man who had never done anything even remotely connected to this land.
In another leap of time, itB次元官网网址檚 the early 1900s.
The mountain and its bountiful valleys had long been popular with trappers and prospectors. Mountaineers saw it as their Mount Everest. The first recorded ascent was achieved in 1907 by a group of six men who were instrumental in founding the British Columbia Mountaineering Club that same year.
Adventurous souls built a few rudimentary cabins and organized summer camps.
B次元官网网址淚n 1913, W. Gray and P. Long went in ahead of the camp to blaze a trail for pack horses,B次元官网网址� writes Kate Bell in her detailed 1984 paper called the Cultural History Themes of Garibaldi Provincial Park, Black Tusk and Diamond Head. B次元官网网址淣ow that access into the meadows .125above Stony Creek at elevation of more than 3,000 feet.375 was much improved with a pack horse route, the climbers sought ways to cross Garibaldi Lake, although boating did not originally start out as recreational pursuit but rather a fast and convenient means of getting to Sentinel Bay.B次元官网网址�
The Alpine Club of Canada soon added its voice to calls to protect such B次元官网网址済reat natural beautyB次元官网网址� for the growing populations of Vancouver and Victoria.
In 1917, it wrote to Premier H.C. Brewster: B次元官网网址淎reas such as this, where the beauties of British Columbia mountain scenery are so exceptionally well displayed, when made easily accessible and properly advertised, become a useful asset and draw many visitors from various parts of the world, thereby providing considerable revenue through the monies spent visiting them.B次元官网网址�
Besides, the letter adds, B次元官网网址渋t may be said that, owing to its high altitude and mountainous character, it is not likely that there are at present outside individual interests that would be affected by the creation of such a scenic reserve.B次元官网网址�
The province created the Garibaldi Park Reserve in April 1920. Seven years later it enhanced the status to the 195,000-hectare provincial park that, as the Alpine Club predicted, attracts thousands of outdoor enthusiasts and Instagram adventure seekers to one of the most photographed places in British Columbia.
Today, on the 100th anniversary of the park reserveB次元官网网址檚 creation, a pandemic has tossed life upside down for people around the world. ItB次元官网网址檚 coinciding with a time of cultural upheaval. The Black Lives Matter and Idle No More movements have sparked soulful conversations about the need for a more inclusive retelling of our national narratives.
So, is it time to change the name of Mt. Garibaldi to the culturally and historically more appropriate NchB次元官网网址檏瘫ay虛?
When you restore Indigenous names, it creates an opportunity for the Squamish people to start telling their stories, says Chris Lewis (SyetaB次元官网网址檟tn), a councillor and spokesperson for Squamish Nation.
Noting how road signs along the Sea to Sky corridor now include Indigenous names, he says that by exposing people to how the land was first called, you prompt people to start asking questions. Those questions lead to deeper understandings of First Nations peoples both past and present.
B次元官网网址淓verything we do as Skwxwu7mesh is based in place,B次元官网网址� Lewis says. B次元官网网址淥ur ancestral names come from a place, our songs, our spiritual aspects. They tell people what has occurred here or what the place was used for.B次元官网网址�
When those names become more broadly used, B次元官网网址渙ur history becomes everyoneB次元官网网址檚 history.B次元官网网址�
NchB次元官网网址檏瘫ay虛 mountain gets its name from the river that flows along it. At first blush, its meaning seems incongruous for a mountain of such significance: dirty place or grimy place.
Dirty?
B次元官网网址淚f you go to the main streams that flow off of the mountain, they are just choked with volcanic debris B次元官网网址� fine mud,B次元官网网址� explains retired geologist Bob Turner. B次元官网网址淵ou canB次元官网网址檛 drink that water and itB次元官网网址檚 because the volcanic rock that makes up the mountain are weak and unstable.
B次元官网网址淓ven in the summer when the winds blow, you can get those dust storms that pick up the volcanic dust from the upper mountain slopes. The name NchB次元官网网址檏瘫ay虛 is just so appropriate.B次元官网网址�
That volcanic rock was also a main source of trade for the Squamish people. Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass found where molten materials flowed down like a river from the peak. When fractured, obsidian has hard, sharp edges that can be turned into coveted tools.
B次元官网网址淲hen you have a resource like that it creates wealth and knowledge,B次元官网网址� Lewis says of obsidianB次元官网网址檚 early value. B次元官网网址淭hrough new archeological technology that finds the DNA of the obsidian artifacts, we can trace obsidian from NchB次元官网网址檏瘫ay虛 far into the Interior of British Columbia and all down the coast to Portland.B次元官网网址�
NchB次元官网网址檏瘫ay虛 also looms large in Squamish culture as a place of spiritual training. B次元官网网址淥ur people would go up into the alpine and sub-alpine terrain and isolate themselves as they tried to figure out who they would want to become,B次元官网网址� he says.
Lewis notes that in a modern-day context, the Squamish NationB次元官网网址檚 economic development corporation is called NchB次元官网网址檏瘫ay虛. B次元官网网址淚t represents the highest mountain in our homelands so that we strive for that greatness and specialness. But it also reminds us that, dating back to the story of the great flood, that we always have to stick to our cultural ways and our teachings because when we stray from that, thatB次元官网网址檚 when bad things happen.
B次元官网网址淚t reminds us of our connection to the natural and spiritual world and how we should conduct ourselves as Skwxwu7mesh people in everyday life and on the land.B次元官网网址�
While the Squamish Nation has not made a formal request to the province to change the name, Lewis says they appreciate that thereB次元官网网址檚 now a growing social and political licence to restart the conversation.
David Karn is a spokesperson for the B.C. Ministry of Environment. B次元官网网址淏C Parks,B次元官网网址� he writes, B次元官网网址渉as a Collaborative Management Agreement with Squamish Nation. We work together on many initiatives in parks and protected areas within the traditional territory of Squamish Nation. We have discussed name-changing initiatives with Squamish Nation and hope to work with them in the near future on such initiatives.B次元官网网址�
Just as nearly every culture has its great flood story, Lewis believes thereB次元官网网址檚 value in having the name NchB次元官网网址檏瘫ay虛 serve as a cautionary tale for everyone: beware of treating the natural world unwisely.
B次元官网网址淥ur story of NchB次元官网网址檏瘫ay虛 is about losing our way,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淲e werenB次元官网网址檛 listening to our elders and our teachings. As a result, the Creator brought the waters as a reminder of the gifts that were given to us by the Creator.B次元官网网址�
Martha Perkins is the North Shore B次元官网网址B次元官网网址� Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
