Heritage and cultural heritage is a value that is important to First Nations, islanders, and all British Columbians.
The Islands Trust Area is a place that is rich in heritage and cultural sites.
Sites include village sites, middens, petroglyphs, pictographs, clam gardens, fish weirs, canoe landings, culturally modified trees, rock shelters, ancestral resting places and graves, burial cairns, tools, and cultural objects dating back over 10,000 years.
In addition, there are heritage orchards, and landscapes from historic use, and historic buildings.
There are thousands of registered and unknown archaeological sites within the Islands Trust Area that must be preserved and protected.
Islands Trust seeks, in cooperation with First Nations and other levels of government, to preserve and protect:
- known and unknown archaeological and cultural heritage sites
- cultural objects
- ancestral loved ones’ remains and resting places
- sacred sites, traditional use areas
- culturally significant areas as identified by First Nations and/or sites or locations defined by First Nations as culturally important both disclosed and confidential
What We Are Doing
- Collaborating with First Nations and other governments
- Working with Cultural Knowledge Holders, archeologists, and islanders
- Asking the Province to work with us to update agreements about provincially managed lands
- Helping you protect heritage areas with the Natural Area Protection Tax Exemption Program (NAPTEP), land donations and conservation covenants
Local Priorities
All local trust committees and Bowen Island Municipality have official community plan policies to address the identification, protection, preservation and enhancement of heritage and may also have heritage-related projects underway.
Learn more about these policies on their respective webpages.
Islands Trust seeks, in cooperation with First Nations and other levels of government, to preserve and protect:
- known and unknown archaeological and cultural heritage sites
- cultural objects
- ancestral loved ones’ remains and resting places
- sacred sites, traditional use areas
- culturally significant areas as identified by First Nations and/or sites or locations defined by First Nations as culturally important both disclosed and confidential
What We Are Doing
- Committing to implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Developing heritage overlay mapping and preservation policies
- Developing model bylaws for protecting potential heritage and cultural sites
- Collaborating with First Nations and other governments
- Working with Cultural Knowledge Holders, archeologists, and islanders
- Asking the Province to work with us to update agreements about provincially managed lands
- Helping you protect heritage areas with the Natural Area Protection Tax Exemption Program (NAPTEP), land donations and conservation covenants
Local Priorities
All local trust committees and Bowen Island Municipality have official community plan policies to address the identification, protection, preservation and enhancement of heritage and may also have heritage-related projects underway.
Learn more about these policies on their respective webpages.
Resources:
- Province of BC: Archaeological Sites on Private, Commercial or Development Property
- Province of BC: Report a Heritage Conservation Act contravention
- Reconciliation Action Plan (2019-2022)
- Application Form – Heritage Alterations
- Island Heritage Buildings Book (1987)
- Heritage Designation Bylaws Policy
- Denman Island Community Heritage Register
- South Pender Statement of Significance: Church of the Good Shepherd
- Bowen Island Municipality – Heritage on Bowen webpage