Cruising The Broughtons, British Columbia: Alert Bay and Village Island

 Alert Bay, Cormorant Island 

 

 

 

One of the aspects of the The Broughtons that really interested us was its First Nations heritage. Alert Bay is located on Cormorant Island just off shore of Port McNeill on Vancouver Island. It is the site of the impressive U'mista Cultural Center and the 'Namgis cemetery.

 

Although Port McNeill is larger and more developed now, Alert Bay was originally the main location in this area for supplies. Cormorant Island was first named 'Namgis by the 'Namgis First Nation (FN) people. The 'Namgis used the island on a seasonal basis and as a place to bring their dead. The original 'Namgis cemetery is a prominent part of downtown Alert Bay.

 

In 1846 the island was renamed by Europeans after the cruiser H.M.S. Cormorant and the Bay was named after the H.M.S. Alert.

 

Today the community seems to be a happy mix of Caucasians and First Nation people.

 

The U'mista Cultural Center 

Traditional Big House, used for potlatches Alert Bay, British Columbia picture from: http://www.vancouverisland.com/general/details

The meaning of U'mista: In earlier days, people were sometimes taken captive by raiding parties. When they returned to their homes, either through payment of ransom or by a retaliatory raid, they were said to have "u'mista". The return of our treasures from distant museum is a form of u'mista and became the name chosen for the newly established Cultural Society because these masks, costumes and coppers are U'mista and, are a symbol of Kwakwaka'wakw cultural survival.



"Ever since the white people first came to our lands, we have been known as the Kwakkewlths by Indian Affairs or as the Kwakiutl by anthropologists. In fact we are the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, people who speak Kwakʼwala, but who live in different places and have different names for our separate groups." http://umista.ca/kwakwakawakw/index.php


U'mista Cultural Centre is one of the longest-operating and most successful First Nations cultural facilities in BC, founded in 1980 as a ground breaking project to house potlatch artifacts which had been seized by government during an earlier period of cultural repression. The focus of the U'mista permanent collection is the "Potlatch Collection". The other permanent exhibits on display include descriptions of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw origin stories of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw villages, as well as, historical and contemporary Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw objects.The return of the potlatch artifacts not only provided U'mista's name ('the return of something important'), and sparked a general trend toward repatriation of First Nations and cultural artifacts, it caused the creation of a physical facility and human resources infrastructure which have been successfully operated for over two decades.
U'mista now operates a modern museum and cultural education facility in Alert Bay. Their operations include the museum, an extensive art gallery and gift shop, group tours, and presentations by dance troupes.

The meaning of Potlatch:

Potlatch: a strict law bids us to dance.

We dance to celebrate life, to show we are grateful for all our treasures. We must dance to show our history, since our history is always passed on in songs and dances. It is very important to tell the stories in exactly the same way. We put our stories into songs and into dances so they will not change. They will be told the same way every time. We use theatre and impressive masks to tell our ancestor’s adventures so the people witnessing the dance will remember it.

The ceremony to tell our stories and to show social changes such as birth, marriage, name giving, standing up a new chief and death is called a Potlatch. In the Chinook language it means ‘to give’. The people we invite are not only guests. They are also witnesses of our Potlatch and we give them presents for being a witness.  http://umista.ca/exhibits/index.php

 

We began our visit to the U'mista Cultural Center with a video of a Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw dance ceremony. It was incredible. It made what we were to see so much more interesting. The older masks and head dresses were smaller and it seems as though they have increased in size as materials became more available (or perhaps they just wanted them to be more impressive).

Killer Whale MaskPhotos were not allowed in the center so I am not able to do justice to the collection. I hope you get to see it one day. If you are interested you can view some of the collection on their website:
http:umista.ca .

  

 



 

 

The main street of Alert Bay runs infront of the original 'Namgis cemetery. As a show of respect people are not allow to walk in the cemetery; it must be viewed from the road.

 

 

Giant Halibut Man

Owl Woman
 

 

Once a totem is completed it isn't maintained. It isn't repainted or broken parts repaired. It is supposed to decompose and return to the earth along with the dead.

