June 6, 2009 - Alert Bay

Saturday, June 6 - Alert Bay

We got up on time, took a shower, packed up our tent trailer, and moved southeastwardly along the coast to the new town (for us) of Port McNeill. The forecast was for cloudy weather all day but by the time we were set up at the new campground and ready to do things the weather had changed and the sun was shining again. We planned to take the 2:20 pm ferry to the aboriginal community of Alert Bay on Cormorant Island and the 5:50 pm ferry back. Well things did not work out that way at all. When we got off the ferry we asked a local where we could find the Native Cultural Centre (the museum). He directed us to it but also mentioned we should go and visit the “Big House” as there was a youth conference going on there and it would be open because of it. Normally the Big House is not open for public viewing.

The Cultural Centre was very interesting. One of the greatest traditional social events for the Kwaguitl tribes of this area was the “potlatch” in which a family would host a week-long celebration and during that time give away immense wealth to their tribemates, thereby leaving themselves impoverished but having gained tremendous social status in the community. The missionaries despised these events because they kept native beliefs alive as well, and kept many aboriginals from converting to Christianity. The government was subsequently persuaded to make potlatches illegal as a result. The Alert Bay tribe continued the practice regardless and were subsequently charged with breaking the law. All the items distributed at the potlatch were confiscated and sent to the National Museum in Ottawa and some participants were jailed for a time. After many requests by the tribe in later years to have these artefacts returned, the National Museum finally relented and did return them to the Alert Bay community in the 1970s on the condition that a museum be built to allow the public to see them. The Cultural Centre is the result and has a wonderful collection of authentic native dance masks and many other items.

After we visited the cultural centre we looked in on some aboriginal carvers who were in the process of making a cedar casket painted with traditional designs for an aunt who had passed away the day before, and whose funeral would be the next day. One of the carvers was the same person whom we had asked for directions at the ferry and he again told us to go up to see the Big House. We decided to take is advice and walk up there. It was located in the highest part of the village beside the world`s tallest totem pole (which was completed at that moment by a live bald eagle sitting atop it). When we got there we walked in and were immensely impressed by the interior of the building. It is a big square room with a dirt floor in the middle, in the center of which was a fire pit with an active cedar log fire burning. The roof above the fire pit was vented and the sun was shining in through these ‘windows’. The sunlight shone obliquely on one of the `bleachers` to the side of the interior, and illuminated the smoke such that it looked like a beam of light coming down from a First Nations Heaven. The dirt floor was surround by such bleachers on 3 sides and the ‘front side’ was a stage-like area.

We sat down on the bleachers and started to enjoy the hustle and bustle of what was going on. There were people there of all ages. Eventually supper was announced and there was a call for volunteers to serve dinner to the elders, who, following native custom, are the first to be served a meal. Many young people jumped up and started serving the elders before the rest of the crowd got to eat. And yes, Leo and I are now officially Elders as we were served a plate of food as well: smoked salmon, half a crab, potato salad and a ceasar salad. I was served first and Leo is convinced that he was only included because he was accompanying an elder and was not seen as an elder himself, but there are other opinions on that subject. We certainly did not expect to be included in these festivities but we were told by some ‘elders’ that we would be very welcome to take part. We even got a raffle ticket for the door prizes: that is how much we were welcomed as part of their community. We thoroughly enjoyed our Big House visit and I hope you will as well by looking at the pictures Leo took of this event. We finally took the last ferry off the island back to our campground in the town of Port McNeill at 9:00, rather than the planned 5:50 ferry..