Courtenay (/ˈkɔːrtni/ KORT-nee)[1] is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the largest community and only city in the area commonly known as the Comox Valley, and the seat of the Comox Valley Regional District, which replaced the Comox-Strathcona Regional District. Courtenay is 4 km (2.5 mi) west of the town of Comox, 7 km (4.3 mi) northeast of the village of Cumberland, 5 km (3.1 mi) northwest of the unincorporated settlement of Royston, and 108 km (67 mi) northwest of Nanaimo. Along with Nanaimo and Victoria, it is home to The Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary’s), a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Armed Forces.
Archaeological evidence suggests there was an active Coast Salish fishing settlement on the shores of the Courtenay River Estuary for at least 4,000 years.[2] Due to its gentle climate, fertile soil and abundant sea life, the Coast Salish residents called the area kw’umuxws (Li’kwala for plentiful), which was eventually anglicized to Komoux and then to Comox.
At the time of first contact with Europeans, the Pentlatch Nation, who spoke the Island Comox dialect of the Comox Coast Salish language, occupied the shores of present-day Comox Bay.[2] (The last speaker of the Island Comox dialect died in 1995.) Another Island Comox speaking Nation, the K’ómoks, occupied settlements further north along the east coast of Vancouver Island, in the area of present-day Campbell River, including Quadra Island and several other Gulf islands.
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