 

While we were anchored off of Alert Bay the community had an "around the island" kayak and canoe race. This First Nation canoe was on its way to the start line. I found the juxtaposition of the backward baseball caps at the front of the canoe and the traditional apparel in the stern amusing.



 

 This old building has been repurposed to a net loft.

 

Part of our view from our Alert Bay anchorage was this derilect building and float house (left) and a barge carring materials for a soon-to-be fish farm. There was the remains of a small aircraft on the pilings which looked more like junk storage than unfortunate landing.

Our last bit of fun at Alert Bay was watching the FN fishermen attempt to rescue one of their fishing boats that had recently sunk there. It was a real community event. After hours of line manipulation with a back hoe and a larger fishing boat they still hadn't made much progress. We left them to their work and set about pulling anchor.

Village Island, Southern Broughton Archipelago

I wanted to visit Village Island because of its First Nation heritage and we are always looking for places that provide walking trails. Village Island has a great history but it is now deserted and nature is reclaiming the land. The island is covered in dense vegetation and hiking was somewhat difficult.

 

 

 Islets emerging from the fog on the approach to Village Island

 

 

Village Island was once the home to the Mamalilikala (Mamalillaculla), an indigenous nation, a part of the Kwakwaka'wakw people. Their main village was 'Mimkwamlis. (I have no idea how this language was pronounced. Greg and I now have mastered Mamalillaculla, but that's it.)

 

The last resident left in 1976 after having been unsuccessful in trying to encourage the tribe to reestablish residence on Village Island.

 

 



Our anchorage off of Village Island



 

 

The shore at mid low tide.

The remains of the dock at Village Island

 



 

The beginning of the trail across the island to the village of Mimkwamlis.

 

 

 

Forty years without maintenance has reduced this once very nice home to an example of nature reclaiming her own. The roof was covered in growth and will eventually collapse.

 

 

Beautiful lichen on the trees looked like black oak leaves.

 

 

 

Once we made it to the site of the village we encountered other visitors. One was a native woman who had returned to the island to play her flute. We didn't speak but she smiled as I walked past her. The others were a group of fellows who had visited the island many times and were kind enough to point out the way to the remaining artifacts.

 

 

The "bear trail" to the old village. Can you see Greg? At one point I told him to go ahead. Bad decision. I lost him completely. At one point I saw a small hole and tried to step over it but still managed to fall into it, ripping my finger tips terribly as they slid down the berry vines. I was a bloody mess by the time I found Greg. 



Thimble berry, morning glories and other plants that had been cultivated were growing over everything. I harvested some wonderful mint and its now growing on the boat.



Thimble berry





Morning Glory





Currants

 

The last house to be occupied on Village Island, with the old washing machine sitting on the porch. Adjacent to the house was what remained of the long house - the big pole entrance, now sporting a small forest along its length.





This is the last totem pole on village island (you have to know what you are looking for). The sections of the totem look like mossy blocks. I felt special knowing that I would be one of the last people to ever see this totem pole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Whales! Oh my.

This is what the Broughtons like like frequently. We chose the Broughtons for sun - boy did we go wrong. Most mornings we have awoken to fog, which usually burns off by noon - or three or four pm. Two days ago we had an incredible lightening storm with lots of rain. One unfortunate sailboat was crossing to Vancouver Island and was struck. They lost all their electronics. If I remember correctly we have had three glorious sunny days. They were wonderful and we really enjoyed them.

We have sailed on three or four occasions. The opportunity to sail is less than in the San Juans.

Despite this, we are having a great time exploring, fishing and crabbing.

I really felt the need to visit a large grocery store so we headed to Port McNeil on Vancouver Island. As we crossed Blackfish Sound, near Bold Head, Greg spotted a spout. We had seen some of the resident Orcas earlier and I really wanted to see a Humpback whale.




In no time at all we were within 300 ft of a "humpy". Then we noticed a large pod of white-sided Pacific dolphins approaching. They swarmed around the humpy and a feeding frenzy began. The humpback whale has baleen and feeds on small fish.



