Tubing on the Slocan River
Nothing says SUMMER like floating or tubing down the Slocan River! While this can be one of the most memorable things of the summer, a little planning can make it a great memory rather than the other way around...
BE AWARE, this is a river with many hazards.
There are rapids north of Lemon Creek. There are rapids south of Crescent Valley. There are smaller rapids south of Winlaw Bridge. There are log jams in place for increasing fish habitat. The water moves quickly. Take a look at the Riverwatch signs posted at Winlaw and Passmore bridges, see below and the map included here for a better look at the river and possible hazards. The safest section is from Perry's Siding bridge to Winlaw bridge.
Remember, while the weather can be beautiful, wind can be a factor, so always have a paddle to keep you going downstream and to avoid obstacles. The water is cold, so don't stay in for tooo long. And while the sun is hot, heat stroke can happen. Oh, and bug spray is a good idea too. Remember, if you do get into trouble, go to shore. The Rail Trail runs down the east side (left) of the Slocan River from Slocan to the bridge at Crescent Valley. Houses and roads can be found in all directions. But, there is no cell service.
The River is our pride and joy, please don't litter it or the shores! Prepare to pack out what you pack in. Enjoy the adventure!
Signage showing access points and hazards along the river:
PLACE NAMES: Slocan
Slocan is one of the few First Nations place names in common use in our area.
One-hundred eightieth in an alphabetical series on West Kootenay/Boundary place names by local historian, Greg Nesteroff http://www.castlegarnews.com/opinion/place-names-slocan/
Slocan is one of the few First Nations place names in common use in our area but also one of the most popular and versatile, based on the number of geographical features that have adopted it.
Officially it’s a village, railway point, two communities, two rivers, several lakes, a whirlpool, mountain, ridge, provincial historic site, and mining division.
Unofficially, it’s also a valley.
A few other Slocan-related names are no longer on the map, including Slocan Crossing, Slocan Junction, and Slocan Creek.
Slocan is the anglicized version of the Sinixt word slhu7kíń. Explorer John Palliser first recorded the Shlogan River on a map in 1859. Secondary sources attribute a wide variety of other spellings to him including shlocan, sloghan, schlocan, scholocan, slok-ken and shlokum.
In an 1865 letter, trail builder Edgar Dewdney called it slokén, while on an 1866 map, surveyor Walter Moberly wrote slocken. In the 1930s, ethnographer James Teit used sloke’n while Verne Ray went with slo’kan.
None of these sources provided a translation, but Randy Bouchard and Dorothy Kennedy, in their Lakes Indian Ethnography and History (1985) found three Sinixt informants — Mary Marchand, Julia Quintasket, and Joe Barr — who said slhu7kíń means “to pierce, strike on the head.”
According to Marchand, that referred to their ancestors’ practice of spearing salmon, which were once plentiful in the region. Bouchard and Kennedy added that slhu7kíń “is in fact derived from the Okanagan-Colville term lhum̀ín meaning ‘harpoon.” Prior to that, a variety of false and fanciful etymologies had been suggested:
• The Kaslo Claim of May 12, 1893: “Kaslo and Slocan are Indian names and are bestowed in honor of ancient families of the Kootenays. They are proper names and have no interpretation.”
• The Slocan Enterprise of Oct. 16, 1929: “Citizens of Slocan as well as other people of the district have recently become interested in the origin and meaning of the word Slocan … One of the suggestions was ‘bright waters.’”
• Fern Cooper writing in the Arrow Lakes News in December 1952: “Prospectors inquiring of some Indians as to directions to travel were informed, but they said Slo-Can-Go, meaning it was slow travelling in these parts. Thus Slocan was told how it got its name.” This bit of folklore gained quite a bit of traction, and even appears in Joy Kogawa’s acclaimed novel Obasan. Fern’s mother Phyllis, however, wrote in My Dad: The Family of Walter and Ada Clough (1986) that “Slocan is an Indian name meaning either ‘deep water’ or ‘stormy water.’”
• The Secwepemc word for frog is slleq̓wqнn̓, transcribed by John Mary Le Jeune in Studies on Shuswap (1925) as slok-ken. Clara Graham speculated in This Was the Kootenay (1963) that Slocan was derived from this word, and other sources followed suit.
For instance, Beautiful British Columbia Magazine, summer 1981: “If you forgot you were in the Slocan, you could find enough reminders as you cycle south: Slocan Lake, Slocan River, Slocan Park, Slocan City, South Slocan. Perhaps it’s all explained by the fact that Slocan meant frogs in the Indian language of the region. Then again, South Frogs?”
• The Kootenaian, June 8, 1967: “The great Slocan got its name from a pioneer of the district by the same name.”
• History of the West Kootenay, a report prepared by Joy Smith of the BC Parks Branch in 1974: “A more carefully documented source of Slocan credits the word to the Indian tribe known as the Sloghans, encountered by David Thompson during his explorations at the beginning of the 19th century.”
• Several sources were closer to the truth in suggesting Slocan meant “catch salmon.” They included Cecil Clark in a 1964 note contained in the A.G. Harvey papers at the BC Archives, Craig Weir writing in the Castlegar News of Nov. 29, 1973, and John Norris in Old Silverton (1985).
