November 13, 2009
By Natalie Alcoba
National Post
Salish Sea creeps onto maps, into controversy
It was about twenty years ago when a marine biologist came up with
a shared name for the cold waters that separate Vancouver Island from
the continental mainland.
Not content with Georgia Strait, Puget Sound and the Strait of
Juan de Fuca, Bert Webber dubbed it all the Salish Sea after a coastal
aboriginal tribe.
The Washington state resident failed to sway geographical naming
authorities, since nobody was actually using the term in 1990, but
he did succeed in planting the seed of a new geographic identity.
"Salish Sea" crept into the lexicon of researchers and
fishermen, of aboriginal elders and writers, until last month his
state approved adding it to maps, alongside the three earlier names.
The U.S. Board on Geographic Names backed the addition on Thursday
and approval in Canada is also expected.
Receiving the support of those who live along its shores may prove
more difficult.
"People get very attached to names for many, many reasons,"
said Mr. Webber.
In this case, there is passion on both sides: supporters extol
the virtues of a name they say makes historical and geographic sense,
while critics dismiss it as a politically correct waste of time.
Mr. Webber says he is driven by science that shows the waters of
Georgia Strait, Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca operate
as one ecological unit. The once abundant waters have suffered extreme
degradation over the years, and he believes creating an overarching
identity, much like the term the Great Lakes, will help to better
manage and protect resources.
He is also excited by the cultural transformation in his midst.
"Songs have already been written," said Mr. Webber, from
his home in Bellingham, Wash. "More songs will be written.
Books will be written, poems will be written, and there will hopefully
be a fabric that weaves through the culture that allows people to
identify with that name, and by identifying it see that this whole
system is important."
But if there is one thing British Columbians do not need, it is
coaxing to care about the environment, argues Terry Glavin, an author
and journalist based on Vancouver Island.
"Environmentalists make this mistake all the time, the notion
that if we just cared a little bit more, everything would be fine.
Actually, people do care. They care immensely," said Mr. Glavin,
who has written about fisheries management and the ecological history
of the Strait and "hangs around Indians a lot."
The idea is well intentioned, he said, but his biggest problem
with the Salish Sea is that "it rests on a fiction," and
he tends to be a bit stubborn about that.
"It's not an aboriginal term. It has nothing to do with the
people of the Strait of Georgia, it has nothing to do with the Strait
of Georgia," said Mr. Glavin. He said the Salish name originated
with settlers who mispronounced an aboriginal name of a tribe in
Montana, and then was used by linguists to describe a family of
languages that dominate that stretch of the West Coast.
It is the kind of term that is popular among ecotourism companies,
said Mr. Glavin, and could conceivably be used by BC Ferries. "It
sounds dreamy and kind of nice and I think that's kind of the way
people like it," he said.
Chief Gibby Jacob, a spokesman for the Coast Salish First Nations
in Canada, described it as a "natural" fit and said delegates
supported it unanimously. "Those waters are our highway, have
been since time immemorial."
He said a good idea is a good idea, no matter who it comes from,
and names such as the Salish Sea represent a victory for aboriginals
who are working to achieve recognition and "an acknowledgment
of presence."
Chief Jacob said aboriginal communities are also in talks with
the B.C. government to add native names next to long-standing English
ones along the corridor from Horseshoe Bay to Whistler.
The significance of names transcend cultures and political boundaries.
They matter because they are part of the language of navigation,
but also honour history, said Peter Keller, a geographer and Dean
of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Victoria.
Canada owes most of its place names to colonizers, but now the
responsibility rests with provinces, and there are rules to prevent
"flavour of the month" name changes or additions, said
Mr. Keller.
In Washington state, an applicant must prove common usage and provide
compelling reasons for the new name, which in Mr. Webber's application
includes "improved ecosystem management." The board notes
that the new name does not mean anyone has to protect the Salish
Sea, just that it will now appear on maps.
In terms of shipping navigation, it appears to be a moot point,
since pilots rely on much more specific coordinates to steer ships
through the sometimes narrow passage into the port of Vancouver.
"The actual navigation names that are presently on charts are
not going to change," said Kevin Obermeyer, CEO of the Pacific
Pilots Association.
