Saturna Island

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Saturna Island
Location in the Strait of Georgia
Location in the Strait of Georgia
Waters Strait of Georgia , (Pacific Ocean)
Archipelago Gulf Islands
Geographical location 48 ° 47 ′  N , 123 ° 10 ′  W Coordinates: 48 ° 47 ′  N , 123 ° 10 ′  W
Saturna Island (British Columbia)
Saturna Island
length 12.5 km
width 4.3 km
surface 31 km²
Highest elevation Warburton Pike
397  m
Residents 335 (2011)
11 inhabitants / km²
main place Saturna

Saturna Island is an approximately 31 km² island that is one of the Gulf Islands of the Canadian province of British Columbia . It is the easternmost of the Gulf Islands and is therefore surrounded on three sides by the Canadian-American border; the surrounding archipelago, the Outer Islands, also includes Tumbo, Cabbage and Mayne Island as well as other islets. Half of the island is part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve , a protected area established in 2003 that includes previously existing provincial parks , a so-called Ecological Reserve and crown land. The highest mountain on the island is the 397 m high Mt. Warburton Pike. On the south coast is one of the last primeval forests in southern Canada, made up of temperate rainforest trees such as Douglas firs and Garry oaks.

Administratively, the island belongs to the Capital Regional District and forms there, u. a. along with Galiano Iceland , Mayne Iceland , North and South Pender Iceland , the district chapter G . The population is 335, in summer this number is several times higher.

history

The last glaciation, referred to here as Late Wisconsinan, Fraser Glaciation , lasted from about 30,000 to 10,000 BC. The largest glaciation reached the province in Vashon Stade (18,000–12,000 C-14 years). The ice masses flowing slowly down from the coastal mountains covered the coastal fringes at an altitude of 2000 m, the sea level around Saturna Island was 11 m lower than today. The lower-lying Lowlands became ice-free between 12,500 and 13,000 years ago. Around 10,000 BC The ice masses in the region in the southeast of Vancouver Island melted for the last time. After that, the islands were submerged under water for about 500 to 1000 years. 9,500 years ago, the ice areas reached their present-day dimensions. The land around Vancouver, freed from the pressure of ice, rose by around 300 m. Around Saturna Island, however, the sea level rose by 150 m, so that only the highest peaks protruded from the water and formed small islands. After the sea level fell again or the land that had been freed from the ice had risen significantly, rainwater displaced the salt water that had penetrated.

The island was known to the coastal Salish living on the island under the name "Long Nose", the name common today goes back to the schooner Santa Saturnina . The ship was under captain José María Narváez , who explored the coast in 1791. Already in 1792 Dionisio Alcalá Galiano transferred the ship's name to the island.

Grapevines on Saturna

The first settlers came to the island in the middle of the 19th century. They used the mild climate to grow wine. But there were sometimes fatal conflicts with the residents. Frederick and Carolyn Marcks were killed in such a dispute with Quw'utsun 'in 1862. As a result, the crews of the Grappler and the Forward murdered five members of the Lamalchi.

The island's Indians were pushed into reservations , such as the Tsawout First Nation , who received small reservations on several islands, one of which is on Saturna with an area of ​​145.7 hectares. Tseycum also live in this Saturna Island 7 reserve . The McKenna-McBride Commission redefined the reserve boundaries in British Columbia in the early 20th century, giving the Saanich , which includes Tsawout and Tseycum, a combined 360 acres . The Tsawwassen who live near Vancouver also consider Saturna to be their traditional territory.

From 1881 to 1887 a lighthouse was built on the eastern edge of the island, at East Point.

Parks

The Gulf Islands National Park , which was established in 2003 and takes up about half of the island on Saturna, is only accessible via the seven campsites that can be reached on foot or by kayak , as it is mainly located in the center of the island . Protected are Lyall Creek, the area around McDonald Park Campground, Mount Warburton Pike, and then the day use areas at Narvaez Bay, Taylor Point and Winter Cove.

There is a gathering point for seals at East Point and sea ​​lions can be found at Boiling Reef. In addition, there are white-flanked porpoises and fixed killer whales , such as at Boundary Pass , of marine mammals . In 1977 there were 455 vascular plants .

literature

  • J. Douglas Porteous: The Mells: Surname geography, family history , Saturna Island Thinktank Press, Saturnalia 1988.
  • Harvey Janszen: Vascular plants of Saturna Island, British Columbia , in: Syesis 10 (1977) 85-96.

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ^ Gulf Islands National Park Reserve of Canada or Réserve de parc national du Canada des Îles-Gulf
  2. ^ Saturna Island Trust Area Community Profile. Census 2011. In: Statistics Canada . March 1, 2013, accessed July 20, 2013 .
  3. ^ Diana M. Allen, Emilia Liteanu: Modeling the effect of post-glacial sea level change on the saltwater-freshwater interface, Saturna Island, BC . In: geohydro 2011.
  4. ↑ Richard W. Blumenthal: The early exploration of inland Washington waters: journals and logs from six expeditions, 1786-1792 , McFarland 2004, p. 59.
  5. ↑ Nick Doe: Who named Saturna Island? . In: SHALE 18, April 2008, pp. 18–30 (PDF, 1.0 MB).
  6. ↑ John Douglas Belshaw: Becoming British Columbia: A Population History of British Columbia , UBC Press 2009, p 29th
  7. ↑ http://www.parkscanada.gc.ca/gulf
  8. ↑ Harvey Janszen: Vascular plants of Saturna Island, British Columbia , in: Syesis 10 (1977) 85-96, here: p. 85.