Species Inventory - TL

Species Inventory - AM

Restoration of Camosun Bog and Elder Larry Grant’s Story - TL

Restoring Camosun Bog - AM

Restoring and Cherishing Camosun Bog

Camosun Bog is an integral piece in the tradition and history of the Musqueam First Nations. The very origin of the Musqueam name came from Camosun Bog. It is said that a double-headed serpent lived in the bog, and one day it slithered away until it reached the river, leaving a trail behind which became a creek. As the serpent traveled, it left droppings which grew into a new plant, the məθkʷəy̓. The Musqueam name means place o

f the məθkʷəy̓.

Elder Larry Grant is a member of the Musqueam Nation. He is half chinese, half Musqueam. Both of Elder Grant’s parents were the same age, born in 1906. His father traveled from china in the 1920s, when he was a teenager. His father worked on a farm, and noticed his mother walking past each day, so his father went to his mother’s house to ask about her. His father found out that his mother did not have a husband or a boyfriend, so he asked if he could fill that role. The law stated that indeginous and non-indigenous people could not be together on the reserve, and yet Elder Grant’s parents still were married and had four children. Elder Grant was the second son, so he learned he would inherit any of the family’s wealth. For this reason, Elder Grant knew he had only himself to rely on, so he gained a sense of independence. Elder Grant and his brother were boarded out to another Chinese family as children, and under the law, they were recognised a Chinese and not Musqueam. In these two ways, Elder Grant learned what it felt like to not belong. Elder Grant’s grandfather was a logging contractor, a very lucrative job at the time, so he earned a lot of money. However, to Elder Grant’s grandfather, money and the western idea of being well-off held no value. Because of this, he gave most of his money and belongings away, and only kept what he needed. Elder Grant is upset that Camosun Bog is shrinking, because it is a part of Musqueam history, and without it the Musqueam would lose their story and the traces they have there. Elder Grant would like to see the bog grow again, so that people can learn from it as his people did.

In 1929, new drainage pipes were installed around Camosun Bog, to fit the needs of the growing city. This drainage system dried out the bog, and invasive species like Hemlock trees began to grow and spread. In 1991, an effort began to restore the bog to its former state. The Hemlock trees were removed, the bog dug out and lowered, and more Sphagnum Moss was planted. To this day, the effort to restore and preserve the bog continues. Soil is removed to make room for new peat, and boardwalks and signage have been installed, so that people can enjoy the bog without damaging it. 

Camosun Bog - TL

Camosun Bog - AM

Camosun Bog

Camosun Bog’s origins trace back to 1000 years ago, after the ice age, when the location of Camosun Bog was a small depression in the ground left behind by the receding ice. The depression became a lake and slowly, over a few thousand years, the lake became a swamp. This process stopped new water and sediment from cleaning out the area, and the decaying plants used up the available oxygen surrounding the swamp, creating the perfect bog conditions. These conditions are favoured by a bog’s keystone species, Sphagnum Moss. Sphagnum moss helps to create and maintain the acidic environment of a bog by spreading hydrogen ions, and it absorbs water very easily. It is a Bryophyte, one of the earliest plants lacking evolutionary history, lacking cuticle or a vascular system. When this moss dies, it is called peat. Unlike other plants, Sphagnum moss decays very slowly, thus the peat builds up on itself creating a material which is different from soil.

Every metre of peat in a bog represents 400 years of bog growth. Camosun Bog is 5 metres deep, meaning it is 2000 years old, the peat at the bottom of the bog dating back to Shakespeare's time.  Bogs preserve artifacts very well because of their acidic conditions. Some of the items unearthed in Camosun Bog are old hockey pucks, coins, marbles, a button hat, and an ink pot. The bog was a very popular area for children to play in, which is probably why some of those items were found there. Kids used to play hockey on the frozen ponds in the bog, and go skating and sliding in the winter.

Bogs are known to be carbon sinks, because when the peat absorbs the carbon dioxide from the air, it does not release all that carbon at once when it dies, instead it releases it gradually over many years because the peat decays so slowly. The Musqueam people have been using the bog for 9000 years, according to their oral tradition.

City development put the bog at risk in 1929, when newly installed drains reduced the water levels of the bog and caused it to become overgrown with invasive species and trees. Some of these species which were invasive to the bog were polytrichum moss, various berry bushes, and western hemlock trees. Some of the native species are Sundew, labrador tea, bog cranberry, and pine trees. 

Nature Notes - AM

My Front Yard

For my nature notes, I decided to describe my front yard (it’s not because I’m lazy, I swear, I just know my front yard better). The yard is not made of grass. Instead, my dad planted irish moss and microclover in patches. The moss still hasn’t grown into a uniform covering, so they mostly look like little mounds scattered around the yard. In front of this there are lavender bushes, which have not flowered yet. Because our yard is so unique, people stop to look at it and talk about it all the time, which is funny because we have a large front window and can see everytime they do it. On one side of the yard there are three nursery trees. I know one of them is a magnolia but I’m not sure about the other two. The magnolia blossomed earlier this spring into white, star-shaped flowers, and then all the petals slowly fell to the ground. It would have made a nice time-lapse. Now, all three trees have leaves and one has little pink buds. I hope it blossoms soon. The thing I spend the most time looking at in my front yard, is the trees next to the street. They are big linden trees. Somehow, I find them fascinating at all times of year. Since we have lived in this location since I was two, I have sat on the couch and stared at them on many occasions. In the fall and winter they are bare, spidery looking, gloomy against the grey sky. In the spring (right now) they grow lots of leaves and the sunlight filters through them. In the summer they smell sweet because they drop tons of sticky sap everywhere. They attract tons of birds. You can hear them singing even today in the rain. Most of them are black-capped chickadees or birds I believe I have identified as common starlings. However one summer there was this really annoyed dove that would make noise outside my window and wake me up. (I have identified it as a eurasian collared dove, go look up the sound it makes and imagine hearing that all morning). Right now it is 11 in the morning. The sky is overcast and there is a light rain. The feeling might be slightly gloomy, but calming. It is quiet because not many people go out in this weather, but you can hear the occasional bird call. The linden trees are covered in layers of green leaves, the neighbours garden has bright red and pink flower bushes that are in full bloom right now. Everything smells fresh, it’s a rain smell and a spring smell. The moss is fuzzy and damp.