Below the surface, there are at least 1,000 years of village history to untangle, of clues to a past that has modern-day implications.
The W̱SÁNEĆ people have an ancient story about a young man who wanted a giant to teach him a powerful song.Alas, the young man couldn’t help himself. As he and his wife paddled back from Point Roberts, where the giant lived, to their home in ȾEL¸IȽĆE, a village on the eastern side of the Saanich Peninsula, he burst into song.
There’s nothing visible now but the modern homes that began lining the waterfront after the Second World War.That’s why Thom and the Tsawout First Nation’s Mavis Underwood, among others, were so excited this past week to talk about a joint Tsawout/UVic field school that will delve into the village and its surrounding area this summer. They have permits to explore Saanich’s four municipally owned properties on Cordova Bay, plus a long stretch of beach below the high-tide mark.
Physical evidence of the archeological work will largely be limited to Agate Lane Park, the only location people can expect the classical scene of students sifting soil in perfectly square holes. Evidence of the past was also dug up — literally — as the community of Cordova Bay grew. Victoria Times and Daily Colonist stories from the 1940s through ’60s document the kind of casual burial-ground disturbance that makes anthropologists cringe. “Alas, poor Yorick,” wisecracked a Hamlet-loving Colonist caption writer under a photo of a couple of centuries-old skulls unearthed during construction.
The thing is, how do you know where the areas of historical significance are? The Archeology Branch lists 19 sites around Cordova Bay, but logic says that with so little mapping done, it wouldn’t take much to stumble upon more. An archeological study paid for by a homeowner near Agate Lane Park in 2008 revealed about 350 artefacts, several burial sites and a cache of animal bones used for weaving. Imagine what lies under other properties.
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