Comorant Island / Alert Bay


 Gilakas'la to Cormorant Island & Alert Bay
Or welcome: and to bring you in the mood you get greeted with a wonderful Indian carving of a killer whale because Alert Bay is the home of the killer whales – let see if we see them here.

Some facts:

• It’s named after the HMS Cormorant – a coastal paddle sloop operating in 1846
• The name Alert bay comes from the HMS Alert which was stationed here in 1860
• Originally it was called "Yalis" by the Nambis First nations
• The European Settlement began also around 1860
• It’s tiny: only 4 km long and 0.8 km wide

As per Paul only one more nice day
So if that is the case we will have a lot on our program today that means we start right away and then we will be busy, so we see ALL today, in case tomorrow it will rain – so we start on the west end and then will end up on the east end.

 U’mista Cultural Center
We started here out, because of the famous totem poles… and not only had we a wonderful view on the bay, but we saw our first totem poles – we decided not to go inside and pay a lot of money, because we won’t have the time to appreciate it all.
But we saw here our first Totem poles the Guardian poles (from 2014) want to share the message of Maya/xala “respect for yourself, others and the world around you with everyone who passes by or comes in” – those two are responsible to keep the big house in order and that the people behave with Maya’xala.

 What’s so special about the Totem poles here?

• The traditional big house was completed in 1966, it looks quite new, because it burned in a fire in 1997 and got reopened in 1999
• The figures of a totem pole are from mythical times when ancestors encounters supernatural beings took them as their crest
• The thunderbird descended from the sky, took off his regalia and became a human ancestor
• The erection of a totem pole is celebrated with a pot latch
• The meaning of the totem pole is often only known to the carver and the owner of the totem pole
• The totem poles of Alert Bay are famous and known: when in 1920 four of them were brought to Stanley Park in Vancouver
• The old people believed: Nothing lasts forever: when a totem pole falls to earth or something was damaged it has served its purpose and it is time to make a new one, it is part of the natural circle of life, the ancestors spirit has left the totem pole once it falls – that’s why the Totems here are not maintained or painted

 The tallest totem pole in the world
We drove up to the Namgis Big house which got rebuilt in 1999 after a fire – it is the traditional residence of the Kwakwaka’wakw. And there it is the tallest totem pole in the world – hold up with 3 strong wires and when you look up the end looks more like an extremely high telephone pole – it is actually a kind of skinny long pole… only when you stand underneath it, will you realize how tall it is. Originally 173 ft. tall, but then the top 10 feet fell off in a storm in 2007. Even the pole was completed in the 1960s it was not raised until 1973 – I would love to have seen that

And this pole represents the different tribes not a particular family - The salmon that the bear is holding is indicative of the peoples pride in the land
And even better there is a pole-eagle there – which looked great: and it is dedicated to the Elders who took part in building the original big house in 1965
And then the supernatural mountain goat holding a natural feather standing on a box of treasure – and as per legend he only had to point the feather and then the mountain goats would drop. With a whale on the bottom

 'Wa’la
You have no clue what that means – you better learn about it, otherwise how can you drive around here: it’s Indian for Stop - I think that is the first time I saw this.

 Some history about the first nations here:

• It’s the land of the Namgis first nation: with today the main village in Alert Bay consisting of around 700 people
• The name comes from Namxiyalegiyu = the Halibut like sea monster: during the great flood this monster arose from the depth of the sea and the man climbed on his back, when the waters went down the Namixiyagiyu returned the man to the land. He came to the beach near the mouth of the Namgis River, he snared some birds and transformed them into people and that’s how the Namgis tribe started
• In 1884 the Northwest Coast First Nations were not allowed to hold potlatches anymore – and were done underground
• Potlatches are ceremonies done for important occasion like birth, marriage, death, transfer of names
• In 1921: 45 people were charged with taking part in a large potlatch in Village island – ceremonial regalia like coppers, mask, rattles and Whistles and distributed among museum and private collections - Today they try to get some of them back
• The site of the St. Michael School which got taken down in 2015 – it looks like the history is not always good: between 1929-1974 around 200 kids lived here – they were not allowed to speak their language, and were kept away from their families for years, they came here as young as 4 years old. It is known that they were physical, emotional and sexual abused – maybe it’s good It’s gone and not reminding of the past – when looking at the pictures it looked like a creepy old place – and it was one of the last residential schools closing in 1974

 The new Namgis Burial Ground
Gine sees: First Nations Burial ground and it’s so close: guess where we are heading next – and this is the current in use burial ground you enter it through the sun & killer whale Archway – only one of the whales is upside down
And then you walk along those super amazing “headstones” a lot of amazing wooden carved and painted Indian art – it is super amazing, you see some Canadianized Indians when they are Canucks fans and some real traditional ones
And let’s not forget the totem pole in the back of the burial grounds

 Checking out the campground
And as per Paul: let’s check out the campground, not that someone picks the best spot before us… so we checked it out and occupied one spot, which we thought was convenient and in a bright and sunny location and then we continue with our sightseeing program:

 Downtown Alert bay & the board walk
We already discovered there is some wonderful RV parking sidewise along the road near the government wharf, so we park there and Gine checks out the government wharf and already gets totally excited and then we start our walk along the board walk and the main road and we discover:

