Comiaken District is located on the eastern shore of southern
Vancouver Island, roughly 25 km south of
Cedar District. The origins of its name are murky, though it is clear that the region draws its
name from Comiaken Hill: the BC Geographical Names Information System offers the explanation
that Comiaken may mean
to pull grass or hay up by the roots,
or
[Aboriginals] by the sea,
1 while Akrigg and Akrigg speculate that it means
bare, or void of vegetation.
2
The Comiaken region was mapped as part of
Pemberton’s surveys of the southern
Vancouver Island during the 1850s, which can be seen on this map and another, both from 1859.