July 15th
through 17th Cultural detour
another post that will have to wait for good wifi for photos!
We leave Spout Islet
anchorage and head on into Port McNeil fuel dock to top off the tanks and
cans. Then it is a quick motor across
the upper end of Queen Charlotte Strait to the small village of Sointula on
Malcom Island. We stay two nights,
moored at the Sointula marina. A few
helpful people help us tie up as the wind is up and we are quickly pushed off
of the dock. Safely moored and after a
round of “thank you so much” we enjoy the evening hanging out at the burger
shack overlooking the marina. Showers
were a welcome amenity.
The next day we walk to
the ferry dock and embark on our tourist trip.
The ferry runs from Sointula to Port McNeil to Alert Bay. It is free if you walk on in Sointula and
stay on until Alert Bay. Our side trip
is so that we can explore Alert Bay and take in the U’mista Cultural
Centre.
While walking the mile or
so to the Centre we visit with a few people.
The proprietress at the small artisan’s gallery tells us she is third
generation; her granddad owned the building from the 1930’s and her dad helped
her create the gallery area so she and her sisters can display their
wares. Silver jewelry, clothing and art
work are excellent. Further down the
seaside walk we are admiring one of the five small gathering platforms, “awakwas,”
that overlook the bay. An elder stops
and explains to us that each chief of the five clans of the Namgis First Nation
peoples have an awakwas. He is one of
the chiefs and his is the awakwas by the Centre. He gathers all the other chiefs into his
awakwas before a potlatch and they ‘yak.’
The Centre is very well
done with exceptional artifacts. Many of
these are masks and coppers that were confiscated during the ban on potlach
ceremonies. Fortunately many have been
returned to the Namgis and are on display in Alert Bay and Yaculta. The Centre subtly yet effectively, tells the
story of the hardship of forced residential schools and of the celebration of
the demolition of that school building near the Centre. It also highlights the affect of the ban and
the reinstatement of legitimacy of the potlach ceremony.
After the Centre we use
the guided walk brochure to find the numerous totem poles and the burial
grounds. We have an excellent lunch at “A
Place in Thyme,” then it is back on the ferry for our return to Sointula. We have just enough time to visit the co-op,
opened by the Finnish at the turn of the century to serve their ‘utopia.’ Another very friendly small town. Alas, the bakery has just closed but we do
find a nice dark beer at the Whale Rub Pub.
The unmistakable Irish bar tender chats with us about our trip to Ireland
and offers us a chocolate porter or a Guinness.
We opt for the porter.
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