•  The funky house with the tower: built in 1946 as a municipal hall and fire hall – and in case you wonder why it needs a tower: it is to dry out the fire house – did I mention that I saw the fire house and also an old Austin Car
•  Old court house (1923): Then we found a sign telling us that the sunny (yellow) house across us is the former court house for the police including living quarter and jail
  And if you look closely you can still the bars on some windows, - and most of the people in the jail were 1^st nations people caught after their evening mandatory curfew. It actually operated for the RCMP until the 1970s, as a courthouse until 1990s – then became a doctor’s office – until it finally retired as a private house
•  Then we came on a cute platform with Popovich fountain
  Gilbert Popvich was involved to build the boardwalk and wanted an Italian fountain: he was born on June 23 – and died on June 23 and the fountain was released on Jun 23 one year after his death
•  Then we walk along the main street came by the Hotel, found an old wagon, some steps going up for better view, we found an old British bus
•  At the ferry station you can see the Archway Killer Whale (1979) greeting you
•  continuing on we came to some more houses built on stilts and the next part of the boardwalk began – this time on first nations land: which is kind of cool, because every once in a while there is a covered sitting area with not only a great Indian carving but also great views
•  ABC Wharf: from 1949
  was once part of the Anglo British Columbia (ABC) Packing Company and used to dry the nets which were: 1200 feet long and strung out inside the building- they also made here the nets it took a long time to make all the knots, today belongs to the Ngamgis First Nation and still used to store nets– and beside this falling apart wharf is another part of a wharf with no way to go there
•  The beautiful cute Anglican Christ Church is standing right there standing out between all the old houses
  Built in 1892, with the first service held on Christmas in 1892 in English and Kwakwala – it is a mix of First Nation and Scottish style

What’s so unique or special about this town?

• During the 1950s-1970s it was the unofficial capital of the North
• 1000 fishing boats were registered here
• Thousands of men and families flocked to Alert Bay every week for supplies, recreation and entertainment
• It even had a Chinatown, but also 4 churches, 2 shipyards and 2 theatres – who would think that when you walk along here today
• It had the wildest night life of the North island – stories say that fisherman coming in after a week fishing spending thousands dollars in a single night in a bar
• Because the taxi couldn’t keep up they bought a party bus to go from bar to bar all night long
• And it is listed in the Guinness world record book in the 1960s for the most cars per miles of road: they had 6.4 km paved road on the island but 132 private cars, 10 taxis and an ambulance

 At the end of the road
We then decided to drive to the end of the road and discovered even more of the old town:

• Another old British bus
• A wonderful green spot to enjoy the view over to the main island – including a cozy chair to sit it             
• We found a house lifted up in the air
• we thought about if the Orca Inn may could be a good investment, since it looks cool and is on sale
• We found a spot behind some shrubs with ocean view and no wind!!
•  We discovered the old shipyard from 1908
•  We found the old yellow hotel: the Nimpkish with a little balcony nearby: Gine says it’s great for coffee – Paul says it’s for partying and drinking :
  reading about the story of the town and the party bus… maybe Paul is right) – originally built on Ngamgis first Nation land in 1920 the owners were denied a license to operate a beer parlous and hotel because they were on first nation land – so they relocated the building by barge to its current location so they could obtain a licence
•  We saw the old Methodist church from 1913

 The historic Burial Ground
And now another highlight: the historic burial ground – the most amazing part is all you see are totem poles, newer colorful painted ones, older ones, broken ones… and if you look closely you can see all kind of Indian symbols of the families it belong too:

• eagle, wolves – and each one has a special meaning
• a very nice colorful one with 2 killer whales (from 2014)
• a guy with a giant halibut (1995) this one together with white Thunderbird & a man holding copper (1995) were placed here when the new road got opened in front of the burial ground and also in honor of the people buried underneath this road
• the Haida Raven (2008) to honor the 300 Haida who were quarantined to Bones Bay in 1862 and never made it home due to small pox
• you can see a pole with 4 warriors (2011)
• you find a pole figure broken off at the top from 1950, for a woman who lived to be over 100 years old: she commissioned the pole, but didn’t like the hat, so she didn’t pay for it and it lay for years on the beach until the locals raised it on her grave
• the huge thunderbird and Dzununkwa is from 1931 and still standing proud
• one tall one with a man holding a stick and a raven holding a copper: is interesting because it belonged to a high ranking chief from Prince Rupert Mungo Martin (1881-1962), he also trained a whole lot of younger artists as totem pole carvers, he was the first hosting a potlatch publically in 1953 after the prohibition period (from 1884-1952) ended. This was the first pole raised in Alert Bay for many years

And right near it a huge old building with an old gravestone in front from someone dying in 1903: and then you read the name Hudson and then you remember reading that Hudson was one of the first permanent settlers, his son built the shipyard and here was once the residents for the nurses and the original hospital.

 A cruise ship
And there it was, we discover a cruise ship coming by, it was really cool to see it going so close by

 Sun and Swiss people on the Campground
After we thought we saw nearly all, read all, learned all – it was time for a break and we decided to relax on the campground, that was when we met a Swiss couple who had trouble with their RV and we heard that they are continuing on to Bella Coola… wow in an RV!!

 Is it raining of what??
After a nice sleep we woke up and guess what: it is raining!! So that means we will leave the island… and after a coffee we went down to get the 2nd ferry of the day leaving at 12.35, lucky for us we were first in line and had still 2 hours to wait, that gave us enough time to walk along the streets of the town, around the harbour, where we discovered if you want to see really old boats: then you should come here.

 Halakas’la - Good Bye Alert Bay
And then the first nation carving says good bye “Halaskas’la to us, that’s when we discover that even the ferry has a first nations painting on it. And when leaving, that’s when we see so much more about this unique town and island. It was great to be here!