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SAANICH NEWS -Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Street racing Geo takes flight in Saanich Kyle Slavin News staff
It wasn’t a bird and it wasn’t a plane. What flew through the air Tuesday afternoon in rural Saanich was a car – a blue Geo, to be exact – that became airborne while street racing. Shortly after noon, Saanich police were called to the 300-block of Conway Rd. near Camosun College’s Interurban campus for a report of two street racers. “A red Honda and a blue Geo were racing on the winding, narrow, rural road at speeds of 70-80 km/h,” wrote Const. Mike Bainbridge, with Saanich’s traffic safety unit. That stretch of road has a recommended speed of 10 km/h. The Geo hit the crest in the road, launching it a metre in the air, and sending it crashing on the ground, breaking the engine mounts and nearly hitting a car parked nearby. “The driver abandoned his vehicle nearby and removed the licence plates in an attempt to avoid detection,” Bainbridge wrote. The driver of the Honda picked up the Geo driver and they fled the neighbourhood. Police received six reports of the crash from area residents. The red Honda was located at the nearby college, along with both drivers. Both drivers – a 17-year-old Shawnigan Lake teen and an 18-year-old Cobble Hill teen – carried novice licences and have driving histories known to police. “The Geo has been reported to police on several previous occasions as a dangerous driver, and the driver of the Honda has previously been suspended from driving twice,” Bainbridge wrote. The department’s collision reconstruction team determined the Geo was travelling at least 87 km/h when it hit the crest. Both the Geo and the Honda were impounded for seven days. The driver of the Geo was charged with driving without due care and attention, which comes with a $368 fine. The Honda driver was issued a $196 fine for driving without consideration for safety of others. kslavin@saanichnews.com
Hearing the voices of elders In the first of a series, the News explores the history, culture and ecology of Chatham and Discovery islands Christine van Reeuwyk News staff
Hands raised with a “hych’ka,” Joan Morris welcomes guests to Chatham Island. “My name is Sellemah, my home is over there on Chatham One and I want to take this opportunity to welcome each and every one of you,” she said Wednesday, before thanking the crowd in her Coast Salish tongue. A childhood home, and place of refuge, Discovery and Chatham islands off the shores of Oak Bay and Saanich are still a popular destination for quiet. To Sellemah – her given name after her grandmother, and the name she prefers – it’s still home, despite being removed for more than 50 years. She lived the first 10 years of her life on the “beautiful” island. “Everyone worked together. We had food. We never went hungry, never heard a cross word from the old ones,” Sellemah said, gazing across from Cattle Point before boarding a boat to visit. She lived there from 1947 to 1957. She was brought up by the “old ones,” as her parents were hospitalized and unable to raise her. It’s a topic she doesn’t delve into. When the well dried up the families living on the island moved. “It was home. I still consider it home,” said Sellemah. The Songhees own Chatham Island and a fair chunk of Discovery Island, which is also the site of a provincial park. They are not disputed territories, but established reserves that have also been home to the Songhees people for thousands of years. “We had many leaders who went there to practise their culture because it was illegal,” said
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Christine van Reeuwyk/News staff
Joan Morris with a photo of herself with her namesake grandmother Sellemah (below) on Chatham Island where she lived the first 10 years of her life.
Photo courtesy Joan Morris
For young Joan Morris and her grandmother Sellemah, Chatham island was a safe haven for aboriginal people in an era of forced attendance in notorious residential schools. Lyle Henry, whose given name is Sie-amen-thet. Until the middle of the last
century, the Canadian government attempted to assimilate the First Nations. The Indian
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Act banned displays of things like the sun dance, potlach and other traditional cultures. The Salish Sea sweeping around the lands offered quiet and relative remoteness. It protected traditional life and allowed the passing of culture to the next generation in a time when children were routinely whisked unwillingly away to residential schools. As Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a 2008 apology, “Two primary objectives of the residential school system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture. “These objectives were based on the assumption that aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal. Indeed, some sought, as was infamously said, ‘to kill the Indian in the child.’” Chatham Island was a safe haven for young Sellemah. Today, the tranquility makes the islands a prime destination for many recreational boaters. Unfortunately, they are trespassing and leave some unnerving damage, such as toilets in the brush, garbage and the remains of raging campfires. Remnants of garbage speckle the beaches. One beach holds shotgun shells; trespassers took the time to strip the valuable brass tossing leftover plastic back to the beach. Perhaps its ignorance of the signs marking the islands as private property, Sellemah said. “There’s a lot of improvement that has to be done, but I feel as one nation we can do it, everybody working together,” she said. Already, private boaters tackle the task of protecting the island, UVic researchers study the plant life, and the Songhees Nation is embarking on an education campaign stepping up patrols and signage at Cattle Point and Oak Bay Marina. Part Two: Coming together, The people who protect, restore the islands Part Three: Moving forward, patrolling the private property cvanreeuwyk@oakbaynews.com
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