Savary Island or Áyhus is an island in

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Located in the northern part of 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 ...

, it is northwest 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 ...

. It is approximately 0.8-1.5 km wide and long. It has a permanent population of about 100, expanding to perhaps 2,000 or more in the summer months. Savary Island lies within the traditional territory of the

Tla'amin Nation The Tla'amin First Nation (Comox language: ɬəʔamɛn), formerly Sliammon Indian Band or Sliammon First Nation, is a First Nations self governing nation whose lands and traditional territories are located on the upper Sunshine Coast in southwes ...

History

First Nations Settlement

Sometime after the end of the glaciers, First Nations peoples arrived in the region. Archaeological evidence documents the occupation by

Coast Salish peoples The Coast Salish is a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak one of the Coa ...

in this area of the Strait of Georgia for over 4,000 years. The island is within the territory of the Tla'amin (

Sliammon The Tla'amin First Nation (Comox language: ɬəʔamɛn), formerly Sliammon Indian Band or Sliammon First Nation, is a First Nations self governing nation whose lands and traditional territories are located on the upper Sunshine Coast in southwes ...

) First Nation. In the language''ʔayʔajuθəm'' spoken by the Tla'amin peoples, the whole island is known by two names: ''Ihohs'' (previously spelled ''Áyhus''), meaning 'double-headed serpent' and ''Kayaykwon'' which is an allusion in ʔayʔajuθəm to the three main water sources found in the island. The western tip of the Island -- named Indian Point by colonial settlers -- is called Thetik in ''ʔayʔajuθəm'', meaning 'broken off'. The area known by locals as The Meadow is called ''T’it’may'' in ''ʔayʔajuθəm'', meaning 'wild cherry trees'. The area of the spring at Beacon Point is called ''Xixajayis'' in the''ʔayʔajuθəm'' language. Over 13 archaeological sites, protected by the BC Heritage Conservation Act, have been registered on the Island, including a large habitation and use site on the eastern edge, a signal site atop the high south-southwesterly crest of the island, and numerous ancestral remains. These fragile archaeological sites reflect life in the pre-contact era.

European exploration (18th century)

It is possible that European ships were in the vicinity of the island in the mid-18th century. Tla'amin (Sliammon) First Nation oral history records the destruction and sinking of a “trading” ship (well known for pirating) in their traditional territory in that period. In 1791

José María Narváez José María Narváez (1768 – August 4, 1840) was a Spanish naval officer, explorer, and navigator notable for his work in the Gulf Islands and Lower Mainland of present-day British Columbia. In 1791, as commander of the schooner ''Santa S ...

commanded a small schooner, the ''

Santa Saturnina ''North West America'' was a British merchant ship that sailed on maritime fur trading ventures in the late 1780s. It was the first non-indigenous vessel built in the Pacific Northwest. In 1789 it was captured at Nootka Sound by Esteban José M ...

'', on an expedition to chart the

Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The international boundary between Canada and the United States runs down the centre ...

and Strait of Georgia. He reached

Jervis Inlet , image = MtFWAir.jpg , image_size = 260px , pushpin_map=British Columbia , caption = Mount Frederick William & the "elbow" of the inlet , image_bathymetry = Carte simplifiée baie Jervis.svg , caption_bathymetry = Map of Jervis Inlet , locat ...

and was able to determine that

Texada Island Texada Island is a large island located in the Strait of Georgia of British Columbia, Canada. With an area of , it is the largest island of the Gulf Islands and the third largest island in the Strait of Georgia after Whidbey Island in Washington a ...

was in fact an island. In the distance to the north he saw a couple points of higher land, one probably Cape Mudge on

Quadra Island Quadra Island is a large island off the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is part of the Discovery Islands, in the Strathcona Regional District. Etymology In 1903, the island was named after the Peruvian Spanish n ...

, and another to the east, of unclear identity. In June 1792 the Spanish ships '' Sutil'' and '' Mexicana'', under Galiano, and the British ships ''

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

'' and ''

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

'', under

sailed by the island on their way to Desolation Sound. On or about June 25, 1792, Vancouver gave the name "Savary's Island". In early July a boat survey team led by

Peter Puget Peter Puget (1765 – 31 October 1822) was an officer in the Royal Navy, best known for his exploration of Puget Sound. Midshipman Puget Puget's ancestors had fled France for Britain during Louis XIV's persecution of the Huguenots. His father, ...

and

Joseph Whidbey Joseph Whidbey FRS (1757 – 9 October 1833) was a member of the Royal Navy who served on the Vancouver Expedition 1791–95, and later achieved renown as a naval engineer. He is notable for having been the first European to discover and char ...

charted Savary Island and spent at least one night on shore, meeting a group of Indigenous people at island's eastern end. Puget did not refer to the island as Savary, instead simply calling it "Indian Island".

