Vargas Island

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Vargas Island
Waters Clayoquot Sound
Geographical location 49 ° 11 ′ 28 "  N , 125 ° 59 ′ 21"  W Coordinates: 49 ° 11 ′ 28 "  N , 125 ° 59 ′ 21"  W
Vargas Island, British Columbia
Vargas Island
length 8.4 km
width 7.3 km
surface 50 km²
Highest elevation 160  m
main place Yarksis

Vargas Island is an island off the west coast of Vancouver Island on the Canadian Pacific coast. It is located northwest of Tofino in the Clayoquot Sound region . A provincial park was created there on July 13, 1995, the Vargas Island Provincial Park , which covers an area of ​​57.88 km² in the western part of Vargas and on Blunden Island and the small archipelago La Croix Group of islands.

The island is now part of the traditional territory of the Ahousaht , one of the 15 Nuu-chah-nulth groups that inhabit the west coast of Vancouver Island. They also have a reservation there .

history

During the last Ice Age, known as the Wisconsinian in North America , the sea level fell by up to 150 m. As a result, parts of the continental shelf that are now under water were characterized by dense vegetation, the traces of which could be detected. The proven tree species include coastal pine (Pinus contorta) as well as spruce , hemlock and alder, as well as ferns , which can be dated to 10,500 BP .

Between 8000 and 7000 BP, the sea level in the region was about 3 m lower than today, as could also be determined from submarine tree stumps and forest floor traces. This movement came to a standstill between 6000 and 4800 BP. After that, the sea level sank again between 2700 and 2000 BP, with large gaps in knowledge between 4800 and 2700 and from the turn of the century until today. These movements do not correspond to those of the rest of British Columbia, suggesting local uplifts and subsidence on the edge of the American plate.

Assuming that people moved south from Beringia in the north by sea, it can be assumed that boats also operated off the west coast of Vancouver Island. The oldest traces to date were found near Namu in the north of the province, then in Bear Cove in the north of Vancouver Island. It is not known since when people lived on Vargas.

Traders who wanted to go to Opitsat in the 18th century had to pass Vargas, which on the one hand belonged to the area of ​​the Ahousaht , who today mainly live on Flores Island , and on the other hand to that of the Kelsemaht . The former, more precisely the Manhousaht belonging to the Ahousaht , lived in the northwest of Vargas, the latter around Yahqsis (also Yaksis or y'aaq h sis) in the southeast.

When the first Europeans came to the region at the end of the 18th century, the Ahousaht still lived mostly on the mainland, in an area called Chetarpe and on Vargas Island in Ahous Point . Their chief was Cheaskinah, who befriended Captain James Hanna in 1785. He exchanged names with him, so that he was also known as "Chief Hanna". From 1824 the Ahousaht moved to Flores Island, where they wrested power from the local Otsosaht in a 14-year war.

When the Canadian government established Indian reservations, Vargas Island was nevertheless assigned to the Ahousaht.

The provincial park was established in 1995, with the Marmelalk playing an important role. A 2002 study showed that the rare bird was particularly common in Vargas. However, its stocks were threatened by heavy boat traffic through the Maurus Channel / Calmus Passage. Despite the island location, predators such as bears and wolves regularly swim to the island. Vargas hit the headlines in 2011 after wolves attacked a camper. It turned out that tourists had fed the wolves and thus reduced their natural fear of humans. In order not to provoke the wolves, not only is feeding prohibited, but dogs are also prohibited.

literature

  • Pierre A. Friele: Holocene Relative Sea-Level Change: Vargas Island, British Columbia , Master's Thesis, Simon Fraser University 1991.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Terri Lacourse, Rolf W Mathewes, Daryl W. Fedje: Paleoecology of late-glacial terrestrial deposits with in situ conifers from the submerged continental shelf of western canada , in: Quaternary Research 60,2 (2003) 180-188.
  2. ↑ Pierre A. Friele: Holocene Relative Sea-Level Change: Vargas Island, British Columbia , Master's Thesis, Simon Fraser University 1991.
  3. ↑ Umeek, E. Richard Atleo: Tsawalk: A Nuu-chah-nulth WorldView , UBC Press, 2004, p 97th
  4. ^ Alfred Stout: Blood Groups, Red Cell Enzymes, and Cerumen Types of the Ahousaht (Nootka) Indians , in: Robert S. Corruccin: Anthropological studies related to health problems of North American Indians , Ardent Media, 1974, 107-114, here : P. 107.
  5. ^ W. Kaye Lamb, Tomàs Bartroli: James Hanna and John Henry Gox: The First Maritime Fur Trader and His Sponsor , in: BC Studies 84 (1989/90) 4-36, here: p. 12.
  6. ^ Robert S. Hogg: Evaluating historic fertility change in small reserve populations , in: BC Studies 101 (1994) 79-95, here: p. 80.
  7. ↑ Alan E.Burger, Trudy A.Chatwin (ed.): Multi-Scale Studies of Population, Distribution and Habitat Associations of Marbled Murrelets in Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia , Victoria, March 2002, p.24.
  8. ^ Ian McAllister, Paul C. Paquet, Chris Darimont: Following the Last Wild Wolves , Greystone Books, 2011.