Inside Passage, British Columbia
Dawn finds us sailing along northern Vancouver Island, down Johnstone Strait towards Seattle. We pull into the dock at Alert Bay on Cormorant Island and bus or walk the mile to the U’mista Cultural Center of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation. The Cultural Center is built of huge red cedar logs in the traditional northwest coast style. We watch a moving video documenting how the Canadian Government outlawed the Potlatch, the most important social gathering of natives on the coast, in 1884, to the lasting detriment of the natives. Thanks to the hard work of the elders a cultural revival has occurred in recent years. Nothing has been more important than the return of cultural objects confiscated by the Federal government. In particular, historic ceremonial masks of real and mythical creatures now form the basis for artists to study and to carve new masks for dances in the Big House. Our guide provided an eloquent commentary of the severe pain the natives passed through decades ago by loosing so much of what made them Kwakwaka’wakw. Reviving the culture including the unwritten language is a major challenge now joined by those of all ages.
We walk the short distance, past the tallest totem pole in the world, to the Big House. In this building occur all the political, social and environmental discussions and events of the year. A fire burning on the earthen floor lights the massive beams around the smoke hole and the sturdy beautifully carved posts that hold up the house. We are treated to authentic dances that represent real and mythical stories from the past. Some of the dancers are only 6 years old. In the final dance we all join in around the fire. As we leave we are offered juicy salmon and banok bread.
Sea Lion has traveled only a short distance after lunch when we come across a pod of killer whales. Finding ourselves in company with six other whale watching boats, we realize we are not in the wilderness any more. Nonetheless, the killer whales are still the essence of wildness and we enjoy them for more than an hour before setting off for the south.
Dawn finds us sailing along northern Vancouver Island, down Johnstone Strait towards Seattle. We pull into the dock at Alert Bay on Cormorant Island and bus or walk the mile to the U’mista Cultural Center of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation. The Cultural Center is built of huge red cedar logs in the traditional northwest coast style. We watch a moving video documenting how the Canadian Government outlawed the Potlatch, the most important social gathering of natives on the coast, in 1884, to the lasting detriment of the natives. Thanks to the hard work of the elders a cultural revival has occurred in recent years. Nothing has been more important than the return of cultural objects confiscated by the Federal government. In particular, historic ceremonial masks of real and mythical creatures now form the basis for artists to study and to carve new masks for dances in the Big House. Our guide provided an eloquent commentary of the severe pain the natives passed through decades ago by loosing so much of what made them Kwakwaka’wakw. Reviving the culture including the unwritten language is a major challenge now joined by those of all ages.
We walk the short distance, past the tallest totem pole in the world, to the Big House. In this building occur all the political, social and environmental discussions and events of the year. A fire burning on the earthen floor lights the massive beams around the smoke hole and the sturdy beautifully carved posts that hold up the house. We are treated to authentic dances that represent real and mythical stories from the past. Some of the dancers are only 6 years old. In the final dance we all join in around the fire. As we leave we are offered juicy salmon and banok bread.
Sea Lion has traveled only a short distance after lunch when we come across a pod of killer whales. Finding ourselves in company with six other whale watching boats, we realize we are not in the wilderness any more. Nonetheless, the killer whales are still the essence of wildness and we enjoy them for more than an hour before setting off for the south.
