First Nations History

In the Greater Victoria area there lived many aboriginal families who referred to themselves by distinct family group names. These First Peoples could be divided into three groups who spoke different dialects of the North Straits Salish or Lekwungaynung language.

They were visited in the 1840’s by Hudson’s Bay company personnel, who established a trading post, and later after Vancouver Island was declared a British Colony, by settlers from many parts of the world.

After the amalgamation of many aboriginal families, members of the three dialect groups became collectively known as the Songhees, the Saanich and the Sooke. Clallam peoples from the other side of the Juan de Fuca Strait introduced by Clallam language when mixing with the peoples of the Beecher Bay area. This latter group became known as the Beecher Bay people or as the Cheerno after the name of their main village.

These groups were comprised of the following "families":

Songhees
• Teechamitsa (from Albert Head to Esquimalt Harbour)
• Kosampsom (Eastern Esquimalt Harbour, Portage Inlet and the Gorge waterway to Halkett Island)
• Swengwhung (Inner Harbour, James Bay, Clover Point and Ross Bay)
• Chilcowitch (East of Ross Bay to Gonzales Point)
• Whyomilth (northwest part of Esquimalt Harbour)
• Chekonein (Gonzales Point to Mount Douglas)

Klallam
• Kakyaakan (Pedder Bay to Albert Head)

Saanich
• South Saanich (Gordon Head to Cowichan Head)
• Tsawout (Saanichton Bay)
• Tseycum (Patricia Bay)
• Tsarlip (Brentwood Bay)

Relations between the settlers and the native groups were friendly. On March 14, 1843, James Douglas gave orders to build Fort Victoria. He wrote in his diary: "Put six men to dig a well, and six others to square building timber. Spoke to the Samose today, and informed them of our intention of building in this place, which appeared to please them very much, and they immediately offered their services in procuring pickets for the establishment, an offer which I gladly accepted, and promised to pay them a blanket for every 40 pickets which they bring." Five days later more than 1,200 aboriginal peoples showed up at the site. This was the first indication of their numbers.

Note: Some historical assistance provided by Grant Keddie, Royal British Columbia Museum.

For more information, please visit our First Nations section under Heritage and Culture in the About Victoria section.