Just a quick bit of info. I thought you of the PNW might be interested in.... Map of the Salish Sea UPDATE: On October 30, 2009 the Washington State Board on Geographic Names approved 'Salish Sea' as an official name. The Province of British Columbia Geographic Names Office has likewise approved the name. The rest of the story here: http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/~stefan/SalishSea.htm or just google "The Salish Sea". The Indigenous Peoples named this area The Salish Sea a couple of hundred years ago and we newcomers have finally agreed. Barb
It should be noted that the term "Salish Sea" wasn't coined by indigenous peoples, at least not in a regionally shared way...it was proposed in 1988 by a non-native marine biologist. The term "Salish" wasn't an historic term of self-description for any of the numerous nations within what is now constituted as Salish territory, it was applied by outside ethnographers/linguists' to render a large number of distinct peoples, each with their own name for themselves, into convenient categories for cultural/linguistic analysis. It's become an accepted term of self-reference over time, but certainly wouldn't (couldn't) have been applied a couple of centuries back, as it wasn't a part of the language. Each group had its own names for their portion of the 'sea' we're presently construing. I wonder, too, how the Kwakwakwa'wakw (Kwakiutl, Kwagiuth) feel about this: the northern portion of the map includes a fair chunk of the southern portion of their territory, and they aren't considered, nor do they consider themselves to be, Salish.
Opps! My source for the time on the name was a woman here in Anacortes', Samish Tribe office. I guess I just like the idea of the new name and the fact that it gives a name to the whole inland sea area. We will probably all continue to stick to our regional names no mater what. barb
So, is this replacing the current names for bodies of water in that area, or is this just a term for the entire area, and all the straits and sounds and such will stay the same?
Just a term for the entire area which will undoubtebly be in dispute in one form or another for years. All the sounds, straights and such will stay the same. Kind of the "Old dogs new names" thing. Remember the old song "It's Istanbul not Constantinople. Some people seem to hate change. ;)))) barb
If you look at the link you put here it says who came up with the name and that is was done in 1988, and that it does not replace any of the existing terms. It is a new umbrella term for an area extending from well up in Canada down to southern Puget Sound.
As an old sailor I have always considered it to be a sea and not a straight nor a gulf. It is too large to be a straight and was misnamed by the Europeans who at first believed it to be a gulf. Whether it be the Salish sea or the Georgia sea is no problem to me. One area I would like to see revert to its aboriginal name is the Queen Charlotte Islands.
@Beekeeper You'll be happy to know that the Queen Charlotte Islands were renamed Haida Gwaii about two weeks ago.
The common thread between geographers & botanists in this, may be that the only gainful employment they can find is re-naming things & then explaining themselves while the rest of the world looks on in confusion! glass brain (BSc. Hons Botany circa 1968)
