[citation needed] Archaeological evidence documents the occupation by Coast Salish peoples in this area of the Strait of Georgia for over 4,000 years.

[6] The western tip of the Island—named Indian Point by colonial settlers—is called Thetik or Thah teq[7] in Ayajuthem, meaning 'broken off'.

[citation needed] Tla'amin (Sliammon) First Nation oral history records the destruction and sinking of a “trading” ship (well known for pirating) in their traditional territory in that period.

In the distance to the north he saw a couple points of higher land, one probably Cape Mudge on Quadra Island, and another to the east, of unclear identity.

[citation needed] Jack Green, the first non-Indigenous permanent resident, was an early settler who built a cabin and store in or about 1886.

At the other end of the island, the Ashworth family built the Royal Savary Hotel at Indian Point.

[citation needed] Gradually, private boats and water taxis from Lund provided the most common access to the island.

The incidents include: an RCAF Hurricane fighter that crashed off Savary in 1943; lone survivor (12-year-old Fred Ilott) of the PowRivCo Tug Teeshoe sinking who washed up on Savary in the 1950s (Teeshoe: A Powell River Story by Filmmaker Jan Padgett); a Cessna on the airstrip; two fishboats, one in the Gulf and one in Malaspina Strait, each with loss of life; and a Gulf ship that sank on Dinner Rock in 1947.

This comes primarily from the Pleistocene era as material deposited by meltwater streams from glaciers which advanced southward through the Strait of Georgia over 20,000 years ago.

The Ice Age materials are overlain by Holocene (Recent) era deposits; their features include sand dunes.

[13] Since deglaciation (approximately 10,000 years ago), continued erosion under the general influence of prevailing south easterly storm waves, has caused the disappearance of much of the "original island".

What remains today is very much in flux as the twin forces of erosion and accretion gradually move or shift the boundaries of the island.

[citation needed] The dry warm summers and erodible soils condition distinctive ecologic settings and surface processes (including wind erosion and deposition).

In addition, storm waves, which are predominantly from the southeast, have important erosion and sediment transport effects along the south shore of Savary.

A tiny population of Garry oak occurs at the eastern end — the northernmost natural occurrence of this species along the coast.

The animal population includes birds (bald eagles, barred owls, kingfishers, cliff and northern rough-winged swallows, seagulls, sandpipers, oyster catchers, and herons), mammals (black-tailed deer, mink, harbour seals, sea lions, otters, bats and mice), reptiles (garter snakes and northern alligator lizard), and numerous invertebrates.

Surprisingly, the raccoon is absent; its failure to become established on the island has allowed ground-nesting birds to maintain their populations.

In the late 1990s, the Regional District set began drafting an official community plan for the island.

[citation needed] Savary Island has inspired a great deal of creativity; artists whose work features Savary include Stephanie Aitken, Helen Griffin, Charles Hepburn Scott, Anne-Marie Harvey, David Burns, Sheldon Heppner, Toni Onley, E. J. Hughes, Keith Pepper and Michael Kluckner.

[citation needed] From the early 1900s Savary Island was visited regularly by visual artists working in various media.

In the 1930s it became the site of summer sketch camps of the Vancouver School of Art, which were often based at the Royal Savary Hotel.