| Feature Type: | Island - Land area surrounded by water or marsh. |
| Status: | Official |
| Name Authority: | BC Geographical Names Office |
| Relative Location: | One of the Gulf Islands, SE of Saltspring Island at S end of the Strait of Georgia, Cowichan Land District |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 48°47'02"N, 123°08'52"W at the approximate centre of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 92B/14 |
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Origin Notes and History:
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Adopted 12 December 1939 on 92/SE and on Ottawa file OBF 1699, as labelled on British Admiralty Chart #1917, 1849 et seq. Source: BC place name cards, files, correspondence and/or research by BC Chief Geographer/Geographical Names Office. |
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"Named, in 1791, after the Spanish naval schooner Saturnina, commanded by José Maria Narvaez, which vessel explored the channels to the northeastward of the strait of Juan de Fuca..." [See also "Who Named Saturna Island?" by Nick Doe, published in Shale:Journal of the Gabriola Historical and Museum Society, vol 18, April 2008, for a discussion of early European exploration of these waters (by Narvaez, Pantoja, Eliza, Haro, Galiano, Vancouver, Quadra, etc), the early charting history of the area, and how & when Saturnina become corrupted or abbreviated to Saturna....] Source: Walbran, John T; British Columbia Coast Names, 1592-1906: their origin and history; Ottawa, 1909 (republished for the Vancouver Public Library by J.J. Douglas Ltd, Vancouver, 1971) |