The Gulf Islands are between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. The Gulf Islands are normally split into the Southern and Northern Gulf Islands with the dividing line being between the city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island and the mouth of the Fraser River on the mainland.
Captain George Vancouver made his first recordings of the Gulf Islands in 1792, although First Nations people were already living there. First Nations people identify themselves by the nation to which they belong. In Canada it is usually aboriginal. In recognition of the original inhabitants, the Gulf Islands region is often referred to as the “Salish Sea”.
Captain Vancouver claimed the islands for the British Crown, and referred to them as being located in a “gulf.” The islands aren’t in a gulf but the name has stuck. As marine traffic between Victoria and the Fraser River area exploded it became clear that a new map of the Strait of Georgia was needed and so in 1858-59, another cartographic expedition, on the HMS Plumper was dispatched and more accurate maps produced. Pioneers of this time had now already started establishing places to live on the islands. American blacks and Portuguese arrived and built farms in the valleys of the north end of Salt Spring. Hawaiians, who had been employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company or living in the San Juan Islands when they became U.S. territory in 1872 also developed homes on South Salt Spring and some of the nearby islands. Soon settlers from other parts of the world heard about the Gulf Islands and sought to make their homes there.
Miners Bay on Mayne Island
By the mid 1850s gold fever had caught the attention of Canada. Miners Bay on Mayne Island became a bustling, lively port and one of the first Crown colonies. Not many years later, Salt Spring Island was engulfed by Australians, British and African Americans who were escaping slavery in the United States. Fruit orchards were developed and were hugely successful and evidence of these orchards can still be found. In 1872 the boundary between the United States and Canada was finally agreed and the Gulf Islands officially became part of Canada and the San Juan Islands part of the United States.
As you would expect, many of the islands, bays, harbors and viewpoints are named after Spanish and English explorers who arrived in the 18th century – Vesuvius Bay, Mayne Island, Plumper Sound etc.
Burgoyne Bay Provincial Park
In recent years the preservation of aboriginal life has become more of interest and in the summer of 2016, male and female welcome poles were brought to the seaside at Burgoyne Bay Provincial Park by members of the Quw’utsun First Nation. There is a beautiful Japanese garden at Dinner Bay Park on Mayne Island and the Heiwa Garden in Peace Park on Salt Spring Island. Both of these gardens have been developed to acknowledge the contribution the Japanese made to the development of the Gulf Islands. More recently, Salt Spring boasts a restored charcoal kiln which was used by the Japanese pioneers.
You’ll be sure to find on every island something of historical interest and find the things to do in Gulf Islands here.
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