Camosun College Honors the FN Groups of the Victoria Area

Weblog #4: Entry #1

Having looked at how both the University of Victoria and Royal Roads University demonstrate their respective thanks to the local FN bands/tribes/clans for the land on which these universities presently reside, it only seemed logical to visit the third of the three largest post secondary institutes here in victoria, BC – Camosun College, to complete the comparison.

From the outset, the name Camosun appears to be derived from the name of a Songhees settlement that was near the present day site of the Empress Hotel, in the Victoria causeway. Score one for the community college, as the other two institutions reflect staunchly British names and heritage, which makes sense as we are after all talking about Victoria, British Columbia.

Two easy links from the homepage brings us to the ‘Territory Acknowledgement’ page. A brief introduction is given to the nations which first inhabited these traditional territories. Thanks are given to these same nations for their welcome and graciousness. The site goes on to detail the Legend of Camossung and helps to illustrate the importance of the history, place, people and traditions upon which the college is named. Links to a map of the traditional territories of BC’s FN peoples is prominent. As well there is a link to the Royal BC Museum at the bottom of the page, and a black and white photo of Camossung at the foot of the George Bridge.

Camosun College has by far, in comparison with the University of Victoria and Royal Roads University, done the best job of recognizing the FN groups of their local area.

Site: http://camosun.ca/aboriginal/territory.html