Mount Tzouhalem
| Mount Tzouhalem | |
|---|---|
 Mount Tzouhalem
Location in western British Columbia
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 536 m (1,759 ft) |
| Coordinates | 48°46′42″N 123°36′52″W / 48.77833°N 123.61444°WCoordinates: 48°46′42″N 123°36′52″W / 48.77833°N 123.61444°W |
| Geography | |
| Location | Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada |
| Topo map | NTS 92B/13 |
Mount Tzouhalem is a mountain on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, 4 kilometres east-northeast of Duncan in the municipality of North Cowichan. It is situated between Quamichan Lake, Maple Bay and Cowichan Bay.
The mountain is part of the municipal forest lands. Part of the mountain is an 18-hectare ecological reserve. It is popular with hikers and mountain bikers. It gives views towards Saltspring Island, the Coastal Mountains of the Lower Mainland and, on a clear day, Mount Baker in Washington State.
There is a large Christian cross on one cliffside. The original wooden cross, placed by local Catholic churches in the 1970s, was replaced by the Knights of Columbus with a welded version in the late 1980s.
The mountain was originally named "Shkewetsen" (meaning "basking" or "warming in the sun") by the local First Nations. According to legend, the local inhabitants fled to the mountain to escape the rising waters of a great flood. When the waters subsided, a frog was seen warming itself in the sun on a large rock on the side of the mountain. The frog rock formation was called "Pip'oom" (meaning "little swelled-up one").
The mountain was renamed after a preeminent Quamichan chief who lived his final years on the side of the mountain after being banished by his own people.
Born of a Quamichan man and a Comiaken woman, Tzouhalem was trained to be a warrior by his grandmother. He was infamous for his combative and unruly behaviour. His fighting prowess probably helped establish Quamichan as the largest and wealthiest of the Cowichan villages.
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