lək̓ʷəŋən HISTORY
Since time immemorial, the lÉ™k̓ʷəŋən-speaking peoples—now known as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations—have stewarded the area we call the Gorge Waterway, building relationships with the land and water that continue to this day.
The Gorge Waterway has long been a place of cultural significance, livelihood, and sustenance. Shellfish, herring, and salmon were harvested from the waterway, and birds and wildlife such as deer, elk and bear were hunted. Middens, comprised of shells, bones, and tools, have been dated back more than 4,000 years along the Gorge. Culturally significant plants, such as coastal sage and greater camas, were harvested and cultivated along the waterway for food and medicine. The waterway also serves as an integral connection between the Nations.
The Gorge is a place of both ecological and cultural richness. The traditional name for the Gorge is Camosun, a lək̓ʷəŋən term for "where waters meet and are transformed." In Songhees' history, Camosungg was a young girl and a spirit being. Found crying after the great flood, Camosungg was offered food by Haylas (the transformer). She accepted duck, herring, oysters, and coho, which became plentiful in the waters of the Gorge. Because of her greed, Haylas turned Camosungg and her grandfather, Snukaymelt, to stone, so they could look after the food resources for their people. Camosungg and Snukaymelt held great significance to the Songhees, and their stone forms were visible under the water in the Gorge, in the area that is now known as the Reversible Falls or Tillicum Narrows.
​(Reproduced with permission of Cheryl Bryce, Songhees Nation.)
The stone of Snukaymelt was removed in the construction of the Gorge Bridge. Later, in 1960, Robert Southwell, operator of the Gorge Boathouse, used dynamite to blow up the stone of Camosungg. These actions forever altered the waterway and desecrated the sacred site.
The devastation caused by European colonists on the lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking peoples has been, and still is, immense and multifaceted. The Esquimalt and Songhees Nations were largely displaced from the Gorge Waterway by the Douglas Treaties, disconnecting them from their place of livelihood, food, recreation, connection, and spirituality. Further, nearly two-thirds of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations died during a smallpox epidemic in 1862. Some believe the introduction of smallpox to the area was a deliberate act to weaken the Nations and allow for easier colonization.
For more information on the Gorge's Indigenous history and the ongoing resilience of the lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking peoples, we recommend looking to knowledge sources from the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.
JAPANESE HISTORY
Japanese Canadian entrepreneurs Yoshitaro Kishida and Hayato Takata (later joined by his brother Kensuke Takata) built a Japanese Tea Garden in 1907 in what is now Esquimalt Gorge Park.
In April 1907, Yoshitaro Kishada brought his father, Isaburo Kishada, from Japan to design the garden. Isaburo Kishada would go on to design the Japanese Garden at Butchart Gardens for Jennie Butchart, as well as the Japanese Garden at Hatley Castle for Laura Dunsmuir, though the Japanese Garden at Esquimalt Gorge Park was the first of its kind in Canada. It featured Japanese bonsai trees, wisteria trellises, stone lanterns and bridges surrounded by plants native to the Gorge Waterway. The teahouse itself served English-style meals such as poached eggs with toast, and was decorated with paper screens and lanterns.
In the early twentieth century, Japanese Canadians in the Pacific Northwest faced widespread racism, including exclusion from voting, forced segregation, and denial of access to public areas and professions. Despite their contributions and presence across Vancouver Island, they were marginalized and discriminated against.
During World War II, the Canadian government interned tens of thousands of Japanese Canadians, including the Takata family, who lost their home and business and were forced to live in an internment camp in Sandon, BC. Abandoned, the teahouse was soon looted and vandalized, destroying all the Takatas had worked for.
With their home and business having been dispossessed and destroyed, the Takatas relocated to Toronto after the war. Today, the Township of Esquimalt, alongside the Japanese Canadian community, have partially restored the Japanese Gardens in Esquimalt Gorge Park. In April 2024, new interpretive signage was launched to illuminate Japanese Canadian history at the site, sponsored by the Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society (VNCS) and the Past Wrongs, Future Choices project at the University of Victoria.
RECREATION & DEGRADATION
Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, the Gorge Waterway became a popular destination for recreation among the colonial settlers in Victoria, BC.
Between the 1890s and the 1930s, the Gorge became the signature place for canoe races, diving, and competitive swimming competitions, with annual swimming galas hosted on the waterway and attended by government officials such as Prime Minister Sir John A Macdonald. The rising recreational popularity of the Gorge and the increased real estate value of properties alongside the Gorge resulted in extensive pollution as sewage and harmful chemicals were increasingly drained into the watershed.
To encourage continued swimming, the City of Victoria constructed a bathing pavilion (named the "Free") along the Gorge. In 1912, Esquimalt installed a drainage system that emptied into the Gorge just above the park. As industrial development progressed and septic tank runoff intensified, pollution increased dramatically. This led to a joint inspection in 1938 by the provincial government, the City of Victoria, and the Municipality of Saanich resulting in the closure of the Gorge to swimming. Public health concerns peaked in 1939 when typhoid outbreaks were linked to the unsanitary conditions of the Gorge, further tarnishing the reputation of this once vibrant waterway.
