Kuper Island
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Kuper Island belongs to the Penelakut First Nation, located in the southern Gulf Islands between Vancouver Island and the mainland Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada. Kuper has a population of about 300 members of the Penelakut Band. The island has an area of 8.66 km²
A Mediterranean climate of mild winters and warm, dry summers supports a unique ecosystem and an ideal living environment. Kuper Island is in the rain shadow of Vancouver Island, with an annual rainfall of about 850 mm. There is a Roman Catholic Church, but no commercial establishments on the island. As an Indian reserve, property is not available for purchase.
British sailors surveying the area in 1851 cruised into a tiny group of five unnamed islands in the Strait of Georgia, naming the two largest Kuper and Thetis, after their Captain Augustus Leopold Kuper R.N. (1809-1885) and his frigate, HMS Thetis, a 36-gun Royal Navy frigate on the Pacific Station between 1851 and 1853.
On April 20, 1863, the British naval gunboat Forward attacked the native village on Kuper Island. The naval officers believed that the village harboured individuals involved in two recent assaults against European transients in the Gulf Islands. Three Europeans had been murdered by the natives. The gunboat fired on the village and was repulsed with casualties after a fierce battle with a handful of warriors. Following this defeat, the colonial government responded with one of the largest military operations in British Columbia's history, which took place on the east coast of Vancouver Island and extended throughout the waters and islands of Active Pass, Trincomali Channel and Stuart Channel. In the end, four natives were publicly hanged in Victoria.
From 1890 to 1978, the Catholic Church had a Residential School on the island. The island is served by frequent car and passenger ferry service from Chemainus on Vancouver Island.
[edit] References
- Daniel Francis (Editor) (1999). Encyclopedia of British Columbia. Harbour Publishing. ISBN 1-55017-200-X.
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