European settlement (Late 19th century)

Permanent European settlement on the island did not begin until well into the 19th century. In the 1870s the government subdivided the island into lots for homesteading despite Indigenous establishments on the island. Jack Green, the first non-Indigenous permanent resident, was an early settler who built a cabin and store in or about 1886. Green Point (now known as Mace Point) was named for him. In or about 1893 Green and his friend and business partner, Taylor, were murdered on Savary, during a store robbery. Strangely, the events of the robbery and murder mirror the robbery by the

Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Du ...

in Union Bay. Green's murderer, Hugh Lynn of the

Lynn Valley Lynn Valley is a neighbourhood in the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia. Located at the northern edge of Metro Vancouver, it sits between Mount Fromme and Mount Seymour. The area's natural parks include Lynn Headwaters Regional Park, ...

clan, was eventually captured in a multi-thousand mile, multinational chase and sent to the gallows.

Development (Early 20th century)

The first hotel seems to have been "The Savary", built in 1914, near the Government Wharf. This hotel remained in operation until 1932 when it was destroyed in a fire. At the other end of the island, the Ashworth family built the Royal Savary Hotel at Indian Point. Gradually, private boats and water taxis from

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

provided the most common access to the island. The steamship services ended in the 1940s (Union Steamships) and 1950s (Gulf Steamship Line). For a brief time an airstrip was operating on the island, but it was later closed due to safety concerns (two children were killed while riding on ATVs). The main air access to Savary has been by seaplane and boats that come from Lund, a nearby town. In the summers, many island commuters from away come and go on seaplanes, especially on Friday and Sunday evening flights.

Shipwrecks

Over the years there have been several shipwrecks (including the Union Steamship Steamer Capilano in 1915) and aircraft crashes (including a small single engine crash in Seaweed Bay in the 1960s). The incidents include: an RCAF Hurricane fighter that crashed off Savary in 1943; lone survivor (12-year-old Fred Ilott) of the PowRivCo Tug Teeshoe sinking who washed up on Savary in the 1950s (''Teeshoe: A Powell River Story'' by Filmmaker Jan Padgett); a Cessna on the airstrip; two fishboats, one in the Gulf and one in Malaspina Strait, each with loss of life; and a Gulf ship that sank on Dinner Rock in 1947. There have also been swimming and pleasure boating incidents over the years. In the 1960s human remains were found on Savary and these were transferred to the Laboratory of Archaeology at

UBC The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top three ...

. These ancestral remains were returned by UBC to the Tla'amin (Sliammon) First Nation in a repatriation ceremony for burial at Sliammon in June 2006. In 1982 the

Royal Savary Hotel Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

was demolished and, for many, this was the end of an era. Since then several B&Bs have opened on the island.

Geology and soils

This island is composed mostly of unconsolidated material such as

glacial till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

, marine

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, and

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

. This comes primarily from the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

era as material deposited by meltwater streams from glaciers which advanced southward through the Strait of Georgia over 20,000 years ago. The Ice Age materials are overlain by

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

(Recent) era deposits; their features include sand dunes. Bedrock is exposed only at the eastern end around Mace Point. Most of Savary's

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

s are sandy, with

brown podzolic Brown podzolic soils are a subdivision of the Podzolic soils in the British soil classification. Although classed with podzols because they have an iron-rich, or spodic horizon, they are, in fact intermediate between podzols and Brown earths. Th ...

and

podzol In soil science, podzols are the typical soils of coniferous or boreal forests and also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia. In Western Europe, podzols develop on heathland, which is often a construct of hum ...

profile development. Since deglaciation (approximately 10,000 years ago), continued erosion under the general influence of prevailing south easterly storm waves, has caused the disappearance of much of the "original island". What remains today is very much in flux as the twin forces of erosion and accretion gradually move or shift the boundaries of the island. As one study described it, "With no exterior sources of sediment, the Island will continue to cannibalize its south coast."

Climate

In the rainshadow of Vancouver Island, Savary receives between 950 and 1,300 mm of precipitation annually, with maximum amounts in late fall through mid-winter. No permanent streams exist on the island, but at least one spring may be found mid-island called Indian Springs. The dry warm summers and erodible soils condition distinctive ecologic settings and surface processes (including wind erosion and deposition). In addition, storm waves, which are predominantly from the southeast, have important erosion and sediment transport effects along the south shore of Savary. It is this unique combination of "ecologic settings", "surface processes" and "transport effects" which gives rise to the wonderful beaches of Savary.

Ecology

Flora

Common trees are

Douglas-fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

western hemlock ''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma ...

western red cedar ''Thuja plicata'' is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae ...

lodgepole pine ''Pinus contorta'', with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpine, ...

grand fir ''Abies grandis'' (grand fir, giant fir, lowland white fir, great silver fir, western white fir, Vancouver fir, or Oregon fir) is a fir native to the Pacific Northwest and Northern California of North America, occurring at altitudes of sea leve ...

red alder ''Alnus rubra'', the red alder, is a deciduous broadleaf tree native to western North America (Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Montana). Description Red alder is the largest species of alder in Nort ...

bigleaf maple ''Acer macrophyllum'', the bigleaf maple or Oregon maple, is a large deciduous tree in the genus '' Acer''. It is native to western North America, mostly near the Pacific coast, from southernmost Alaska to southern California. Some stands are al ...

and

arbutus ''Arbutus'' is a genus of 12 accepted speciesAct. Bot. Mex no.99 Pátzcuaro abr. 2012.''Arbutus bicolor''/ref> of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, native to warm temperate regions of the Mediterranean, western Europe, the Canary Islan ...

