Discovery Pass & Alert Bay, BC
An early morning wake-up and we were quickly out on the decks with our coffee to behold the narrow entrance and swift currents of Discovery Pass so deftly maneuvered by Captain Vancouver’s sailing vessel of that name in 1792. That was long, long before the infamous navigational hazard Ripple Rock… aka “The Devil beneath the Sea” had been blown to bits in 1958 by the finest engineers in Canada.
Off in the distance along the log strewn beaches lining Johnstone Strait, sharp-eyed Lee spotted a black dot moving across the rocks. It quickly developed into a beautiful mother black bear and two frolicking cubs. These animals have recently departed their winter’s dens and are searching under and over the rocky intertidal for invertebrates, seaweeds and any other available food.
Cormorant Island is home to the First Nations town of Alert Bay where we were warmly welcomed for an afternoon of Kwak’wak’a’wakw traditional culture. Our first stop was the U’Mista Cultural Center which houses the repatriated Potlatch Collection. These exquisitely carved and decorated red cedar masks belong to the First Nations band that lived on nearby Village Island. In 1922, Chief Dan Cranmer’s December potlatch was raided by a local Indian Agent, all of the band’s regalia confiscated and sent to museums, and 20 tribal members spent time in prison for practicing the then outlawed potlatch traditions. Today, potlatch celebrations are held regularly in the community and joyfully shared with visitors. We witnessed the local children’s wonderful dance group in Alert Bay’s magnificent Big House and finished the afternoon with a delicious feast of barbequed sockeye salmon and bannock.
An early morning wake-up and we were quickly out on the decks with our coffee to behold the narrow entrance and swift currents of Discovery Pass so deftly maneuvered by Captain Vancouver’s sailing vessel of that name in 1792. That was long, long before the infamous navigational hazard Ripple Rock… aka “The Devil beneath the Sea” had been blown to bits in 1958 by the finest engineers in Canada.
Off in the distance along the log strewn beaches lining Johnstone Strait, sharp-eyed Lee spotted a black dot moving across the rocks. It quickly developed into a beautiful mother black bear and two frolicking cubs. These animals have recently departed their winter’s dens and are searching under and over the rocky intertidal for invertebrates, seaweeds and any other available food.
Cormorant Island is home to the First Nations town of Alert Bay where we were warmly welcomed for an afternoon of Kwak’wak’a’wakw traditional culture. Our first stop was the U’Mista Cultural Center which houses the repatriated Potlatch Collection. These exquisitely carved and decorated red cedar masks belong to the First Nations band that lived on nearby Village Island. In 1922, Chief Dan Cranmer’s December potlatch was raided by a local Indian Agent, all of the band’s regalia confiscated and sent to museums, and 20 tribal members spent time in prison for practicing the then outlawed potlatch traditions. Today, potlatch celebrations are held regularly in the community and joyfully shared with visitors. We witnessed the local children’s wonderful dance group in Alert Bay’s magnificent Big House and finished the afternoon with a delicious feast of barbequed sockeye salmon and bannock.