Still, others worry about the confusion caused by another name.
"I'm not an expert in maritime law, but that's not a sea,"
said Keith Roy, a Vancouverite and member of the Monarchist League
of Canada. "So you're really just creating confusion at the
same time as disrespecting the historical significance of the monarch
who funded the expedition when the waterway was discovered."
In fact, said Caleb Maki, executive secretary to Washington State
Board on Geographic Names, it is a sea, which the board loosely
defines as a large body of salt, or slightly salty, water.
Mr. Keller said the Salish Sea name challenges people to start
thinking of Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Georgia
Strait as something bigger. "We would ask them to learn something
new."
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November 13, 2009
By Abby Haight
The Oregonian
The Salish Sea, once a used only by scientists, is now the official
name of the inland waters of Washington and British Columbia.
A lighthouse marks the northern tip of Patos Island in the
newly
named Salish Sea. In the distance are Sucia and Orcas islands.
The Salish Sea includes Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca
and the Georgia Strait—but it does not replace any historical
names. The U.S. Board of Geographic Names approved the new name
Thursday. Washington State and the province of British Columbia
already accepted the name, and Canadian national officials said
they would follow the lead of their U.S. counterparts. The name
has long been used by scientists to describe the waters, with their
shared ecology and habitat.
The name is a geographic addition and will not replace any of the
waters' historic names. It may be used on maps.
Bert Webber, a retired professor of marine ecology at Western Washington
University, proposed the name more than 20 years ago, but the idea
didn't gain ground until recently.
Webber told The Western Front, WWU's student newspaper, that the
name would help people understand problems, such as over-fishing,
that threaten all of the inland waters.
"If we are going to be successful in reversing the decline
of the ecosystem, we need to focus on more than the individual bodies
of water that make up the whole," Webber told the newspaper.
"It is a way of understanding our home better than we used
to."
The Washington State Board on Geographic Names approved the name
on Oct. 30, following the action of the British Columbia Geographical
Names Office.
Salish Sea comes from Coast Salish, the collective name given to
Native American and First Nations people who lived in the southern
British Columbia-Northern Washington coasts.
October 30, 2009
By Knute Berger
From The Crosscut Blog
Salish Sea
it is!
All of the inland waters of Washington and British Columbia
would comprise the Salish Sea.
_______
Washington state mapmakers will have to juggle space when they update Northwest maps and charts. The State Board of Geographic Names has voted to designate the inland salt waters of Cascadia, roughly from Campbell River and Desolation Sound in British Columbia to the southern coves of Puget Sound as the Salish Sea. The 5-1 vote took place in Olympia on Oct. 30.
The designation won't change any names, but becomes an overall term for the Puget Sound-Georgia Basin ecosystem, not unlike an over-arching term such as the Great Lakes. It will join familiar features like the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Strait of Georgia on regional charts.
The Washington Board joins its British Columbia counterpart in approving the proposal. It is immediately effective for local maps. The U.S. Board of Geographic Names will make a final determination on whether the name also belongs on national U.S. maps. Advocates have sought simultaneous U.S.-Canada approval since the designation straddles the border of the two countries. The expectation is that the U.S. board will make its decision by the end of the year.
The Salish Sea was first proposed by Bellingham marine ecologist Bert Webber in the 1980s, but official consideration was deferred. It was revived earlier this year, two decades later, when Webber resubmitted his proposal. In the meantime, the Salish Sea terminology began to be widely used by marine biologists and environmentalists, the tourism trade, and with greater public interest in acknowledging the indigenous, Salish-speaking inhabitants of the region.
In recent years, objections to the proposal have been raised when it was suggested to rename local waters, such as Georgia Strait. Opponents have also been concerned about possible confusion in navigation, the cost of making new maps, and a sense that the name is too political, possibly furthering an environmental or PC agenda. Some have also expressed concern that it would force a "rebranding" of efforts to clean up Puget Sound.
However, the Salish Sea's growing use as a name — along with support from regional tribes, the fact that it describes an actual geographic feature (an ecosystem), widespread public support (as long as the designation changed no other names), and the lack of objection from official bodies — helped the concept sail smoothly to acceptance. Other major name change proposals, such as switching Mount Rainier to Tahoma, have been stymied.
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