By Martha Perkins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, North Shore News
The Creator wasn香蕉视频直播檛 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 Nch香蕉视频直播檏瘫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 Creator香蕉视频直播檚 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 couldn香蕉视频直播檛 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 香蕉视频直播渇reedom fighter香蕉视频直播� named Giuseppe Garibaldi. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Garibaldi was 香蕉视频直播渁 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.香蕉视频直播�
Firing his ship香蕉视频直播檚 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, it香蕉视频直播檚 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.
香蕉视频直播淚n 1913, W. Gray and P. Long went in ahead of the camp to blaze a trail for pack horses,香蕉视频直播� writes Kate Bell in her detailed 1984 paper called the Cultural History Themes of Garibaldi Provincial Park, Black Tusk and Diamond Head. 香蕉视频直播淣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.香蕉视频直播�
The Alpine Club of Canada soon added its voice to calls to protect such 香蕉视频直播済reat natural beauty香蕉视频直播� for the growing populations of Vancouver and Victoria.
In 1917, it wrote to Premier H.C. Brewster: 香蕉视频直播淎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.香蕉视频直播�
Besides, the letter adds, 香蕉视频直播渋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.香蕉视频直播�
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 reserve香蕉视频直播檚 creation, a pandemic has tossed life upside down for people around the world. It香蕉视频直播檚 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 Nch香蕉视频直播檏瘫ay虛?
When you restore Indigenous names, it creates an opportunity for the Squamish people to start telling their stories, says Chris Lewis (Syeta香蕉视频直播檟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.
香蕉视频直播淓verything we do as Skwxwu7mesh is based in place,香蕉视频直播� Lewis says. 香蕉视频直播淥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.香蕉视频直播�
When those names become more broadly used, 香蕉视频直播渙ur history becomes everyone香蕉视频直播檚 history.香蕉视频直播�
Nch香蕉视频直播檏瘫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?
香蕉视频直播淚f you go to the main streams that flow off of the mountain, they are just choked with volcanic debris 香蕉视频直播� fine mud,香蕉视频直播� explains retired geologist Bob Turner. 香蕉视频直播淵ou can香蕉视频直播檛 drink that water and it香蕉视频直播檚 because the volcanic rock that makes up the mountain are weak and unstable.
香蕉视频直播淓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 Nch香蕉视频直播檏瘫ay虛 is just so appropriate.香蕉视频直播�
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.
香蕉视频直播淲hen you have a resource like that it creates wealth and knowledge,香蕉视频直播� Lewis says of obsidian香蕉视频直播檚 early value. 香蕉视频直播淭hrough new archeological technology that finds the DNA of the obsidian artifacts, we can trace obsidian from Nch香蕉视频直播檏瘫ay虛 far into the Interior of British Columbia and all down the coast to Portland.香蕉视频直播�
Nch香蕉视频直播檏瘫ay虛 also looms large in Squamish culture as a place of spiritual training. 香蕉视频直播淥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,香蕉视频直播� he says.
Lewis notes that in a modern-day context, the Squamish Nation香蕉视频直播檚 economic development corporation is called Nch香蕉视频直播檏瘫ay虛. 香蕉视频直播淚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, that香蕉视频直播檚 when bad things happen.
香蕉视频直播淚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.香蕉视频直播�
While the Squamish Nation has not made a formal request to the province to change the name, Lewis says they appreciate that there香蕉视频直播檚 now a growing social and political licence to restart the conversation.
David Karn is a spokesperson for the B.C. Ministry of Environment. 香蕉视频直播淏C Parks,香蕉视频直播� he writes, 香蕉视频直播渉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.香蕉视频直播�
Just as nearly every culture has its great flood story, Lewis believes there香蕉视频直播檚 value in having the name Nch香蕉视频直播檏瘫ay虛 serve as a cautionary tale for everyone: beware of treating the natural world unwisely.
香蕉视频直播淥ur story of Nch香蕉视频直播檏瘫ay虛 is about losing our way,香蕉视频直播� he says. 香蕉视频直播淲e weren香蕉视频直播檛 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.香蕉视频直播�
Martha Perkins is the North Shore News香蕉视频直播� Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