We turned off the engine and floated by the whale and dolphins for over 30 minutes. It was the most exciting wildlife experience I have ever had. The whale slapped its flukes and did barrel rolls. We could see the pleats in it's belly and scalloped edges of it's flippers.

Humpback whale fluke.

You can see how foggy it was. This made it very difficult to get good photos (sorry). All the bait fish must have been eaten or they moved away. The whale drifted away from us and the dolphins realized that there was a boat nearby. They all swam directly at us and swarmed the boat. They jumped, did somersaults, and rode the bow wake. While all this was going on, I spotted a second humpy about two miles away. The noise they make on exhaling in astonishing. You get goosebumps every time they do it.





Greg watches the dolphins as they swarm around Comocean.



When Greg increased our engine speed the dolphins peeled off and headed in the opposite direction. Enough playing, time to get back to eating. We continued on our way to Port McNeil and encountered yet another whale. This time it was a Minke. Unfortunately it was topside for only a short time and we only got a glance at it.

Now we are tied up to the Port McNeil Marina and enjoying some shopping and sightseeing. Last night provided a lovely sunset.





North to Canada

Our plan for the summer of 2012 was to sail north through the Gulf Islands in the Straight of Georgia, on to Johnstone Straight and finally to the “The Broughtons.”  The Broughton Islands, located at the northern end of Vancouver Island, are internationally renowned for their spectacular beauty and abundant wildlife.

The Gulf Islands are similar in geology and climate to Washington’s San Juans. While there are literally hundreds of these islands, only a handful are inhabited. The Gulf islands have a great amount of public land; there are 60 marine parks compared to only 11 in the San Juans.

That was our plan - then we made an offer on Gitana, a boat in San Carlos, Mexico.

Our offer on Gitana was accepted at the end of April. We planned to drive back down to Mexico as soon as we had a bill of sale to get precise measurements, empty out excess tools and cover the dinghy to protect it from the Mexican summer sun.

We waited, and we waited and we waited. Finally in early June we were told by Marine Documentation Services (MDS) that the necessary signatures had been received and the bill of sale would be ready in a few weeks. When we called at the end of June, we were told that the paper work was a mess and we would have to start all over. This boat was an estate sale and there were several heirs. Totally disgusted, we decided to forget about driving to Mexico and readied for our northern adventure.

The day before we planned to leave I called MDS to notify them that we were leaving and would return in the fall. To our total surprise, we were told that the paperwork was all in order and signatures were being collected on the bill of sale. Wouldn’t ya know! Well, we weren’t going to change our plans again.

On August 4th we arrived in Alert Bay and had phone service. We had a message that the deal was done and Gitana was finally ours.

On July 17^th we cast off our lines and headed for Montague Harbor, on Galiano Island, where we checked into Canada. Love that Nexus status! Five minutes after arriving, our “appointment time” came and went and the Canadian Border Patrol folks never showed. The deal is that you go to the designated location at a specific time. If no one shows you are free to go.  

After Montague we went to Clam Bay on Thethis Island. Clam Bay straddles Thetis and adjacent Kuper Island. Kuper is entirely Native Reserve land and is off limits. After a pleasant dinner at anchor, two young First Nations people paddled over in their canoe and showed us items that one of their members had carved and they were selling. I just happened to be looking for a gift and chose a pretty little box with a bear on the lid.

Cinnamon enjoying the sun at Clam Bay.

Next stop Nanaimo on Vancouver Island for some more provisions and a fishing/shellfish license. Unfortunately, we had to motor the entire way since there wasn’t any wind. The next day we sailed the entire way to Lasqueti Island and put the spinnaker to work. Another good day of sailing followed as we continued on to beautiful Savory Island.  

Savory looks like it belongs in the South Pacific with its long white sand beaches. We threw out the crab trap the next morning and caught 2 Dungeness and 1 red rock crab that were keepers. And there was the oh so annoying and abundant sunflower sea star.

