Valdes Island | The Canadian Encyclopedia

Article

Valdes Island

Valdes Island is one of a range of islands on the outer edge of the Gulf Islands in the Str of Georgia, off the SE coast of Vancouver I, BC. The long, narrow island is heavily wooded and has a few farms. A reserve occupies a third of it and there are several Indigenous burial grounds.

Valdes Island is one of a range of islands on the outer edge of the Gulf Islands in the Str of Georgia, off the SE coast of Vancouver I, BC. The long, narrow island is heavily wooded and has a few farms. A reserve occupies a third of it and there are several Indigenous burial grounds. In the 1920s it provided a refuge for the cult leader Brother Twelve, who ruled a colony there and is rumoured to have left behind buried gold when he fled. The name refers to a Spanish mariner who explored the area in the 1790s.