Prince Rupert, Metlakatla, and Hartley Bay
Location of Prince Rupert
Location of Metlakatla First Nations
Location of Hartley Bay
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| The Hartley Bay Cultural Center |
In early 2009 Chris asked me if I would be interested in going to Prince Rupert with him to take pictures for this book. I thought it would be a unique opportunity to visit first nations coastal communities with someone who the native people knew, never mind the fact that I had never been to Prince Rupert, let alone been to places like Metlatakla or Hartley Bay. Just as many of us don’t know our neighbours well, it is perhaps a sign of our times or educational system that I don’t know much about our B.C. coast or our first nations communities in it. I thought I would be foolish not to go.
Having popped a half dimenhydrinate tab, and driving Chris’s car to the airport to avoid carsickness, we met Bob Needham at Vancouver’s domestic terminal, and took our Air Canada Jazz flight aboard a Dash 8. It was March 29, 2009 and our flight left at 8:00 am. Where was starbucks?
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| The view looking west on the way to Prince Rupert. Yes, we were flying somewhat inland. |
The weather was unusually clear so we were even able to see Mt. Waddington on the flight up. We landed on Gill Island and took the free bus over to Prince Rupert, itself on another island. We were met by Betty Ciccone and her friend Susie Nelson who drove us to Betty’s home where we were to stay while in Prince Rupert. Chris had made use of his previous contacts with Betty and her husband Peter Loy and had arranged that we could stay with them. They were more than generous by allowing us to stay with them for that length of time. As we arrived at Betty’s house, we were met by Paul and Laurie Mercer from New Aiyansh, who had just arrived and we immediately started to learn about the Nisga'a First Nation. We sat around sipping tea and coffee and soon got invited to New Aiyansh to visit. As it turned out, the day we were to go and visit, fresh snow made driving there inadvisable. Perhaps another time. :-)
That evening Betty generously introduced us to herring roe on kelp as well as provided us with some wonderful smoked salmon. The herring roe, for me was going to have to be an acquired taste, but the smoked salmon was immediately wonderful, as always.
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| The view east from Metlakatla |
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| Aboard the Gordon Reid |
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| The way I remember it, the waves were bigger! |
The next day we took the “Tsimshian Warrior” to visit the Gitga’at people Hartley Bay. It was a large diesel powered speed boat. The weather was calm in Prince Rupert when we left early in the morning, but south of Port Edward the winds picked up and before long we had gale force winds and eight foot waves with white caps. Needless to say with my tendency for motion sickness I was looking forward to the run through Grenville Channel and more protected waters. The three and a half hour trip cost $45.00 each way.
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| Hartley Bay - a boardwalk community |
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| The view from the entrance of the cultural centre. |
After getting off the ferry, Danny took us to “The Bunk House” where we would spend the next four nights. It was a near new two story house complete with cooking facilities on each level. We hadn’t known exactly where we were going to stay, and Chris was used to not having to pay for his accommodation in native communities when he arrived by canoe. Danny mentioned that we would need to check in at the band office to see what it was going to cost us to stay at “The Bunk House”. Before Danny left us to get settled in he mentioned that there was going to be a pot luck dinner in our honour at the cultural center that night. We decided on our bedrooms and unpacked.
The pot luck dinner was in the lower level of the cultural center, called Waaps Wahmoodmx, and people brought a variety of dishes. Danny got up and introduced us and briefly described why we were there. Albert Clifton, hereditary chief of the Gitga'at got up and spoke to the group as well. I had a mixture of feelings. I felt like an outsider, but also felt welcomed. I felt like I had a responsibility to do more than just be there and take pictures. I felt like learning as much as I could in the short time available and to go away with lasting memories. Hopefully my photographs will be a reminder of that process. If I were able to create some good images, hopefully I would be, in some small way, honouring them. At least that’s what I hoped and hope to do.
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| At the fish hatchery. |
Walking down at the dock we could see thousands of small herring swimming around. No wonder the otters were around there as well.
One of the days we visited the home of the eldest of the elders. Margaret (Goolie) Reece graciously allowed us to us visit with her and take pictures. She had been in Chris’s canoe for a short ride when he was in Hartley Bay a few years ago. The last time she had been in a native canoe was when she was about ten or eleven!
We also enjoyed just walking about on the boardwalks, dodging the kids riding their small motorcycles playing “tag”. People walked on these boardwalks exclusively. Over a long period of time it must feel confining without being able to get out on the few trails that they have, or out on a boat.
