Victoria Ethnology - Grant Keddie

Aboriginal Defensive Sites

By Grant Keddie 1996. Part 1: Settlements for Unsettling Times Over time, glaciers, sea level changes and climate have reshaped our landscape. Around us today is the evidence of how humans have utilized that environment over thousands of years. By studying types of settlements, archaeologists can get a glimpse of how people related both to the natural world and to other people. In the Victoria area, bounded by Cowichan Head to the north and Metchosin to the west, there are about 100 shoreline shell-midden sites which represent the remains of old aboriginal villages. At least 18 of these have been recorded as defensive sites or villages with large wooden defensive walls and/or defensive ditches. In spite of the many observations … Continue reading “Aboriginal Defensive Sites”

The Confusing Legend of the “Mystic Spring”

2003. by Grant Keddie In the municipality of Oak Bay, above the western side of Cadboro Bay, part of the uplands drain through a deep ravine now referred to as Mystic Vale. The creek that flows through this vale, or valley, has never been given a legal name but is referred to locally as Mystic Creek or Hobbs Creek. Mystic Creek flows north of Vista Bay Road and between Bermuda Street and Killarney road to the north of Cadboro Bay road. South of Cadboro Bay road the creek flows on the east side of Killarney road. Recently its south end was diverted east to Sinclair road. To the west of Killarney road is Mystic Lane. Artificial duck ponds have been created above and below this lane. The area between Killarney … Continue reading “The Confusing Legend of the “Mystic Spring””

The Imaginary Plank Houses of Henry Warre

By Grant Keddie. 2013. Introduction Captain Henry Warre, while on a spy mission for the British Government, painted a detailed water-color that shows the view looking north along the west side of Fort Victoria ( Figure 1). The image, painted on September 27, 1845, shows at least four traditional style First Nations plank houses adjacent to the Fort. The presence of these more permanent style plank houses has caused some confusion in the placing of various First Nations villages or encampments. Other images of Fort Victoria drawn or painted around the same time period clearly show that these plank houses did not exist. Based on the available evidence it is clear that the plank houses painted by Henry Warre in … Continue reading “The Imaginary Plank Houses of Henry Warre”

The Legend of Camosun

Originally published in: Discovery: Friends of the Royal British Columbia Museum Quarterly Review, 4(5). By Grant Keddie. Autumn 1991. Introduction The location of the reversible falls on the Gorge waterway in Victoria is significant in the history of Vancouver Island’s Songhees Indians. The legend of this beautiful spot under the Tillicum Road bridge produced the name of the city’s Camosun College, and was the first name for the Victoria area used by both Indians and fur traders. In 1843, James Douglas of the Hudson’s Bay Company referred to the waterway from Victoria Harbour to Portage Inlet as “Camosack”. The new fur-trade post was called “Fort Camosack”, and then “Fort Albert”, before it officially became “Fort Victoria”. Camosack was an interpretation … Continue reading “The Legend of Camosun”

Victoria’s Early Hospital Properties

Originally published in Discovery: Friends of the Royal British Columbia Museum Quarterly Review, 19(3), 4-5. By Grant Keddie. Summer 1991. Introduction In the early 1850s, temporary locations – usually private homes – served as Victoria’s first public hospitals. People who were declared insane were put with prisoners in the Public Jail. In 1853, Governor James Douglas was ordered to construct what became Vancouver Island’s first real hospital, the Esquimalt Naval Hospital. It was established for wounded British veterans of the Crimean War. The Crimean soldiers never came, but the hospital eventually was used in Esquimalt as a naval hospital. In 1858, Reverend Edward Cridge argued that “We ought immediately to unite and found a hospital, and an asylum and having … Continue reading “Victoria’s Early Hospital Properties”

Stone Cultural Feature in Thunderbird Park

By Grant Keddie. 22-02-2013. Introduction At the Royal B.C. Museum, in Victoria, British Columbia, a large natural stone with a shallow concave surface can be seen outside in the native plant garden near the North-East corner of Thunderbird Park (Figure 1 & 2). This is a cultural object associated with First Nations that was once located south of Kamloops in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. The recorded details of its history are somewhat confusing. The natural shallow depression on the top of the rock fills with water when it rains, often forming unique patterns on the surface of the water. One could speculate that it may have been used like a mirror (Figure 3). During light rainfalls, … Continue reading “Stone Cultural Feature in Thunderbird Park”

Victoria. A Place of Strong Fibre

Originally published in Discovery, 1993:3. Summer 1993. By Grant Keddie In April 1843, native people were hired to cut posts for the walls of the first nonnative buildings on the southern tip of Vancouver Island: Fort Camosun. They were given a 2’/2-point Hudson’s Bay blanket for every 40 posts, each measuring 3 feet in diameter by 22 feet long (1×7 m). On I June, about 40 men and 3 officers from the Hudson’s Bay Company began building the fort. The fort was initially referred to as Fort Camosun, and then between 6 August and 4 December as Fort Albert, in spite of an official letter dated 14 April from the Hudson’s Bay Company, which refers to the general location as: … Continue reading “Victoria. A Place of Strong Fibre”

Paul Kane Sketch Brought to Life at the Royal BC Museum

September 14, 2017. By Grant Keddie In the 1970s, I was aware of an old lantern slide in the Royal BC Museum ethnology collection that I later identified as a Songhees First Nation. I based my information on the original field portrait catalogue of Paul Kane – created when he was at Fort Victoria in 1847 (Harper 1971:315-317). I did not know at the time the original sketch was missing, and this seemed to be the only image of it. Figure 1, is No. 46 in Paul Kane’s portrait log: “Ska-tel-san – a Samas Tillicum with a (grass) hat that is much worn here south of de Fuca”, and in his Exhibition of 1848 he is listed as: “124 Sca-tel-son … Continue reading “Paul Kane Sketch Brought to Life at the Royal BC Museum”

The Rocks of Harling Point

Originally published in Discovery, 19(1). Winter 1991. By Grant Keddie One of the most fascinating places to visit on southern Vancouver Island is Harling Point in the Victoria municipality of Oak Bay between Gonzales Bay and McNeill Bay. Many people go to Harling Point to see the Chinese cemetery. You can walk up to the large concrete cremation pillars and altar and see where, in the early 1900s, relatives placed food and burned colourful rice-paper offerings for the dead. The Chinese traditionally choose locations for important cultural activities, such as burials, that are in harmony with nature by following the practice of feng-shui. In Western terms, this is geomancy, the selection of particular sites of land whose inherent qualities are … Continue reading “The Rocks of Harling Point”

Installation of a Songhees Chief

Originally published in Discovery, 20(1). Winter 1992. By Grant Keddie The Museum’s Anthropology photograph collection contains many photos whose subject and time remain a mystery. Recently, I put together a series of five undocumented photographs (four are shown in this article) from different parts of the collection that seemed to be related to the same event. A little detective work revealed that the photos documented the visit of the Governor-General of Canada to Victoria in 1927. As the highest ranking representative of the Crown, he was anointed as an honourary Indian chief. The information sources I located added to my knowledge of an earlier Indian history before the coming of Europeans … a history which I will reveal here in … Continue reading “Installation of a Songhees Chief”