The earliest known use of the present spelling of Slocan was in Gilbert Malcolm Sproat’s Jan. 7, 1884 Report on Kootenay, published in the BC government sessional papers: “On the western side of this depression, particularly between the great Kootenay lake and Slocan Lake, or the Columbia River, the mountains form a broad mass … The Indians say there is a quantity of white pine on Slocan Lake, but that is a long way beyond the 6-mile reserve, the Slocan River itself being about 30 miles in length.”
Over the next few weeks, we’ll look at the several places that have adopted the name, including the Village of Slocan (nee Slocan City), Slocan Park, South Slocan, and Slocan Valley.
— With thanks to Peter Smith
Evacuation Order Slocan Valley West Road
June 1, 2017 at 9:30 am
The Regional District of Central Kootenay has issued an Evacuation Order for Slocan Valley West Road.
The evacuation order has been issued for the following areas:
2220 to 2987 Slocan Valley West Road.
At this time residents or visitors are required to evacuate the affected area immediately and report to the reception centre at the Passmore Fire Hall 3725 Hwy 6. Residents are advised to stay away from riverbanks and fast flowing water.
For more information visit the Central Kootenay Regional District website or facebook page
or BC Emergency Information website
Slocan Valley TV Society forges ahead with upgrades
by Jan McMurray, Valley Voice Newspaper March 9, 2017
The Slocan Valley TV Society replaced the equipment on its towers and now offers a high quality, reliable service, according to Derek Murphy, secretary/ treasurer of the society board. The taxpayer-funded service is provided to residents from Slocan to Passmore who live within line of sight of the society’s towers, and includes four TV channels and two radio stations.
“We’ve gone from being unsure whether we could continue the service to now knowing we can continue indefinitely,” said Murphy in an interview.
An audit of the equipment in fall 2014 revealed that the old analogue equipment was failing. In 2015, a survey of the residents in the service area (Slocan to Passmore) showed a high level of support for the service, and for continuing to fund the service with the same level of taxation. The society receives $15,000 in tax dollars every year, via a tax-funded grant from the RDCK. The RDCK collects the tax on behalf of the society. Slocan Valley TV Society forges ahead with upgrades Murphy reports that in 2016, the board replaced the old analogue equipment with digital equipment at a cost of $15,000 per tower and a total cost of $50,000. “We now broadcast the same quality TV you’d get from satellite,” he said.
Of the three towers the society now maintains, the central one needs to be replaced. Columbia Wireless internet service provider also has equipment on the central tower. “That’s our next challenge,” said Murphy. “It represents a significant risk to our customers, and to Columbia Wireless’s customers as well.”
The next step is to hire an engineer to determine the specifications for the new tower. Murphy says that will be done in the next couple of months. Once the central tower is replaced, which Murphy estimates will take one to two years, the society will look at expanding the TV service to eight channels. “The costs have come down on the equipment, so we feel we may be able to add four channels, and we think eight channels would be very attractive for many people.”
Part of the vision for the TV Society in the future is to assist with the need for a shared emergency services channel for the valley. “It’s very early days but we’re exploring the possibilities of using our towers to support a shared emergency service channel,” said Murphy. Murphy adds that the free Shaw satellite TV service ends in 2018.
Those who don’t want to pay for the satellite service will have the TV Society service to fall back on. “There’s no signing up for the service. You simply get it if you live between Slocan and Passmore and have a TV from 2009 or newer. If you have an older TV, you have to buy a piece of equipment that costs $30 to $50 to get the service.”
The TV Society now broadcasts CBS, ABC, Global and Knowledge, as well as two radio stations. Murphy added that CBC delivers its own signal and is also available at no charge.
Call Derek at 226-7182 for more information.
Slocan Valley Home Based Business Survey- On Line
Take the confidential Survey until May 15, 2017 and help us understand the needs of home based businesses in the Slocan Valley.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/homebasedbusiness
We are reaching out to home-based businesses!
If you run a home-based business, we want to hear from you. The Slocan Valley Economic Development Commission (SVEDC)and the Slocan District Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Rural Development Institute at Selkirk College, have created a survey for home-based business people. The results of the survey will help the SVEDC and the Chamber respond to the needs of home-based business.
“We’re always looking for ways to support local businesses,” says Leah Main, chair of the SVEDC. “We want to reach out specifically to home-based businesses because they make up a significant part of the business community in the Slocan Valley, but they’re less visible and often overlooked.”
The SVEDC and Chamber surveyed storefront businesses in the Slocan Valley in 2013. In response to the needs expressed through the survey, they organized a succession planning workshop and a series of‘lunch & learn’ events with guest speakers from business support organizations such as Community Futures and Work BC. “We expect that the home-based business survey will inspire other events,” says Jan McMurray, chair of the Chamber. “We’re looking forward to coming up with creative ways to help meet the needs of home-based business in the valley.”
The survey is available online and on paper. The online survey will be live April 1 to May 15. The link can be found at slocanvalley.com and slocanlake.com. The paper survey– in the provided sealed envelope –can be picked up and dropped off at Slocan Valley Co-op, New Market Foods, and the Valley Voice office. The confidential survey does not ask for personal identifiers. It takes 10-15 minutes to complete.