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| Hartley Bay Harbour |
One afternoon we spent time with hereditary chief Albert Clifton aboard his fish boat which was tied up to the wharf, talking about a wide range of topics. It was good of him to spend time with us like that. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to learn a little of their way of life and some of the challenges they face in this fast changing world.
For our last night at Hartley Bay, we were invited to the home of Danny and Mona Dane for dinner. What a feast it was. Besides ham, potatoes and other delicious items, I had two varieties of cockles which was something I hadn’t had before. I thought it was crab at first, just looking into the pot. There was smoked salmon, halibut, and herring roe. We also enjoyed the company of their children, Mary, Neveah, and Wyatt.
It was most generous of Danny and his wife to treat us so. Before we left, Bob remembered about the oolichan grease that Danny had talked so proudly of and Bob asked if we might have some. Considering how much work it took to make it, I knew it was a valued commodity. Danny brought it out, along with some dried halibut. He broke off a section of dried halibut, and dipped it into a well used jar of the grease. You know, it was good! Dan had talked about what makes good grease and where the best came from. I think we had some good stuff!
On our last morning in Hartley Bay, Danny said we could take pictures in the cultural center so Bob and I took our cameras and tripods and spent a few hours taking pictures before the ferry back to Prince Rupert arrived. The center's name is Waaps Wahmoodmx, and it was built in 2002. It contains four family crests - the Orca, Wolf, Eagle, and Raven.
It was a privilege to have time like that to ourselves and be able to capture some of the character of the place. Hopefully we have done it justice.
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| Hartley Bay Cultural Centre |
The boat trip back was smooth, unlike the trip south. I stood on the open rear deck of the ferry as it left Hartley Bay and I felt sad leaving. I hadn’t expected to feel that way, but I did. I guess my experiences there meant more to me than I consciously realized.
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| Prince Rupert |
Betty had made a point of finding out when the ferry arrived in Prince Rupert and was at the dock to pick us up and take us back to her place. What a generous person!
That night we went down to the first nations friendship center. We had met Margaret and Ken Harris on the plane coming to Prince Rupert and Margaret had invited us to come and pay a visit there, so off we went.(Ken Harris had written a book in conjuction with UBC called "Visitors who never left") The group at the friendship center were working on some native costumes for a special occasion that was coming up. Besides wearing the clothing that they were creating, they were going to be performing a dance that they needed to practice. So up we all went to a larger room upstairs where they practiced their dance. We just didn’t realize that one of the dances required the audience to participate! So before we knew it, Chris, Bob, and I were up dancing as well! I was so glad we had made the effort to go there. It was another indication that in life unless you venture forth and try new experiences you never know what you are missing. They were a very friendly and welcoming group.
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| Museum of Northern B.C. |
The next day while Chris was doing a presentation to a couple of high school classes, Bob and I went to the Museum of Northern B.C. to take pictures. We were given permission to use our tripods and as there was hardly anybody else there, we were not in the road. We slowly worked our way into a north facing room with huge windows where I told one of the couple of other tourists how to find a restaurant over in Cow Bay, a small historical section of Prince Rupert. After they had left, Bob and I started taking pictures in the room. After a short while a museum worker, a middle aged lady, came in asking us to move our stuff out of the road so it wouldn’t interfere with others. She also wondered if we were professional photographers. We must have looked like we knew what we were doing! I asked if there was a group soon to arrive, as we were the only visitors to be seen. There wasn’t a group coming. She was quite uppity about Bob walking around in socks and I couldn’t understand her point about our bags, as they were on a bench where nobody could trip over them. Logical reasoning didn’t seem to be on the agenda. We moved our things.
On our last night, we took Betty and Peter out for dinner and had a very enjoyable time. They had really gone out of their way for us. They are very generous people. I hope I can return the favour in some way in the future. If nothing else, perhaps I can “pay it forward”.
Thanks to Bob Needham for many of the names and other details I have made use in this piece. Thanks for making the notes Bob. :-)
On our last night, we took Betty and Peter out for dinner and had a very enjoyable time. They had really gone out of their way for us. They are very generous people. I hope I can return the favour in some way in the future. If nothing else, perhaps I can “pay it forward”.
Thanks to Bob Needham for many of the names and other details I have made use in this piece. Thanks for making the notes Bob. :-)
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| Chris, Bob, Betty Ciccone, Peter Loy |
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