Synopses & Reviews
Songhees Pictorial presents the story of the Songhees people, the original Salish inhabitants the southern tip of Vancouver Island, since their first contact with Europeans in 1790. It is an insightful ethno-historical account of a people and the place where they lived. When the Songhees Reserve was established in 1843 across the harbour from Fort Victoria, it became a gathering place for First Peoples throughout the region seeking trade with Europeans. This new commerce brought prosperity, conflict, disease and cultural upheaval to the Songhees and other coastal First Nations. Focusing on the old reserve, Grant Keddie presents these rapidly changing times through the eyes of outsiders, as expressed in newspaper reports and private journals, as depicted in sketches, paintings and photographs. The book features almost 200 archival images - many published here for the first time. Though these views of First Peoples in Victoria were taken through the biased lenses of non-aboriginal photographers, Grant Keddie gives them context and perspective. Songhees Pictorial offers a rich visual history of the old Songhees Reserve, the people who lived there and the city that grew up around them.
Synopsis
In the mid 1840s, fifty years after first contact with Europeans, the Songhees people agreed to amalgamate on a reserve across the harbour from the newly built Fort Victoria. Grant Keddie tells the story of the old Songhees Reserve through the eyes of outsiders, expressed in newspaper reports and private journals, and depicted in sketches, paintings and photographs.
Songhees Pictorial offers a rich visual history of the old Songhees Reserve, the people who lived there and the city that grew up around them. This book features almost 200 archival images, many published for the first time, documenting Songhees history since first contact with Europeans. From watercolor paintings to sweeping panoramic photographs, these images show the changing architecture of the reserve and the city that engulfed it, they highlight potlatches and other events on the reserve, and they capture aspects of the everyday lives of residents and visitors.
The author compliments the visuals with a variety of quotations from newspapers, government documents and personal letters, and gives context to the whole story with his own lively narrative.