the site of an infamous
potlatch—a feast and gifting
ceremony through which First
Nations chiefs would assert their
status and territorial rights.
(Potlatches were banned in 1884
by the Canadian government, on
the grounds that they were
contrary to “civilized values.”
The ban was repealed in 1951.) As
we set off, Willie told me about the ceremony. “The
potlatch was an opportunity to reaffirm who you were,”
he said. “It was a way to get through the harsh winters.
We gathered: that was the medicine.”
Willie took me to my lodgings, a beachfront cabin at
the Cluxewe Resort outside the logging town of Port
McNeill. The resort was comfortable but definitely
designed to propel visitors outdoors. (A note inside my
room reminded guests to please refrain from gutting fish
on the porch.) I spent the evening reading, accompanied
by a soundtrack of waves sweeping the beach outside,
and the next morning, I took a walk along the stretch of
pebbly Pacific shore in front of my cabin. I wanted to
reacquaint myself with the past, inhale the moisture in
the air, smell the cedar. Up above, unhurried eagles
swooped, exuding a proprietary air as they circled and
fell and circled again.
As I walked, it struck me that this beach, like so many
others, has been home to the Kwakwaka’wakw people for
thousands of years. Canada, on the other hand, turns a
mere 150 this year, and it seemed to be a good time to
reflect on the nation’s progress. The contrasts and
contradictions I found in B.C. are playing out on a
national scale. The Truth and Reconciliation
Commission of Canada, set up as a response to the abuse
inflicted on indigenous students in residential schools,
concluded its findings in December 2015, attempting to
redress the legacy with 94 Calls to Action. The Idle No
More movement has been confronting the issues facing
First Nations through a series of rallies and protests.
Meanwhile in B.C., tourism revenue is expected to
double in the next 20 years, with the aboriginal sector
playing a starring role. (This year it is forecast to bring
in C$90 million.) Something is happening. This is not
about “having a moment”; moments recede. This is a long
slog for respect, an effort to change the way Canadians
view the aboriginal community’s land and lives.I
n preparation for our trip to Alert Bay, Willie
drove me into Port McNeill for a breakfast of
eggs and bacon at an unpretentious place called
Tia’s Café. The town is small, so it wasn’t a huge
surprise when Willie’s uncle Don wandered in.
He told us there was excitement up in Kingcome, site of
the family’s First Nations community. He said the oolies,
or oolichans—smelt fish used for making oil—had
arrived, and the villagers were out fishing last night.
“Sea lions were spotted in the river,” Uncle Don said.
“It’s strange to see them up that high.”TRAVELANDLEISUREASIA.COM / AUGUST 2017 93
of Haida Gwaii, home of the formidable Haida people, to
find out whether it was possible for a visitor to take in
B.C.’s nuanced human stories while still keeping those
forests and snowcapped peaks in view.P
ort Hardy, a seaside town of 4,000 people
on the northern tip of Vancouver Island, is
today known as a destination for storm-
watchers, sport fishermen and hikers,
though the place has retained a plaid-shirt
solidity that reflects its past as a center for logging and
mining. Outside the airport I was met by Mike Willie of
Sea Wolf Adventures. Willie is a member of the
Musgamakw Dzawada’enuxw First Nation, and he runs
what he calls boat-based cultural tours across the waters
into Kwakwaka’wakw territory. That includes the village
of Alert Bay, the Namgis Burial Ground, with its totem
poles, and the unpredictable waters nearby. He goes from
Indian Channel up to Ralph, Fern, Goat and Crease
Islands, and as far north as the Musgamakw
Dzawada’enuxw territory, also known as the Great Bear
Rainforest—a 65,000-square-kilometer nature reserve
that is home to the elusive white “spirit” bear.
I’d arranged to travel with Willie to the U’mista
Cultural Centre in Alert Bay, as well as to Village Island,FROM FAR LEFT:
Mussels at Cowbay
Café, in the port town
of Prince Rupert; a pole
on the grounds of a
waterfront home on
Haida Gwaii; Haida
chief James Hart
carves a totem pole on
Haida Gwaii.