Bowen Island (originally Nex̱wlélex̱m in

Sḵwx̱wú7mesh The Squamish people ( Squamish: ''Skwxwú7mesh'' , historically transliterated as Sko-ko-mish) are an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Archaeological evidence shows they have lived in the area for more than a thousand years. In 2 ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, is an island municipality that is part of Metro Vancouver. Bowen Island is within the jurisdiction of the

Islands Trust The Islands Trust is a federation of local governments on the islands in the Strait of Georgia, Howe Sound and Haro Strait in British Columbia. It was established by, and is operated under, the ''Islands Trust Act'', enacted by the Government of ...

. Located in Howe Sound, it is approximately wide by long, with the island at its closest point about west of the mainland. There is regular

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

service from Horseshoe Bay provided by BC Ferries, as well as semi-regular

water taxi A water taxi or a water bus is a watercraft used to provide public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus, or o ...

services. The population of 4,256 is supplemented in the summer by roughly 1,500 visitors, as Bowen Island regularly receives travelers in the summer season. The island has a land area of .

History

Indigenous peoples

The name for Bowen Island is Nex̱wlélex̱m in the

Squamish language Squamish (; ', ''sníchim'' meaning "language") is a Coast Salish language spoken by the Squamish people of the Pacific Northwest. It is spoken in the area that is now called southwestern British Columbia, Canada, centred on their reserve commun ...

of the

Squamish people The Squamish people (Squamish language, Squamish: ''Skwxwú7mesh'' , historically transliterated as Sko-ko-mish) are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Archaeological evidence sh ...

.Squamish Nation "Skwxwu7mesh Snichim-Xweliten Snichim Skexwts / Squamish-English Dictionary", Published 2011. The Squamish peoples used and occupied the area around Howe Sound including Bowen Island. Areas such as

Snug Cove Snug Cove is a community on the east coast of Bowen Island, British Columbia, opposite Horseshoe Bay. The island is wide by long and west of the mainland, and has a population of around 3,700 people. The Squamish hunters and fishermen were t ...

and a few other parts of the island were used as campsites for hunting and gathering trips. Historically they would use the warmer spring and summer months to travel to resource gathering sites and move from their permanent winter villages. Bowen Island has a traditional name in the Squamish language, Xwlíl’xhwm, translating to "Fast Drumming Ground", although some authors attribute the name to the sound made by the ocean as it passes through the tiny pass between the island's northern point and Finisterre Island. The tide rushing in and out is reminiscent of the sound of drums beating quickly. The name "Kwém̓shem" is used for Hood Point. Bowen is still used by people from Squamish and

Musqueam The Musqueam Indian Band ( ; hur, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm ) is a First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the only First Nations band whose reserve community lies within the boundari ...

for deer hunting. Into the 20th century Bowen Island was actively used by Squamish people for deer and duck hunting, fishing and, later, wage jobs. In conversations with Vancouver archivist Major Matthews in the 1950s,

August Jack Khatsahlano August Jack (Khatsahlano, X̱ats'alanexw) (July 16, 1877 – June 5, 1971) was an Indigenous/ Aboriginal chief of the Squamish people. He was born in the village of Xwayxway on the peninsula that is now Stanley Park, Vancouver, or at ''Chaythoos ...

recalled knowing several Squamish who worked for whalers on the island at the turn of the 20th century. In a conversation with City of Vancouver archivist JA Matthews, Khatsahlano recalled deer hunting on Bowen, saying that at one time he took the biggest deer in British Columbia from the island, weighing in at .

Post-colonization

When Spanish explorers arrived on the west coast of Canada, they named many of the features of what is now the

Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia (french: Détroit de Géorgie) or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada and the extreme northwestern mainland coast ...

. Bowen Island was called Isla de Apodaca (after the Mexican town of Apodaca, in northeast Nuevo León state, which was itself named after a benevolent bishop, Salvador de Apodaca y Loreto) by the Spanish Captain José María Narváez in July, 1791. In 1860 Cpt. George Henry Richards renamed the island after Rear Admiral James Bowen, master of HMS ''Queen Charlotte''. In 1871, homesteaders began to build houses and started a

brickworks A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock (the most common material from which bricks are made), often with a quarry for cl ...

, which supplied bricks to the expanding city of

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. Over the years, local industry has included an explosives factory, logging, mining, and milling, but there is no heavy industry on the island at present.

