| Transcript |
- Songhees Village. Catholic missionary Father J.B.Z. Buldoc accompanied Sir James Douglas aboard The Beaver, achoring in Victoria Harbour on March 14, 1873. I went to the shore with the commander of the expedition and the Captain of the vessel. Having received unequivocal proofs of the good will of the Indians, I visited their village situated six miles from the port, at the extremity of the bay (Cadboro Bay). Like the surrounding tribes, this one possessed a little fortress formed by stakes enclosing about 150 square feet. The inhabitants endeavour to secure themselves in this manner from incursions of the Toungletats, a powerful and warlike tribe. On my arrival, all the tribe, men, women, and children assembled to shake hands with me. They repaired to the great lodge belonging to their chief, where I spoke to them. On March 18th with the help of several of Douglas's men, a rustic chapel was constructed, using fir branches for the sides and the boats' awning for a canopy. Chee-ah-clak Circa 1850 Chief of the Chekonein, Cadboro Bay. Paul Kane Oil on canvas. Royal Ontario Museum 86 ETH 139. The Campus Circa 1854 Map by Joseph Despard Pemberton Victoria District Lot 31 Section XXXI Surveyor General of British Columbia, Victoria BC Hudson's Bay Archives H. 1/1 fo. 79 Original 14 x 9 inches. Hidden Secrets Beneath the Campus. The Gordon Head Campus was once the site of a Songhees village. Archaeology curator Grant Keddie of the Royal BC Museum suggests that the seasonal camp, located just in front of the Elliot building, may have been occupied for nearly 1,900 years. On July 20 1964, a student and amateur collector of artifacts was passing by one of the construction sites on the Gordon Head campus when he noticed a dark layer of organic material six feet deep, 75 feet long and 30 feet wide, consisting of shell and charcoal deposits. The student had stumbled across a midden which is an organic record of an ancient camp or village and is composed of materials like old campfire coals, tools and bone fragments. Royal B.C. Museum, 42955.
|
|---|