Thread: Today I took a walk through the #ShawniganLake cemetery. I haven’t walked through here since I was a child. The cemetery is relatively young - established in 1965. It’s maintained by the Malahat Lions Club on behalf of the community. /1

The most well known person memorialized here is the artist EJ Hughes. His marker is small, modest. You’d easily miss it. It’s not like Emily Carr’s grave at Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria - no markers or tokens left around the marker by visitors. /2

I only, just barely, know 1 person buried here. When we were kids we had a babysitter - Kaycee. She had brain (?) cancer and died when we were kids. It’s funny how you consider the age of other people when you’re a child. I could have swore Kaycee was 15/16? She was only 12. /3

That’s another thing that struck me about this small cemetery. There are many young people buried here - people who didn’t make it past their teens or early 20s. Maybe because of the size of the place it’s seems like there’s a lot. Too many. Disproportionate. /4

And although I don’t know many people memorialized here, there are so many last names that I recognize. South Cowichan is(was) not a big place. These are the grand/parents and relatives of people I grew up with. /5

Of course, there’s the other names that stand out because they are linked to the early Settler history of this place. Their last names are also found on street names and other toponyms. /6

Given that the cemetery is only 55 years old, seeing these names is also a reminder that we’re not that far from the “pioneer” days often venerated in local history. The shallow roots of settler colonialism. /7

It’s a beautiful day today and I’m glad I took a stroll. To remember Kaycee; to picture an EJ Hughes painting, and to reflect on life and death in a small settler community. /end