20th century

In the first half of the 20th century, life on Bowen was dominated by a resort operated by the Terminal Steamship Company (1900-1920) and the Union Steamship Company (1920 - 1962). These companies provided steamer service to Vancouver, and the Horseshoe Bay -

Bowen Island Ferry The Bowen Island ferry travels between Snug Cove on Bowen Island, and Horseshoe Bay in the District of West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a trip of three nautical miles across Howe Sound. A scheduled ferry has been in operation since 1 ...

began in 1921. When the Union Steamship resort closed in the 1960s the island returned to a quiet period of slow growth. In the 1940s and 1950s, the artists' colony called Lieben was a retreat for many famous Canadian authors, artists, and intellectuals including

Earle Birney Earle Alfred Birney (13 May 1904 – 3 September 1995) was a Canadian poet and novelist, who twice won the Governor General's Award, Canada's top literary honour, for his poetry. Life Born in Calgary, Alberta, and raised on a farm in Eric ...

, Alice Munro, Dorothy Livesay, Margaret Laurence,

A.J.M. Smith Arthur James Marshall Smith (November 8, 1902 – November 21, 1980) was a Canadian poet and anthologist. He "was a prominent member of a group of Montreal poets" – the Montreal Group, which included Leon Edel, Leo Kennedy, A. M. Klei ...

Jack Shadbolt Jack Leonard Shadbolt, (February 4, 1909 November 22, 1998) was a Canadian painter. Early life Born in Shoeburyness, England, Shadbolt came to Canada with his parents in April 1911. He was raised in Victoria, British Columbia. He studied at t ...

Eric Nicol Eric Patrick Nicol (December 28, 1919 – February 2, 2011) was a Canadian writer, best known as a longtime humour columnist for the Vancouver, British Columbia newspaper ''The Province''. He also published over 40 books, both original works a ...

and

Malcolm Lowry Clarence Malcolm Lowry (; 28 July 1909 – 26 June 1957) was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel ''Under the Volcano'', which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.

, who finished his last book,

October Ferry to Gabriola ''October Ferry to Gabriola'' is a novel by Malcolm Lowry. Edited by his widow Margerie Bonner, it was posthumously published in 1970. It is an existential love story featuring a Lowry-like character, Ethan Llewelyn, and his wife, in their never ...

, there. In the 1980s, real estate pressures in Vancouver accelerated growth on Bowen and currently the local economy is largely dependent on commuters who work on the mainland in Greater Vancouver. Prior to becoming a municipality, Bowen Island was part of the

Sunshine Coast Regional District The Sunshine Coast Regional District is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the southern mainland coast, across Georgia Strait (part of the Salish Sea) from Vancouver Island. It borders on the qathet Regional Distri ...

, made up of small communities and municipalities.

Commerce

Bowen Island is served by a number of small businesses including marinas, cafes, gift shops, grocery stores, a post office, pharmacy, restaurants, garden and flower shops, and a building supply yard. Bowen Island is served by First Credit Union, and by an Exchange Network ATM operated by North Shore Credit Union. Bowen Island's commercial sector is primarily located within Snug Cove and Artisan Square. It is also served by a weekly newspaper, the Bowen Island Undercurrent.

Transportation

Marine

Bowen Island is served by three scheduled water-transportation operators: * BC Ferries, a

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

provincial Crown corporation, offers a ferry service using the ''Queen of Capilano'' car ferry, which travels between Horseshoe Bay in

West Vancouver West Vancouver is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District, West Vancouver is to the northwest of the city of Vancouver on the northern side of English Ba ...

and

on Bowen Island. * English Bay Launch runs a passenger-only

weekday commuter service between Snug Cove and Vancouver's Coal Harbour, and on summer weekends runs a tourist service between Snug Cove and Vancouver's Granville Island. This taxi service was shut down in 2018 due to the dock they used by the Parks Board on the Vancouver side being deemed unsafe. * Cormorant Marine runs a passenger-only water taxi service providing late-night sailings between the government docks in Horseshoe Bay and in Snug Cove. In addition, weekday commuter sailings are made between Snug Cove and Horseshoe Bay, to connect with the Bowen Express Bus from downtown Vancouver.

Land

Public roads are maintained by the Bowen Island Municipality. There are roadside walking trails in only a few places and the terrain is hilly and winding. Private vehicles are the primary form of transportation and

hitchhiking Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads hav ...

is commonplace. Bowen Island has limited bus service on these

TransLink Translink (or TransLink) may refer to: * TransLink (British Columbia), the public transport operator in Vancouver, Canada * Translink (Northern Ireland) Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), a ...

bus routes, which are timed to meet some ferry sailings: * Route 280 Bluewater/Snug Cove * Route 281 Eagle Cliff/Snug Cove * Route 282 Mount Gardner/Snug Cove (weekends and holidays only)

Education

The island is in the West Vancouver School District and has one public elementary school named Bowen Island Community School. High school students living in Bowen Island (grades 8 to 12) travel to

to attend

West Vancouver Secondary School West Vancouver Secondary School (WVSS) is a five-year secondary school located in the middle of West Vancouver, British Columbia which educates grades 8 through 12. It is one of the three public high schools in West Vancouver. The school has two c ...

