TheColumbia Valley - Columbia Valley Pioneer

6 • The Columbia Valley Pioneer September 14, 2007
PERSPECTIVE
A river by any
other name
By Elinor Florence
Pioneer Staff
Having just spent a few days along the Lower Columbia
River - in Portland, Oregon, to be exact - I was
surprised to fi nd there a bookstore jammed with books
about the mighty river that fl ows past our door.
Th e Columbia River in its American reincarnation
is much photographed and written about, especially
the famous Columbia Gorge between Oregon and
Washington, so I couldn’t resist thumbing through a
few books to see what was said about the origins of
“our” river - the fourth-largest in North America.
Not surprisingly, the source of the river is given
short shrift. Generally, a few paragraphs describe its
source as “a small lake in northern Canada” and mention
that it takes a winding path through the Rockies
before assuming the stature of a world-class river
south of the border.
One author described his amazement at being able
to drive to the mouth of the Columbia River, as if he
expected to trek half-way to the Arctic. He then went
on to describe a hair-raising night he spent in Canal
Flats, complete with a bar fi ght, which made it sound
like a saloon out of the Wild West.
Even the term “Upper Columbia” which should
factually refer to the upper reaches of the river - that
is, from its source at Canal Flats to the northernmost
point at Big Bend before beginning its path southwards
- has been adopted by the Americans.
In their lexicon, the Upper Columbia River Basin
is the northern part of the river in the United States,
south of the Canadian border.
Our newspaper’s name was changed two years ago
from Th e Upper Columbia Pioneer, which was somewhat
confusing, to Th e Columbia Valley Pioneer.
Th e name “Columbia Valley” might also refer to
the entire 1,200-kilometre stretch of the Columbia
River, but is a more familiar term in this area.
Of course, there is another whole discussion around
whether our area should be called the Windermere
Valley, but the jury is still out on that one.
The Columbia Valley
PIONEER
is independently owned and operated and
is published weekly by Abel Creek Publishing Inc.
Box 868, #8, 1008 - 8 th Avenue, Invermere, BC V0A 1K0
Phone (250) 341-6299 · Fax (250) 341-6229 Email: upioneer@
telus.net · www.columbiavalleypioneer.com
Th e material, written or artistic, may not be reprinted or electronically reproduced
in any way without the written consent of the publisher. Th e opinions
and statements in articles, columns and advertising are not necessarily those of
the publisher or staff of Th e Columbia Valley Pioneer. It is agreed by any display
advertiser requesting space that the newspaper’s responsibility, if any, for errors
or omissions of any kind is limited to the amount paid for by the advertiser for
that portion of the space as occupied by the incorrect item and there shall be no
liability in any event greater than the amount paid for the advertisement.
Elinor Florence
Publisher
Historical Lens
Perhaps this dog is mourning the loss of his owner in this photograph taken at the entrance to the Shuswap Cemetery.
No other information is available.
Photo courtesy of Windermere District Historical Society
Dear Editor:
Please vote yes to broadband
A new report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance
argues that a publicly-owned information infrastructure
is the key to healthy competition, universal
access, and non-discriminatory networks.
(A link to this report can be found on the www.
rdek.bc.ca website - follow the “broadband” link.)
Much of the infrastructures of our country, hospitals,
schools, water, sewer, airports, and highways
are publicly owned. Why not our “information
highway?”
Th e mentioned study analogizes our present
information infrastructure to a pizza delivery company,
which in addition to making and delivering
pizza, is responsible for building the roads to its
customers.
As a “for profi t” organization, you can see that
the most populated regions would get their pizza
Brian Geis
Reporter
Dave Sutherland
Advertising Sales
fi rst while some of the less accessible may never get
their pizza!
We’ve seen graphic examples of this all along.
No one was scrambling to upgrade or expand our
service before the Regional District of East Kootenay’s
fi bre-optic initiative!
Telus is quite content to sell you dial-up at $25
a month ad-infi nitum. Th is “for profi t” scheme is
basically the “user pays” model. Equal access has to
be assured for something as important as our information
infrastructure!
On October 27, please vote in favor of the
RDEK fi bre-optic super-highway, for public ownership,
equal access and state-of-the-art technology
for at least the next generation.
Enjoy your pizza.
Bryan Stawychny
Edgewater
Zephyr Rawbon
Graphic Designer
Michele McGrogan
Offi ce Manager
Sarah Turk
Project Manager