BURSTStanding above a site they say fails to respect their ancestors, W̱SÁNEĆ hereditary chiefs called for action Saturday, demanding the closure of Patricia Bay Park and greater protection for ancestral burial places.
Roughly 40 people gathered at the park on Oct. 10 to hear Tseycum Nation (W̱SÍḴEM) Hereditary Chief Vern Jacks, or XÁLÁȾE, and Tsawout (SȾÁUTW̱) Hereditary Chief Eric Pelkey, or WIĆKINEM, speak about the ongoing harm caused by disturbances to ancestral burial sites along West Saanich Road.
The gathering was organized ahead of upcoming municipal and provincial elections. According to the gathering organizers, several political figures were invited to attend and hear the community’s concerns, but none attended.
“I invited the politicians that are running, none of them showed up,” Jacks said. “Not even a local running for mayor.”
Jacks said the issue reflects a longstanding failure to consult hereditary leadership about the protection of ancestral burial places.
Pointing across the road to the Holy Trinity Church cemetery, he contrasted the treatment of those graves with the burial places of W̱SÁNEĆ ancestors.
“You see that grave over there? That’s respected,” Jacks said. “This grave here, First Nations, it’s not respected.”
The history of West Saanich Road and its impact on ancestral burial places stretches back generations.
The Province has acknowledged that the road was constructed through an ancient burial ground, where ancestral remains and archaeological sites exist within and adjacent to the road right-of-way.
Graves were documented as disturbed during road work in 1928, and ancestral remains were uncovered again during work in 2006.
In 2008, 55 W̱SÍḴEM ancestors held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York were returned for reburial.
In 2012, W̱SÍḴEM and the Province signed the West Saanich Road Reconciliation Agreement, with the Province acknowledging the continuing pain and hurt caused by the road’s history and committing resources toward reinterment and protection.
Despite subsequent archaeological monitoring and protective measures, Jacks said the need to protect ancestral burial places remains urgent.
“My grandmother left this world hurt because of the desecration of our ancestors,” he said.
Jacks called for Patricia Bay Park to close as a way to demonstrate respect for First Nations burial places.
Pelkey attended in support of Jacks, saying the gathering was an opportunity to bring attention to concerns that have remained unresolved for generations.
“Our ancestors can’t rest in peace if people are walking on them every day,” Pelkey said.
He described the area as a place where W̱SÁNEĆ people once lived in longhouses, explaining that the village extended across the bay and that the cemetery was located at its end.
Pelkey said an 1852 agreement with the Crown was intended to protect W̱SÁNEĆ villages and enclosed fields. He argued that municipal, regional, provincial and federal governments have failed to honour those commitments.
He also pointed to the history of Victoria International Airport, which is just across the street from the park, saying land was taken for wartime use with a promise it would be returned after the war, but was not.
Pelkey said the absence of political representatives at Saturday’s gathering was disappointing, particularly with elections approaching.
“We need to get more of our voice out there for more people to hear so that the politicians can recognize that this fight is still not resolved, this issue is still not resolved, and they should be supporting it,” he said.
Both hereditary chiefs emphasized the need for governments to consult hereditary leadership and work together to protect ancestral places.
“We shouldn’t be running to you,” Jacks said. “You should be coming to us to consult us. This is what we need. That’s working together.”
Jacks said he hoped the gathering would lead to further discussions with government representatives and meaningful action to protect the area’s ancestral burial places.
“We don’t do things for nothing,” he said. “It’s always a reason why we do things.”
He said greater understanding, respect and cooperation are necessary to move forward.