Nanaimo’s Best s Fish & Chip
NANAIMO REGION
The board has voted to write a letter to the Ministry of Education to express their concerns with Bill 11 and the abilities it gives the province to override its decisions. A3
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Remote areas in Nepal devastated d
School board trustees want legislation rescinded
Hom Cook e Mealsed
Come to Nanaimo’s Best Kept Secret and Enjoy. ..
Many in the mountainous countryside in desperate need of water, food, shelter
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The newspaper of record for Nanaimo and region since 1874 || Tuesday, April 28, 2015
ISLAND HISTORY Newcastle has a unique story and a bright future
Celestine Aleck, an interpreter for the Snuneymuxw First Nation on Newcastle Island, stands in front of an old sandstone cutter that once made pulp stones for paper mills across North America. [ROBERT BARRON/DAILY NEWS]
Big plans on tap for Newcastle ROBERT BARRON DAILY NEWS
Newcastle Island facts
N
ewcastle Island has been drawing people to its shores for thousands of years, and the attraction hasn’t lessened to this day. Along with its spectacular natural beauty, the 336-hectare marine park located in the Nanaimo harbour boasts a rich history for both First Nations and Europeans. Hidden middens offer mute evidence of the long relationship the Snuneymuxw First Nation had with the island, which was a spiritual place that also offered many types of traditional medicines in its many plants and trees that the native people used for healing. After coal was discovered in this area in 1849, Newcastle Island also hosted many commercial enterprises, including
336 The number of hectares that comprise the island.
1955 City of Nanaimo purchases the island.
1959 Sold to the province for the bargain-basement price of just $1.
7 The number of years the three phases of the island’s new business plan will cover. COMPILED BY DAILY NEWS
a fish-salting operation, a shipyard, coal mining and a sandstone quarry that was in operation for more than 60 years. Plans are currently underway to develop a business plan for Newcastle island — co-managed by the SFN, the City of Nanaimo
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Variable cloud High 14, Low 7 Details A2
and the province — that is expected to roll out in three phases over seven years. Celestine Aleck is an interpreter for the SFN on the island who has been offering tours of Newcastle during the summer months for the past nine years. She said she learned much of the native history of the island from her great-grandmother. “Before Europeans arrived, there were a series of longhouses built from Departure Bay to where Port Place Mall exists today,” Aleck said. “When family members would die, the rest of the family would come to the island so they could mourn in a quiet, spiritual place and fix their minds and bodies. There was only one family allowed to live on the island at a time to keep the beaches clear and prevent over harvesting of the medicinal plants.” Among the many stories Aleck has of Newcastle is the legend
that a box of gold and other valuables is buried somewhere on the island. She said the story is that in the years after coal was first discovered in the Nanaimo area, two Snuneymuxw men were returning to Nanaimo from Vancouver in a war canoe when a number of white men, who carried a small wooden chest that they closely guarded, asked for a lift. Aleck said the men soon began fighting among themselves which ended up with all of them overboard and drowned. The Snuneymuxw men returned to Nanaimo and opened the box to see what the fight was all about and found it loaded with gold and valuables. Aleck said they were afraid they would be blamed for the deaths of the white men and also feared the incident meant the box was bad luck, so they decided to bury it on Newcastle Island, according to the legend.
Post-budget ad blitz by Tories to cost $13M
Critics unleash barage against food blogger
In all, the Ministry of Finance and the CRA have booked $13.5 million in 2015-16 to promote last week’s federal budget. A federal election must be held by Oct. 19. » Nation & World, A7
What Vani Hari doesn’t have, critics argue, is a background in related sciences or nutrition. And she’s made mistakes that have landed her in a feeding frenzy. » Health, B1
Local news .................... A3-5 Markets ................................A2 B.C. news ............................. A6
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Classified ............................ B6 Obituaries ........................... B6 Comics ................................. B5
The peaceful and spiritual nature of the island that was maintained by the First Nation for millennia quickly ended with the arrival of the Europeans, who saw the value of the island’s many resources. Coal was plentiful in Nanaimo as well as Newcastle island and the inevitable mines were dug and excavated for the valuable material. The island’s sandstone quarries were also quickly utilized and the sandstone mined there was used to build such landmark buildings as Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria, the U.S. Mint in San Francisco and the B.C. Penitentiary in New Westminster. See NEWCASTLE, Page A5 » We want to hear from you. Send comments on this story to letters@nanaimodailynews.com. Letters must include daytime phone number and hometown.
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