Obsidian from Oregon, yew trees and sheep-ranching British officers: xʷɛʔɛtay

xʷɛʔɛtay / Lasqueti’s False Bay settlement (Photo courtesy of the qathet Historical Museum & Archives)

BLAST FROM THE PAST

JOËLLE SÉVIGNY

Lasqueti Island was named in modern times after a Spanish naval officer: Juan Maria Lasqueti, in the Spanish explorations of the coast in 1791. However, the island’s first inhabitants, named it xʷɛʔɛtay (Xweh et tay), meaning yew tree.

Indigenous peoples used the island in various ways. It was a natural stopping point on a canoe journey from Vancouver Island to the mainland, and provided abundant food sources including shellfish, fish, deer and berries. There is also evidence of large settlement sites on the island, lookout sites, as well as defensive sites. Obsidian points were also found and traced back to obsidian quarries from Mount Garibaldi in Squamish and from central Oregon, suggesting extensive trade networks.

European settlement of the island began in the 1870s. Land grants were given to British forces who had been stationed in the San Juan Islands; Captain Pearce, Corporal Prowse and Harry Higgins all chose acreages on Lasqueti. These settlers were mainly interested in sheep ranching. More settlers came to the island in the early 1900s to farm the land, some purchased homesteads, and others pre-empted crown lands. A salmon cannery started at False Bay in 1916, and resulted in a shift in the population from Tucker Bay to False Bay.

Leaving Lasqueti / xʷɛʔɛtay

Photo courtesy of the qathet Historical Museum & Archives

Logging of the island drove much of its development, starting with the Rat Portage Timber Company in 1898. By the end of the 1950s, timber reserves were exhausted and many settlers left. The population increased again in the 1970s, as more people sought simple lifestyles and a return to nature. Today, Lasqueti Island is home to just over 400 people, which includes summer residences. It’s part of qathet Regional District.

Blast from the Past is written monthly by qathet Historical Museum and Archives public engagement coordinator Joëlle Sévigny. | jysevigny@powellrivermuseum.ca