I Want To Believe: Forbidden Plateau (Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada) The...
Forbidden Plateau (Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada)
The Forbidden Plateau is on the eastern side of Vancouver Island in the Strathcona Provincial Park, nestled between Mount Albert Edward and Mount Washington. According to the indigenous coastal hunting Comox (Komox, K’omoks) people the Forbidden Plateau is inhabited by evil spirits that supposedly consume any women and children that venture up there.
The belief in the nature of these spirits relates to a Comox legend dating back to a time when they were raided by the Cowichan people. During the raid they sent their children, women and tribal elders up to the Forbidden Plateau for safety. For some reason, no trace of them was every found again, they just vanished, and the Forbidden Plateau has been taboo since that day.
The Forbidden Plateau was also the epicentre of the strongest earthquake (on land) in Canadian history, measuring on the Richter Scale at 7.2 (though I have seen 7.3 quoted). This took place on Sunday, 23 June 1946, at 10.15am. Offshore, west of Vancouver Island has the most seismic activity in Canada with over 100 earthquakes measuring 5 or more on the Richter Scale having been measure in the last 70 years.
