Penelakut Island, formerly known as Kuper Island and renamed in 2010 in honour of the

Penelakut The Penelakut are a large (about 1000 individuals) Halkomelem language, Hul'qumi'num-speaking First Nations in Canada, First Nation. They live primarily on Penelakut Island (formerly Kuper Island) near the south end of Vancouver Island, and Galiano ...

First Nation people, is located in the southern

Gulf Islands The Gulf Islands are a group of islands in the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the mainland coast of British Columbia. Etymology The name "Gulf Islands" comes from "Gulf of Georgia," the original term used by George Vancouver in his ma ...

between

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

and the mainland Pacific coast of

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, ...

, Canada. The island has a population of about 300 members of the Penelakut Band. The island has an area of . There is frequent car and passenger ferry service to Penelakut from

Chemainus Chemainus is a community within the municipality of North Cowichan in the Chemainus Valley on the east coast of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Founded as an unincorporated logging town in 1858, Chemainus is now famou ...

. On its west side sits Telegraph Harbour. A

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

climate of mild winters and warm, dry summers supports a unique ecosystem and an ideal living environment. The island is in the

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes) is carrie ...

, with an annual rainfall of about . Unlike most neighbouring Gulf Islands, the topography is subdued with few bluffs or rock outcrops. Poorly drained soils are common. There is a

Roman 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 ...

and a

longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often rep ...

, but no commercial establishments on the island. Because it is an

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." Ind ...

, property is not available for purchase. (There is one private lot dating from the events of 1863). From 1890 to 1978, the Catholic Church operated a residential school on the island. The present comprehensive school is run by the Penelakut. There is still much bitterness in the community over the violence and sexual abuse suffered by Indigenous children who attended the school. In 2002, Glenn Doughty, a Catholic Oblate brother who was employed at the school was sentenced to three years in prison for his historical crimes at the Kuper Island School, including indecent assault on a male, gross indecency, and one count of buggery involving 11 different victims. Those were the laws on the books when the crimes occurred in the 1960s and '70s.,
APTN. July 13, 2021. and former attendees say the abusive practices were widespread. In July 2021, an announcement was made that 160 unmarked graves were identified near the site of the residential school.

History

Britain's

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, surveying the area in 1851, cruised into a group of five islands in 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 ...

, declaring the colonial name of the two largest islands to be Kuper and

Thetis Thetis (; grc-gre, Θέτις ), is a figure from Greek mythology with varying mythological roles. She mainly appears as a sea nymph, a goddess of water, or one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus. When described as ...

, after their Captain

Augustus Leopold Kuper Admiral Sir Augustus Leopold Kuper (16 August 1809 – 28 October 1885) was a Royal Navy officer known for his commands in the far east. Naval career Kuper, whose ancestry was German, joined the navy in 1823 as a midshipman. On 20 February 183 ...

R.N. (1809–1885) and his

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

, HMS ''Thetis'', a 36-gun

frigate on the Pacific Station between 1851 and 1853. In 1861 about 300 Bella Bella Indigenous people in 19 large canoes were ordered away from Victoria by Governor James Douglas. On their return journey north, they staged a surprise attack at dawn on the Penelahut natives of Kuper Island, a tribe of about 400 in number. About 225 Penelahuts were murdered in one of the worse massacres recorded. A Nanaimo chief named Winni-win-chin was visiting Kuper Island. He escaped to Nanaimo and reported the massacre to Mr. A.G. Horne, in charge of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

post. Mr. Horne dispatched canoe men to Victoria to report the act. On April 20, 1863, the British gunboat HMS ''Forward'' attacked the native village on Kuper Island. The captain believed that the village harboured individuals of the separate Lamalchi tribe involved in two recent assaults in the

in which three Europeans had been killed in combat. The gunboat fired on the village but, unprepared for a naval landing, withdrew with one casualty after a fierce battle with island warriors. Following the event, the colonial government responded with one of the largest military assaults in

's history, which took place on the east coast of

and extended throughout the waters and islands of

Active Pass Active Pass ( Saanich: sqθeq) is a strait separating Galiano Island in the north and Mayne Island in the south in the southern Gulf Islands, British Columbia, Canada. It connects the Trincomali Channel in the west and the Strait of Georgia in t ...

Trincomali Channel Trincomali Channel is a channel located in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Canada. Etymology Trincomali Channel is named for the ship HMS ''Trincomalee'', which was assigned to the Royal Navy's Pacific Station at Esquimalt from 1852 to 185 ...

and Stuart Channel. Subsequently, having gained control of the region, the government publicly hanged four Indigenous men in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and established colonial governance in the region, ultimately forming the Province of British Columbia.

Gallery

File:Kuper Island School.jpg, Kuper Island School File:Ceremonial Dance, Kuper School Gymnasium.jpg, Ceremonial Dance, Kuper School Gymnasium File:Cermonial Canoe Races, 2006, Kuper Island.jpg, Ceremonial Canoe Races, 2006, Penelakut File:Kuper Island Longhouse.JPG, Penelakut Longhouse File:Visita a I. Kuper - por escuela I. Galiano - nuevos amigos.jpg, New Friends-Galiano Students visit Penelakut Band School, Penelakut

References

* {{GulfIslands Islands of the Gulf Islands First Nations history in British Columbia Indigenous conflicts in Canada