RCAF Stn. Coal Harbour Boxing Match

In 1940 the Canadian Air Force began construction of RCAF Stn. Coal Harbour. Its purpose was to serve as a base for small sea planes that would fly reconnaissance missions out over the Pacific to look for enemy naval ships or submarines during World War II. In 1941 four officers and seventy six men were assigned to the unit. During the war one of the pastimes the crew enjoyed was a good boxing match. The unit was disbanded in August 1945 and later became a whaling station.

"Boxing match in no. 1 hangar, Royal Canadian Air Force Station Coal Harbour, British Columbia, May 15, 1942" Department of National Defense, National Archives of Canada Reference: MIKAN 3525183

Shushartie Bay

For many years Shushartie Bay was an important hub of economic activity on the North Island. Prior to the establishment of a trading port at Fort Rupert by the Hudsons Bay Company trading vessels would often anchor at Shushartie to trade. 

In the early 1900s the Skinner family opened a store in the Bay.  A salmon cannery was built in 1914 by the Goletas Fish Company, during World War I. It was eventually taken over by Western Packers Ltd, and then the Canadian Fisheries Company, and operated until 1928. When the cannery closed, much of its equipment was moved to Bones Bay.

The store operated and the area was a steamship stop servicing some of the more northern island inhabitants until the 1940s. 

 

Shushartie Bay 1944 (BC Archives I-20517) 

Illustration of "Skinner's Store" by Lindley Crease 1937 (BC Archives PDP07459)

West Huson's House & Store, Alert Bay circa 1870s

West Huson's house and store on the Alert Bay waterfront, circa 1870s.
Alden Wesley Huson was born in New York in 1832. He is believed to have come to BC in the 1850s and by the 1870s was a partner in the salmon saltery and a store in Alert Bay. He died in Alert Bay in 1911, and the Huson Lake, which is a part of the Nimpkish watershed, is named after him.

Alert Bay Waterfront 1880s

This photo is an early picture of the Alert Bay settlement on Cormorant Island in the 1880s. In the mid 1870s a fish saltery was opened on the island and many Indigenous peoples from the surrounding area, specifically those from the 'Namgis Nation, built houses at Alert Bay. At this time the population of the village of Whulk on the banks of the Nimpkish River declined as many residents moved to Alert Bay for more steady year-round employment opportunities. 

Alert Bay waterfront 1880s

CPR steamer the Tees in Quatsino Sound

Canadian Pacific Railway steamer the Tees, entering Quatsino Sound in the early 1900s.

For most of the last 150 years, the main method of transport around the Northern Vancouver Island was by ship. The Canadian Pacific Railway's fleet of steamers were a lifeline and a highway for coastal communities.
Built in 1893 in England, the steamer Tees was first used to transport gold prospectors back and forth to Alaska. In 1903 she was reassigned to the West Coast of Vancouver Island, a route which she plied until 1913 when she was replaced by the Princess Maquinna.

"Dancing to Restore an Eclipsed Moon - Qagyiuhl"

Photo by Edward S. Curtis - 13 November 1914

This photograph is a part of the Edward S. Curtis collection. Taken in November 1914 it depicts a number of Kwakiutl men dancing in traditional clothing. The photo is captioned "Dancing to restore and eclipsed moon - Qagyiuhl." Curtis was an American ethnographer who took numerous photos as well as film of Indigenous people around North America.

The Douglas Treaties

In February of 1851 the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) was eager to establish a fort in Beaver Harbour for the purpose of mining coal. A couple of years earlier the HBC had leased Vancouver Island from Britain for the purpose of exploiting its natural resources. At the time, settlements were also being established at Fort Victoria and Fort Nanaimo.
At this time Richard Blanchard was governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island, and James Douglas was Chief Factor for the HBC, based at Fort Victoria. Douglas became the second governor of Vancouver Island later in 1851.
The HBC faced opposition from the Indigenous peoples of Vancouver Island, who challenged British and HBC authority and the right of the company to extract coal without their participation or consent.
Although the British government, or the Dominion of Canada, had signed treaties with many Indigenous groups across the Canada, treaties were not pursued by the government within most of what is now British Columbia.
In order to help smooth relations with local Indigenous groups, fourteen 'Douglas Treaties' were signed between 1850 and 1875, with First Nations in the areas surrounding Victoria, Nanaimo, and Fort Rupert.

BC Archives - MS-0772

In the treaty a First Nation "surrendered" a described territory, in this case the land from Hardy Bay to McNeill Bay, including those harbours, to become "the entire property of the white people for ever" in exchange for a monetary payment of 86 pounds sterling for the Quakeolth (today known as the Kwakiutl) and 64 pounds sterling for the Queackar. In exchange, the First Nations were promised the use of their village sites and enclosed fields, and the right "to hunt over the unoccupied lands, and to carry on our fisheries as formerly."
The documents themselves were written out by hand. Generally illiterate, most of the First Nations representatives who 'signed' the treaties did so by making their mark, an "X" on the document.
The interpretation of these Treaties has posed many challenges in a modern day context. Their significance, meaning, and interpretation with respect to the implications for resource management today have challenged federal, provincial, and First Nations governments.



Text of the two Fort Rupert Treaties is included below.
http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100029052/1100100029053#queackar
http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100029052/1100100029053#quakeolth
Article on the Douglas Treaties,
http://www.timescolonist.com/life/islander/lost-in-translation-the-douglas-treaties-1.10099656