. It is claimed that one of the largest arbutus trees in the world is on the island. A few

western white pine Western white pine (''Pinus monticola''), also called silver pine and California mountain pine, is a species of pine in the family Pinaceae. It occurs in mountain ranges of northwestern North America. It is the state tree of Idaho. Description ...

are present. A tiny population of

Garry oak ''Quercus garryana'' is an oak tree species of the Pacific Northwest, with a range stretching from southern California to southwestern British Columbia. It is commonly known as the Oregon white oak or Oregon oak or, in Canada, the Garry oak. It ...

occurs at the eastern end — the northernmost natural occurrence of this species along the coast. It has splendid beaches, arbutus groves, meadows, and sand cliffs.

Salal ''Gaultheria shallon'' is an evergreen shrub in the heather family (Ericaceae), native to western North America. In English, it is known as salal, shallon, or (mainly in Britain) gaultheria. Description ''Gaultheria shallon'' is tall, spra ...

is the most plentiful shrub in the forest understorey.

Red huckleberry ''Vaccinium parvifolium'', the red huckleberry, is a species of ''Vaccinium'' native to western North America. Description It is a deciduous shrub growing to tall with bright green shoots with an angular cross-section. The leaves are ovate to o ...

, evergreen huckleberry and red flowering currant are among the other shrubs present. Many of the open areas have been conquered by alien species such as

Scotch broom ''Cytisus scoparius'' ( syn. ''Sarothamnus scoparius''), the common broom or Scotch broom, is a deciduous leguminous shrub native to western and central Europe. In Britain and Ireland, the standard name is broom; this name is also used for other ...

gorse ''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are n ...

and

Himalayan blackberry ''Rubus armeniacus'', the Himalayan blackberry or Armenian blackberry, is a species of ''Rubus'' in the blackberry group ''Rubus'' subgenus ''Rubus'' series ''Discolores'' (P.J. Müll.) Focke. It is native to Armenia and Northern Iran, and wide ...

Fauna

The animal population includes birds (bald eagles, barred owls, kingfishers, cliff and northern rough-winged swallows, seagulls, sandpipers, and herons), mammals (black-tailed deer, mink, harbour seals, sea lions, otters, bats), reptiles (garter snakes and possibly

northern alligator lizard The northern alligator lizard (''Elgaria coerulea'') is a species of medium-sized lizard in the family Anguidae. The species is endemic to the North American west coast. Taxonomy The northern alligator lizard was formerly known by the scientific ...

), and numerous invertebrates. Surprisingly, the

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...

is absent; its failure to become established on the island has allowed ground-nesting birds to maintain their populations.

Mink Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera ''Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the A ...

is the only native predatory mammal on land and has many

mice A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

to prey on.

Governance

Prior to colonization, Savary was governed by the Tla'amin Nation under Tla'amin law. For many decades after colonization, there was no government to speak of on Savary. Although the island fell under the jurisdiction of one entity or another, island politics and political activity remained in the background. Eventually, Savary Island became part of the Powell River Regional District, now

qathet Regional District The qathet Regional District (, qRD) is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Its only incorporated municipality is the City of Powell River, although it includes a number of unincorporated areas. The district enco ...

. In the late 1990s, the Regional District set down the long path to establish an official community plan for the island. Draft OCPs were prepared in 2001, 2002, and 2006. On February 22, 2007, the Savary Island Official Community Plan, Bylaw No. 403, 2006 was adopted by the Powell River Regional District. The principal aim of the OCP is to maintain Savary Island's unique character and rustic island lifestyle while protecting the island's ground water resources, its sensitive ecosystems, and its unique biophysical characteristics.

Culture

Savary Island has inspired a great deal of creativity; artists whose work features Savary includ
Stephanie Aitken
Helen Griffin, Charles Hepburn Scott, Anne-Marie Harvey, David Burns, Sheldon Heppner, Toni Onley, E. J. Hughes, Keith Pepper and Michael Kluckner. From the early 1900s Savary Island was visited regularly by visual artists working in various media. In the 1930s it became the site of summer sketch camps of the

Vancouver School of Art Emily Carr University of Art + Design (abbreviated as ECU) is a public art university located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The university's campus is located within the Great Northern Way Campus in Strathcona. The university is a co-e ...

, which were often based at the

. An artefact of these camps is a mimeographed newsletter produced by the students,
The Savary Pudding
'. The natural surroundings of Savary inspired poet Alice Brewer to verse found in her 1926 chapbook entitled ''Spring in Savary.''Alt URL
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DiscoveryIslands Islands of the Gulf Islands Populated places in the qathet Regional District