Skookum Island adopted 27 July 1945 on C.3589 as recommended by Hydrographic Service; not "Boulder Island" as labelled on British Admiralty Chart 579, 1865 et seq.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

Skookum is Chinook jargon for "strong"

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

Skookum meant “strong” (or “big”) in the Chinook jargon used on the west coast by First Nation groups and early traders and settlers. Chuck was the term for water. Of all the words in Chinook’s disappearing vocabulary, these two, perhaps, have had the greatest staying power and are still in frequent use. They appear in numerous place names around BC: Skookum Creek, Skookum Gulch, Skookum Lake, Skookumchuck Creek, Skookumchuck Mountain, Skookumchuck Rapids (in the Shuswap River) and the two communities of Skookumchuck, one on the Lillooet River and the other on the Kootenay River. Skookum Island was formerly Boulder Island but was renamed by hydrographic service in 1945, in association with nearby Skookumchuck Narrows. The Sechelt Rapids in the narrows can reach peak flows on 14 knots (26 km/h). The Sechelt First Nation name for the narrows in Stl’íkwu.

Source: BC place name cards & correspondence, and/or research by BC Chief Geographer & Geographical Names Office staff.