We had planned to spend two days at Savory but the wind shifted and we motored four miles to the southern shore of Hernando Island. We anchored behind Black Rock Point. We immediately threw out the crab trap and dinghied around to see the sites. Black rock still had some wildflowers and we were surprised to see a pair of mergansers and an oyster catcher. We surprised some seals that were relaxing on adjacent islet and they decided to take a swim. We dined on our crabs in the cockpit, sharing some with Cinnamon, as we watched a storm approach from the south.

Visited Rebecca Spit. What a difference from our fall visit. The Spit Park was lined with families picnicking and playing in the water. Our outboard had conked out on us and we got it repaired here. The mechanic picked up at 6pm and returned it next morning.

Headed on to the  Octopus Islands. Visited Waiatt Bay first because there was a the hike to Lake Newton that looked interesting. Great scenery but a tough climb for me. I'm so out of shape, it's embarrassing. Met a couple named Dan and Alice from Seattle that had cruised with Debby Morley (Blaine West Marine manager) to the South Pacific in the 80's. It continues to amaze us how small the world is.

 

While sitting at anchor we heard a very vocal bear on shore next to us.

Entering Waiatt Bay through narrow channel.

 

We walked along the creek through marshy areas where the creek disappeared underground.

There was a very nice waterfall, but the climb was a killer for me. When we reached the top we met Dan and Alice. They looked fresh as daisies while I was dripping in sweat and looked like crap. The insult was that they must have been at least 10 years older than I.

Lake Newton. A very large lake. A great place for a fresh water swim, but a little too cold today.

Waiatt Bay was so calm the reflections were amazing. This is were we heard the bear.

 There were lots of dead trees which supported an abundance of fungi. The shelf fungus was probably the most common. I discovered this yellow fungus that felt like heavy cream and "melted" when touched.

Decided to skip the rest of Octopus Island Marine Pk and head to Forward Harbour on BC mainland. Anchored in Douglas Bay at 8 feet. A little iffy but it turned out okay. Hiked the “Flotsam and Jetsam” trail to Bessbourgh Bay where we found a bear rummaging on the beach a few hundred feet away. The trail was more like an obstacle course, over trees, under trees but interesting.

Douglas Bay in Forward Harbor, BC 

Flotsam and Jetsam trail.
Can you see the trail?
On the way back we watched very carefully for bears.

Early the next day we motored to Boat Bay across from Robson Bight Ecological Reserve, a “rubbing beach” for orcas. Only the northern orcas have rubbing beaches. There weren’t any orcas in the reserve but we discovered that the whale boat guides used channel 7 to communicate. Right around the corner, basically, but out of our reach due to the tide, was an unusually large gathering of whales, including orcas, hump backs and minke. The guides excitedly described tail lobs, breaches and spy hoping. One guide described it as "whale soup". I pestered Greg to take me to the places that they had been on the following day. Unfortunately the action was over and the whales were going their separate ways.

Whale Soup

Take a very large amount of seawater

Add a couple dozen islands

Blend in a dozen whale watch boats

Stir in all of the northern resident Orca population

Throw in several hump back whales

Stand back in awe.

When we finally, I should say I finally accepted that I had missed the big event, we decided to anchor in a little group of islands called Pearse. A big storm was predicted and we needed a very protected anchorage. We were snugged in between two islands in less than 30 ft of water.

The view to the south, looking at Vancouver Island.

The view to the north. The opening is very narrow, shallow and filled with lots of kelp. Actually, the whole anchorage was filled with lots of kelp. When we backed down on the anchor we must have ripped up some and it floated back and wrapped around our keel. Greg struggled for an hour to work it loose and send it on its way.

Cinnamon was very ill just before we left Blaine. He has recovered and seems to be in his teenage years again. Cabin-bound for four years, he now wanders the deck, sits on the life raft and surveys the anchorage. When we arrived in the Pearse Islands he was very interested in sniffing the air.

 We rowed around the anchorage and Greg discovered this single clump of blue flowers (unidentified) growing out of ferns over orange lichen. Very beautiful, which my picture doesn't do justice.

Night settles over the entrance to Pearse Islands.