Chief Webber (Kyodi) of Kingcome First Nation

BC Archives d-05075

This photograph reportedly came to the BC Archives as a part of a collection of logging photos, presumably collected by someone working in the Forest Industry. Notes from the archives tell that this is a photo of Kyodi (Chief Webber) in 1959, seated in front of his house in Kingcome Village with three men wearing traditional regalia. During this period the number of Indigenous people in BC actively practicing their traditional culture had been greatly reduced due to sickness, residential schools, and Indian Act laws which prohibited gatherings related to potlatching.

Air photos of early logging in the Nimpkish Valley

The North Island historical photograph of the week shows a Fairchild FC2W aircraft in flight over Camp No. 8 in the south end of the Nimpkish Lake area in 1934. The photo shows a radial style of logging radiating out along the valley. The FC2W was a single engine airplane designed for aerial surveys.

BC Archives i-689259-141

Hansen Lagoon

In the late 1800s and early 1900s settlers at Cape Scott tried to tame the wild landscape to cultivate crops and graze cattle. Rather than clearing the dense old growth forest, some settlers build massive dykes along the Fisherman River and Hansen Lagoon (1905). These dykes stopped the sea from inundating a swampy area and took advantage of rich organic soils. Unfortunately a promised railway to Cape Scott never materialized, and farmers found it difficult to sell their crops, beef and milk due to transportation challenges. The dykes also required constant upkeep to hold back the sea, and although the road and dyke system can still be seen at Cape Scott, it has largely reverted back to a grassy wilderness.

BC Archives a-09985_141