Remembering Qilxemait

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Nanoose Bay resident Natasha Bob is working to keep a piece of local history alive.

It all started 30 years ago with the discovery and partial excavation of a burial site where a condominium development was planned.

Throughout 1994 archeological work at Craig Bay or Qilxemait, just south of Parksville uncovered the skeletal remains of more than 300 people.

Over that time period the remains of more than 120 people were removed, placed in labelled boxes, and stored on site according to a Masters’ thesis on the subject by Tanja Hoffman.

By the end of August that year, the Nanoose First Nation chief and elders demanded that development and archeological work on the site cease.

The nation launched a series of legal challenges against the developer and the province, and people took part in demonstrations calling for the excavation of remains to stop.

Eventually the province purchased most of the waterfront property from the developer, and paid for a reburial ceremony.

Today the site is a heritage park in the midst of Craig Bay.

Natasha Bob lived through these events as a teenager, standing in the path of work trucks and circulating a petition around Nanaimo high schools.

Now she’s recording a series of interviews with others who were around at the time, in order to pass the story of the events on to future generations.

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