20 ~ Sunday, February 24, 1991 - North Shore News Great changes over time The following is taken from the book ‘‘Reflections: 100 Years” a retrospective look at North Vancouver District's first 100 years that was recently released in commemoration of the District's Centenniai — written by Chuck Davis, it is available in local bookstores. NORTH VANCOUVER is changing even as you read this ... but the kind of change we mean is the same kind that shaped the area over millennia: geology. That’s a dry word for a dramatic process. We live in a part of British Columbia where volcanoes once erupted (Stanley Park’s famed Siwash Rock is all that’s left of an’ ancient, small volcano, and Mount Garibaldi erupted just a few thousand years ago), and where sheets of ice 1.5 miles thick pressed down on the land. Imagine a layer of ice so thick the Lions were buried beneath it! Life in the Lower Mainland had to wait for the ice to retreat to gain a foothold. “Shortly after the ice had disappeared from the Vancouver area,’’ writes Gerhard Eisbacher, a local geologist, ‘‘the surface of the Lower Mainland, which had been depressed by the weight of the ice, was raised 500 feet, and streams such as the Capilano River and Lynn Creek began to cut deep canyons into el- evated deltas and beaches.’’ That process began about 10,000 years ago. One result of this rising is that marine shells can be found 500 feet above sea level on tie North Shore? Another is the spectacular beauty of these parts of the District. But not all the geological action was happening up in the hills. “Farther on downstream, where the Capilano River discharges its load of boulders, cobbles and sand into Burrard Inlet, it has built up a conspicuous delta flat over the years. The uncontrolled growth of this delta would even- tually close up First Narrows and prevent ships from entering the harbour,’’ writes Gerhard. That kind of erosion is going on constantly: even as this book was going to press, landslides were blocking highways all over the Lower Mainland. Geologists tell us those Coast Mountains that form such a dramatic background to our homes will one day be as flat as pancakes. Not long after that massive ice sheet receded, life began to return to the North Shore, repeating a cycle that has been going on for aeons. 7 But this time, there was some- thing new: after plants and fish and animals had moved into the freshly opened territory, they were joined by 2 new kind of life-form. Man! Over centuries, native peoples speaking the Halkomelem lan- guage had been living on and near the Inlet. (Their descendents today can be found in the Burrard In- dian Band, which numbers among its well-known people the late Chief Dan George and his son, Len George.) Also living in this region were the Squamish, a Coast Salish people. ‘“‘The Halkomelem and Squamish languages are quite dif- ferent, rather like Dutch might be to English,’’ says Professor Michael Kew of the University of British Columbia. “*The two groups coexisted and there was intermarriage. In fact, Chief George traces his lineage through both groups. The Squamish would come down to the Inlet to fish and gather clams. It was only later that they moved in permanently, to find jobs when ship-ouilding began on the inler.”” There were villages scattered all around what we call the Lower ee NORTH SHORE HERITAGE Mainland. The most prominent on the North Shore was a Haikomelem settlement caited whu-MUL-chits-tun, which is usually written Homulchesun. That is today's Burrard Indian Reserve No. 3. The village of Slah-AHN (also spelled Ustlawn and Stlawn) was Iecated approximately where the famous twin-spired church of St. Paul’s is, on Mission Reserve No. 1. it gets that name because, in the 1860s, a Catholic mission was founded there. The Musqueam, Nanaimo and Sechelt people visited, as well. These early North Van- couverites lived in long cedar houses near creeks and rivers, ex- in NV isting in a respectful relationship with the land and the water. Fish were plentiful; ducks, grouse and other birds provided food, as did rabbit, elk, bear and, especially, deer. (The Squamish were experts at pole-vaulting! They would chase a deer through the snow, pole-vault to its side, and club it.) Women gathered berries and other plants where today's resi- dents stroll, shop and work. Children watched the adults and learned the skills they would need. One plant was _ preeminently useful: the cedar. The wood of these majestic red giants was used to make canoes, houses, dishes; the inner bark was beaten and made into clothes, ropes, mats and blankets. Even the roots were used. The cedar was hugely important to these early Burrard Inlet resi- dents — it would be just as im- portant, for different reasons, to the people who would foliow the Indians into this area and who eventually supplant them. Read the North Shore News on Sundays for further excerpts from Reflections 100, which is publish- ed by Opus Productions. Gee INTERIORS We’ve been making homes beautiful for 30 years Lower overhead, Lower prices Call for free in-home consuitation 929-3277 929-3277 OUR HERITAGE e ladies’ Softball L.V.W.A.C. Registration Sat., March 2, 1991 Time: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Delbrook Rec. Centre 600 W. Queens For more information call Kathy 681-5868 Sue 984-3152 © VED. “THESE TWO PROGRAMS ARE REQUIRED LISTENING IN VIEW OF CURRENT SCHOOL CONCERNS.” 1. Sex Education in the Schools. On Radio — Feb. 25 & 26. Dr. James Dobson takes a cloze look at Sex Education classes that drive a wedge between parents and child. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. On Radio — March 26 & 27 Dr. Dobson and a Gynecologist/Obstet- rician confront the myth of “Safe Sex”. KLYN 106.5 FM 10 A.M. & 8 P.M. 550 AM 4 P.M. FOCUS ON THE FAMILY #110-1155 WEST PENDER VANCOUVER, B.C. V7E 2P4 non-profit organization dedicated to the family Distinguished Ctizen Crewand To mark the District of North Vancouver’s i9in Birthday, the Centennial Committee is pl eased to invite the nomination of District Residents, who have distinguished themselves in a particular field of endeavour, for recognition as Distinguished Citizens. For nomination forms or further information OUR FUTURE please contact: Ms. Kay Staley Centennial Coordinator District Municipal Hall 355 West Queens Road North Vancouver, B.C. Tel; 987-7131 THE DISTRICT OF NORTH VANCOUVER CENTENNIAL CELEBRATIONS COMMITTEE