Celebration and ceremony help complete PKOLS naming process

News release
For immediate release

Saanich, BC – PKOLS — or “White Rock” or White Head” — was once again the site of an important gathering and ceremony today, as a celebration and sign rededication event completed the process to restore the mountain’s name.

Eric Pelkey, Community Engagement Coordinator, W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council and Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock stand together at the restored and rededicated sign.

In 2013, the W̱SÁNEĆ people marched up PKOLS and dedicated a sign placed at the summit, created by the late Charles Elliott, to honour the traditional name on the mountain. Today, the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council hosted, in partnership with the District of Saanich, a ceremony to celebrate the restoration of the name PKOLS and the sign rededication.

Chas Elliott, Charles Elliott’s son, restored and rededicated the sign placed at the summit.

PKOLS, steeped in millennia of W̱SÁNEĆ history, culture, and tradition, serves as a sacred gathering place, where stories are woven into the fabric of the landscape, and ancestral connections are preserved. Furthermore, PKOLS holds profound historical significance as the site of the treaty meeting on February 11th, 1852, between W̱SÁNEĆ leaders and Governor James Douglas, which resulted in the Douglas Treaty.

“I’m so grateful to be able to work with the District of Saanich and the W̱SÁNEĆ people and grateful for them working with us to restore the sacred name of PKOLS and recognize how important it is to our people,” said Eric Pelkey, Community Engagement Coordinator, W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council.

Leadership and delegates from all four W̱SÁNEĆ First Nations on the peninsula (Tsawout, Tsartlip, Pauquachin, and Tseycum First Nations) attended and shared stories and words of appreciation.

“My Saanich Council colleagues and I were honoured to join with the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council, Elders and community members for this important occasion,” says Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock. “The District and this Council are committed to walking the journey of reconciliation, healing wounds of the past and finding new ways to collaborate, uplift and move forward together in a good way.”

Learn more

To learn more about the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council and its work to promote the interests of the W̱SÁNEĆ First Nations and respect for W̱SÁNEĆ culture, traditional practices, and language, please click here.

To learn more about the ÁTOL,NEUEL (“Respecting One Another”) Memorandum of Understanding between the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council and the District of Saanich please click here.

To learn more about the District of Saanich’s commitment and work toward decolonization and reconciliation with the W̱SÁNEĆ, Lək̓ʷəŋən, and Urban Indigenous People, please click here.

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Media contact:
Saanich Communications
media@saanich.ca

Eric Pelkey
Community Engagement Coordinator, W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council
Eric.Pelkey@wsanec.com