Takush Village

Ta'kush Village 1899

Within the traditional homelands of the Gwa'sala people in Smith Inlet, Takush Harbour or T'akus was a main village site. Relatively isolated from European culture, the Indigenous peoples of this area retained many of their traditional ways well into the 1900s.

Ta'kush Village approx. 1900

At this time logging and fishing brought non-Indigenous people into this remote area, along with canneries and logging camps. Schools and churches were constructed. The following photo, undated, shows the United Church mission school at Takush.

United Church Mission School - Takush

Big House in T'sadzis'nukwaame village (New Vancouver)

This past photo of the week in the North Island Eagle newspaper was taken in 1900 by Charles F. Newcombe, who was a botanist and ethnographer who captured many images of First Nations life in photographs of coastal B.C. This image depicts the inside of a big house in "Kwakwaka'wakw Village of T'sadzis'nukwaame'," also known as New Vancouver. Emily Carr produced a painting of the interior of the same big house in 1912-13, entitled "Indian House Interior with Totems," which can be viewed on the Vancouver Art Gallery's website.

Logging in Holberg

This photo, taken in 1946, shows two loggers cutting down a large spruce tree in the Holberg area. At the time it was common for loggers to use a series of 'spring boards,' which were notched into the tree, to stand on while making their cuts. Ideally they cut the tree just above the thick butt area. Interestingly this photo was preserved by the BC Ministry of Travel in the BC Archives. Within the traditional territory of the Quatsino First Nation, the community of Holberg was first established in 1895 by a group of utopian Danish settlers, but eventually became a major centre for logging, and then home to a military base.

Port Alice RCMP boat - 1960

Taken in 1960, this photo shows the Port Alice RCMP vessel. During this period there was not the network of logging roads around Quatsino Sound which exists today, and this RCMP boat would have provided policing services to many communities around the sound. This vessel was build by Star Shipyards (Mercer's) in New Westminster, BC.