In 1954, following the Second World War, renewed attention was focused on the conditions of the Gorge Waterway. Under the leadership of Victoria Alderman Geoffrey Edgelow, an organization under the name of the Gorge Waterway Improvement Association (GWIA) was formed in an effort to “restore” the site as a recreational space for residents.
An agreement was established between GWIA, the City of Victoria, and Esquimalt to collaboratively accept responsibility for Gorge Park and initiate a clean-up of the site. From 1956 to 1958 sewer systems were installed in Saanich and Esquimalt, significantly reducing septic tank outflow. By 1958, the Gorge was officially deemed safe for swimming once again.
On August 15, 1958, following a proposed investment of $22,000 into the development of the Gorge Park by the Victoria Kinsmen Club, the Kinsmen Gorge Park opened on the edge of Esquimalt—what is now known as Esquimalt Gorge Park. As part of recreational improvements, a saltwater pool was dredged out to create a swimming bay on site.
The improvements in water quality for recreational activities were short-lived as the sanitary conditions of the waterway came under scrutiny once again in the mid-1960s. The expansion of new housing developments led to a resurgence of septic tank runoff entering the Gorge, contributing to an uptick in hepatitis cases in the city. As a result, the waterway was once again deemed unsafe for swimming.
Despite these recommendations, the tidal swimming pool constructed in Kinsmen Gorge Park remained a recreational destination among residents in the following decades. The water was kept “clean” with chlorine. The chlorinated water was then flushed back into the waterway untreated at the end of each season. In the 1970s, efforts to beautify the area resulted in the destruction of natural shorelines, which were replaced by retaining walls and walkways. This trend persisted throughout the 1980s, as increased residential development rapidly transformed formerly industrialized areas and further contributed to the degradation of the waterway.
THE GORGE WATERWAY ACTION SOCIETY
In response to the significant industrial development and wildlife habitat degradation along the Gorge, the Gorge Waterway Action Society (GWAS) was founded in 1990 as a neighbourhood advocacy group with a mission to improve, protect, and preserve the Gorge Waterway.
By 1995, GWAS represented 175 concerned community members dedicated to the betterment of the Gorge. GWAS has played a crucial role in making the restoration of the Gorge Waterway a priority for the Township of Esquimalt, the City of Victoria, the Provincial Government of BC, and other ENGOs.
During the 2000s, GWAS was engaged in numerous restoration initiatives, including the significant Gorge Creek daylighting project. Since its daylighting, GWAS and other key organizations have been working hard to restore the rare and vulnerable salt marsh habitat once occupied by the Kinsmen tidal swimming pool.
Since 1990, the Gorge has undergone tremendous improvement thanks to the hard work of many, many hands. The Gorge is once again a place of recreation and respite, boasting some of the best swimming spots in the region. And, with the help of our community, the ecological well-being of our waterway is being returned. As an organization, it has been our mission to break the cycle of degradation in the Gorge Waterway that has continually been repeated.
In 2008, the Gorge Waterway Nature House was established in what was once the Kinsmen pool concession stand in Esquimalt Gorge Park. GWAS, in partnership with the Township of Esquimalt and World Fisheries Trust, has developed the Nature House into a welcoming, family-friendly educational space where everyone can learn about their local waterway.
In 2016, the Gorge Waterway Action Society took over all operations of the Nature House, which has since become the heart of our organization. That same year, we developed our Nature Interpreter Program, followed by our Restoration Program in 2017, Biology Program in 2018, Indigenous Youth Program in 2022, and Climate Interpreter Program in 2023. Through the Nature House, we have created a place of hands-on, place-based, and family-friendly environmental education where we encourage all to learn about and protect our beautiful watershed.
RESOURCES
Below you can find our sources for the information presented on this page, plus additional resources for your own reading. The history of the Gorge is long and complex, so while we have tried our best, there may be inaccuracies and/or omissions. Contact us if you have suggestions or additional resources we should consider. Thank you for your patience as we learn together.​
Butchart Gardens. (n.d.) Japanese Tea Garden, Gorge Park, Esquimalt, BC.
Camosun College. (n.d.). Camosun's History: Legend of Camossung.
Capital Regional District. (n.d.). Gorge Waterway: History to Present.
Capital Regional District. (n.d.). Portage Inlet: History to Present.
Community Green Map. (n.d.). Gorge Waterway.
District of Saanich. (n.d.). Gorge Park History.
District of Saanich. (n.d.). Neighbourhood History Tillicum.
Esquimalt Nation. (n.d.). Language & Culture.
Gorge Waterway Action Society. (1994). Values, Visions, and Planning Strategies Report.
Minaker, D. (1998). The Gorge of Summers Gone: A History of Victoria's Inland Waterway.
Segger, M. (n.d.). A Jewel in the Crown: The Gorge Waterway as a Cultural Heritage.
​Semmens, J. (n.d.) A History of the Songhees People and Vic West.
Songhees Nation. (n.d.). lək̓ʷəŋən Traditional Territory.
Sutherst, J. (2003). Lost Streams of Victoria.
Township of Esquimalt. (n.d.). Descriptions and Locations: Esquimalt Gorge Park.
​Township of Esquimalt. (n.d.). Esquimalt Gorge Park: Historical Japanese Gardens.