Tag: Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw
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Pacific Northwest’s Sea Otter
To see a Pacific Northwest Sea Otter in natural surroundings is a thrill to many, and sightings are becoming increasingly common along the green shallow shores of British Columbia and North Vancouver Island. Even in Hardy Bay. With thick, velvet-like fur glistening in the sunlight, these lively mammals are a frolicking sight, gracefully drifting on…
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Reflection on Community and Culture
Recently Chris and I had the privilege of touring the newly built “Big House”… a significant and meaningful milestone in Port Hardy for two Nations, Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw people of Northern Vancouver Island.
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Nimpkish Valley Cave Exploration
Later I was to learn the names Michael and Linda Henwood are intricately woven not only into Island history, but also in the fabric of wild caving and karst conservation internationally. The combined efforts of Michael and other North Island cavers are the catalyst responsible for international attention transforming Port McNeill and the Nimpkish Valley’s…
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Arctic Conversations
A collection of stories barging on the Mackenzie River … a river that stretches more than 1,738 kilometres through the Northwest Territories from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean.
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The White Grizzly
We could never have imagined a day filled with a chance sighting of a white grizzly; a rare colour phenomenon that inspires awe and curiosity. Yet on this inspiring day we had the good fortune to encounter a magnificent white grizzly in a setting embraced by the fiords spectacular beauty, an event elevating our day…
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Canada’s Largest Sitka Spruce
An afternoon sun shone between fluffy clouds and reflected off the massive grey trunk of a giant Sitka Spruce, the warming rays illuminating the great tree’s salal, young conifers, fern, and moss-covered understory. The tranquil scene was alive with wildlife sounds the gentleness of a hidden brook, and the tap-tap-tap of a woodpecker, bore witness…
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A Coastal Rainforest Giant
The tree’s massive trunk is covered in thick gnarly brown bark… and stretches defiantly over 65 metres into a cloudless Vancouver Island morning. A broken top, a silent witness to the prosperity this ancient giant has afforded to surrounding conifers: a mix of maturing Red Cedar, Hemlock, and Sitka Spruce.
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The Marble Maria Monument
A search in Vancouver Island’s Nimpkish Valley for a stone and marble monument to Maria created by Italian pioneer Rufino Mancinelli. Know locally as the Marble Maria the shrine is a tale of romance and lost love. The stone memorial is about the size of a large woodshed, the work of Rufino (Manny) Mancinelli, an…
