I could nearly feel the drums beating as the National Geographic Sea Bird steamed out the fog and into view of the quaint First Nations village of Alert Bay. Tempted by the goods Europeans brought to the area in the late 1800s, the Namgis’ band moved from Woss Lake on Vancouver Island to Alert Bay across the channel on Cormorant Island. Today we witnessed the pride and resurgence of an ancient culture carved from the land and sea that supports it. Dancers whirled; singers and drummers invited us to enjoy a glimpse into the potlatch ceremony, a look at the powerful way this matrilineal culture of the Northwest Coast still orders their lives. A swirl of supernatural beings danced in the traditional way and specially prepared bannock and salmon brought us deeply into the center of Kwakwaka’wakw culture.
The weather dance must have chased the fog down Johnstone Strait as we emerged from the cloud bank into sun and up ahead—a long line of Pacific white-sided dolphins! How lucky can you get? After a wild breathtaking photo-making hour with at least 500 of these amazing leaping joyful beings, we continued down the strait toward our meeting with slack water in Seymour Narrows.
Great looks at killer whales were the next incredible surprise encounter—this group of about eight whales were very likely resident or fish-eating animals; they are matrilineal like the humans of the Northwest Coast. Killer whales are revered as special and sometimes supernatural beings so perhaps the similarities among these First Nations are not too unexpected. Both groups rely on the yearly migration of salmon.
As we travel south into more populated, structured and less wild places, may some of the magic of the Northwest Coast travel home with each of you.
