17 May - Rainy and Port Hardy

We'd planned to take a ferry across from Port McNeill to Alert Bay, but decided against it as the rain was too much and not a lot available at this time on the island to do. 

We did drive into Port Hardy - one of the most northern towns on Vancouver Island. The tide was out in the bay so we were able to wander far from the shoreline over the orange and green coloured species of seaweed. Dave was looking for birds to photograph. The shore was covered with shells - mostly white ones with a few smaller violet ones added in.

After watching the birdlife and wandering the shore, we went back into the town. 

We checked out the small museum, but it felt like it has seen better days. Mary Lou's work for a history department has given her an appreciation for efforts to preserve symbols of the stories from the past, but this space didn't offer as many explanations as would have been helpful. One interesting (?) spot was where there was a notice posted that a set of Indigenous artefacts, including masks, needed more background and the museum needed funds to support the research to find out more of their origins. It was supported by an appeal to some of the calls to action from the TRC focused on museums. It was kind of pathetic though ... why even display the items if they had unknown origins. At this time in our history, we should be aware of the illicit gathering of such items that occurred and perhaps not even show them until they can be either repatriated or displayed properly in context.

One cool thing we found out later is that the building in which the museum sits is under the library which was built by friends of ours from long ago - who we intend to reconnect with in a few days at their home in Sidney. In the late 1980s we shared a townhouse wall with Karen and Tunc Erdem and their kids. It will be amazing to see them again after all these years.

We ate lunch at Cafe Guido a cool spot that turned out to be quite busy. There was even a small and thoughtfully stocked independent bookstore at the back of the place.

In search of better places to birdwatch - despite the rain - we tried to find the Quatse River Estuary. This was another spot where a community has worked to restore a natural environment that was destroyed.  A berm road was built years ago to facilitate industry, but was broken open in 2021 so that the estuary could re-form as the fresh and salt waters mix re-creating a space rich with animal and plant species.

Google maps was not very  helpful and we had all but given up when we saw a sign on the road that guided us to the "Port Hardy Estuary." There were several pairs of Canada Geese and many ravens in the area with a few eagles circling high above -- in this regenerated area where the tide was coming in. 

We see a lot of ravens here in BC. We are reminded that animal characters are important to Indigenous understanding of the world we live in. Below is a summary of what some of the communities in this area believe about ravens:

Countless stories recount Raven’s role in shaping the world and teaching lessons about morality. The Haida tell stories of how Raven discovered and freed the first men who had been trapped in a clam shell. He then freed the first women from another shell and brought the men and the women together. He also stole salmon and deposited them in the rivers all along the coast to provide food for the people. Another story explains that he played a significant role in transforming the world by first stealing, then placing the sun, the moon, and the stars in the sky.

In First Nations mythology of the Northwest Coast, Raven has two sides. On one hand he is creative, intelligent and adventurous. On the other hand he can be extremely self serving and mischievous.

From Cedar Hill Long House.