Victoria and Esquimalt

For thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans, Esquimalt Harbour was the home of Lekwungen-speaking peoples, ancestors of the present day Esquimalt Nation. There was a winter village site where the Esquimalt Nation village is today. The surrounding harbour was an important source of food including clams, ducks, geese and fish. Schools of herring came into the harbour to spawn, and the eggs were harvested.

Esquimalt Harbour was the site of the first landing by Europeans in the Victoria area. Don Manuel Quimper from Spain made exploratory visits in the 1790s and named the harbour Puerto de Cordova. By the 1840s, the British Royal Navy began using the natural protected harbour as a west coast naval base.” (source)

Salish Seaside Opening Ceremony in 2018

  • First settlers on the land

    Long before Captain James Cook became the first non-indigenous man to set foot on Vancouver Island in 1778, Victoria's rugged yet pristine wilderness had been home to First Nations people.

    Many aboriginal families lived on Southern Vancouver Island, each referring to themselves by distinct family group names. These peoples could be separated into three groups that spoke different dialects of the North Straits Salish or Lekwungaynung language and became known as the Songhees, the Saanich and the Sooke First Nations peoples. Each had their permanent winter villages in the area.

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