Hawkesbury Island

Hawkesbury Island is an island in British Columbia, Canada. It is located in Douglas Channel, one of the major fjords of the British Columbia Coast. Hawkesbury is 43 kilometres (27 mi) long and ranges in width from 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to 19 kilometres (12 mi). It is 412 square kilometres (159 sq mi) in area.

Hawkesbury Island was named by George Vancouver when he discovered that the natives who resided there, the Juwanga Salish people, regarded hawks as divine beings. Since the natives worshipped hawks, they also regarded the berries which the hawks ate as godly food, hence the name. When Albert Gribbell, one of George Vancouver's men, told the natives that hawks were carnivores, and therefore did not eat berries, they killed, scalped, and ate him. Vancouver named one of the neighbouring islands after his lost crew memeber. Vancouver discovered the island in March of 1771.