Sentinel Secondary School Sentinel Secondary School is a secondary school located in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is one of three public secondary schools in the West Vancouver district (SD #45) including West Vancouver Secondary School and Rockridge Se ...

, or Rockridge. There is also the Island Pacific School, an

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

middle school for grades 6 through 9. Some students also travel to West Vancouver to attend French Immersion at École Pauline Johnson. There is a public-supported home learning program, The Learning Centre, and a growing number of families also

unschool Unschooling is an informal learning that advocates learner-chosen activities as a primary means for learning. Unschoolers learn through their natural life experiences including play (activity), play, household responsibilities, personal interes ...

. Bowen Island houses a public library in the heritage Old General Store that is also part of British Columbia's InterLink co-operative of public libraries.

Places of worship

There are a number of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

churches on the Island. St Gerard's

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

is located on Miller Road. The United Church is situated in a timber building erected in 1932 a little further along on the same road. Also on Miller Road, nearer to Snug Cove, and meeting in Bowen Court, is Bowen Island Community Church, an affiliate of the Congregational Christian Churches in Canada. Lastly, Cates Hill Chapel is a Christian Brethren church founded in 1991. Its present building on Carter Road was opened in 1999. There are also regular meetings held by

Unitarians Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

and

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

. Bowen Island is home to the Canadian branch of L'Abri, a communal Christian retreat centre where visitors come for self-directed study. Finally, Camp Bow-Isle is a summer camp for

Christian Scientists Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

. There are regular

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

meditation sittings in both the Zen and Vipassana traditions. Bowen's

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community celebrates

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

and high holidays, and acquired a

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

in 2006.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Bowen Island had a population of 4,256 living in 1,724 of its 2,036 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 3,680. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Ethnicity

Religion

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Bowen Island included: *

Irreligion Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and a ...

(2,885 persons or 68.3%) *

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

(1,185 persons or 28.0%) *

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

(65 persons or 1.5%) *

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

(60 persons or 1.4%) *Other (20 persons or 0.5%)

Films and TV series shot entirely or partly on Bowen Island

*'' The Trap'' (1966) *'' The Food of the Gods'' (1976) *''

Clan of the Cave Bear ''The Clan of the Cave Bear'' is a 1980 novel and epic work of prehistoric fiction by Jean M. Auel about prehistoric times. It is the first book in the ''Earth's Children'' book series, which speculates on the possibilities of interactions be ...

'' (1986) *''People Across the Lake'' (1988) *''

American Gothic ''American Gothic'' is a 1930 painting by Grant Wood in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Wood was inspired to paint what is now known as the ''American Gothic'' House in Eldon, Iowa, along with "the kind of people efancied shoul ...

'' (1988) *''

Cousins Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, " ...

'' (1989) *''

Look Who's Talking ''Look Who's Talking'' is a 1989 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Amy Heckerling, and starring John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. Bruce Willis plays the voice of Mollie's son, Mikey. The film features George Segal as Albert. P ...

'' (1989) *'' Bird on a Wire'' (1990) *'' The Russia House'' (1990) *''

Another Stakeout ''Another Stakeout'' is a 1993 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by John Badham and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez, and Rosie O'Donnell. It is a sequel to the 1987 film, '' Stakeout''. Unlike its predecessor, the film was ...

'' (1993) *''

Intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their i ...

'' (1994) *'' Hideaway'' (1995) *''All the Winters That Have Been'' (1997) *'' Disturbing Behavior'' (1998) *'' Double Jeopardy'' (1999) *''

Antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

'' (2001) *''Rugged Rich and the Ona Ona'' (2004) *''

The Fog ''The Fog'' is a 1980 American supernatural horror film directed by John Carpenter, who also co-wrote the screenplay and created the music for the film. It stars Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, Janet Leigh and Hal Holbrook. It ...

'' (2005) *''Paper Moon Affair'' (2005) *''The Hitchhiker'' (2006) *'' The Wicker Man'' (2006) *''Are We Still the Ugly American?'' (2008) *''River'' (2008) *'' The Uninvited'' (2009) *'' Harper's Island'' (2009) *'' Virgin River'' (2019)

References

External links

* * {{Coord, 49, 23, N, 123, 23, W, region:CA_type:isle, display=title Populated places in Greater Vancouver Island municipalities in British Columbia Islands of British Columbia South Coast of British Columbia 1999 establishments in British Columbia