Page 3 - Impact Summer 2017

Royal Roads University Advancement | Summer 2017 Charlie’s Trail
Connection between people, place and purpose
is the core of Royal Roads’ approach to life-long learning.
On June 21, we celebrated a meaningful new milestone: interpretive signage that recognizes our local history and heritage, and the people who are working together to preserve and share it.
Royal Roads stands on the traditional lands of the Xwsepsum (Esquimalt) and Lkwungen (Songhees) ancestors and families, who have lived, hunted, shed and gathered here since time immemorial and shared these traditional land resources with the neighbouring Scia’new Nation (Beecher Bay) and T’Sou-ke Nation (Sooke).
Charlie’s Trail runs along Colwood Creek from near Sooke Road to the shores of Esquimalt Lagoon.
Environmental stewardship and maintenance of the trail has been undertaken since 2006, guided by the vision and efforts of former Head Gardener Dave Rutherford and made possible through the generous donation of the Johnson family of Victoria.
The multi-year restoration project funded by the Johnsons involved reconstruction of bridges, installation of boardwalks to protect tree-root systems in sensitive areas, and stewardship of the stream to encourage salmon migration. Their gift now honours the memory of Charlie Johnson, a professional forester, whose love of the natural world and forests inspired his work, his family and his legacy.
As you walk along Charlie’s Trail, you will nd plants that range from old-growth Douglas- r trees stretching overhead to tiny mosses and herbs covering the forest oor. The Xwsepsum and Lkwungen people and their neighbours used many of the trees and plants that grow here today for medicine, food, shelter and tools.
The area near Charlie’s Trail is a “living classroom” for Royal Roads students in our environmental and sustainability programs.
Royal Roads University thanks Elder Elmer Seniemten George of the Songhees Nation and Edward Thomas Seenupin of the Esquimalt Nation for their translations of the English plant names to Lkwungen, and Kenneth ElliotT of the Cowichan Nation for consulting on the project.