NORTH ISLAND ISLAND
ADOBE STOCK
Get lost… Find adventure, rich culture on the North Island
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ancouver Island North is the first word and last stop in Western Canada for relaxed and spontaneous eco-adventure. It’s where you can witness whales, eagles and bears while discovering magical shorelines and inland wilderness areas. It’s where you can experience Kwakwaka’wakw First Nations traditions, art and living culture. Nature and First Nations culture abound in the wild, undiscovered reaches here. It is unspoiled and largely undiscovered, yet only a day’s travel from Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle. It offers a breathtaking palette of parks, forests, lakes, saltwater inlets and jigsaw-puzzle coastline. The region also stretches past the shores of Vancouver Island to include magnificent Knight Inlet and a swath of the Great Bear Rainforest on the mainland of British Columbia. Go fishing, kayaking, diving and surfing. On the land, try mountain biking, hiking, caving, skiing and hike pristine forests and beaches.
Alert Bay on Cormorant Island is internationally renowned for its storytelling, dance performances and the potlatch treasures housed inside the must-see U’mista Cultural Centre, considered one of Canada’s finest First Nations museums. The world’s tallest totem pole stands vigil outside the ‘Namgis Big House. Take a canoe trip or enjoy a salmon barbeque with First Nations guides. And visit an oceanfront graveyard filled with colorful memorial poles. Enjoy the colourful displays of traditional and contemporary artwork in many locations throughout the village – keep your eye out for a favourite piece to add to your personal collection. Fort Rupert on the southern outskirts of Port Hardy is home to the Kwakiutl First Nation. This friendly enclave by the sea is known for its public galleries where internationally renowned carvers create magnificent art from chunks of timber. Authentic art pieces, gifts and prints can be purchased here.
FASCINATING CULTURE Eight thousand years ago – a millennia after the last ice age and long before the first Egyptian pyramids were erected – Canada’s First Nations shared this wild coastal region with creatures on land and in the sea. After a long period of cultural repression, timeless ancient traditions are again thriving as the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nation preserves and celebrates their culture through art, dance, music, language and a sustainable day-to-day relationship with the natural world.
ARTISTS EVERYWHRE Creating arts and crafts in all imaginable disciplines is one productive way that North Islanders make use of their long winter nights. As a result, there is a remarkable range of work on display in galleries and home studios throughout the region. Masks, totems, rattles and exquisite carvings of animals and spirit creatures is a centuries-old tradition for the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nations, whose leading artisans are valued highly by collectors world wide.
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DISCOVER 2021
Visit with some of these remarkable artists in Fort Rupert and see their work in galleries and museums in Telegraph Cove, Port McNeill, Port Hardy, Sointula and Alert Bay. Community galleries, meanwhile, showcase the best of the rest of the North Island’s artistic population – painters, potters, sculptors, glassmakers and more. MADE FOR ADVENTURERS Vancouver Island North exerts a magnetic pull on adventurers seeking authentic tours and experiences in a spectacularly panoramic natural setting. The variety of things to do here is remarkably diverse, especially when exploring the outdoors by land, sea and, when floatplanes and flight-seeing trips are factored in, air as well. Vancouver Island North is a landscape that has remained virtually untouched for centuries. It represents an opportunity to disconnect and reconnect with nature again. For those that visit this rugged landscape, it’s about a journey of discovery, a journey to find adventure, tranquility or to submerse yourself in the ancient cultures. TERRIFIC TREKS Trails penetrate deep into the landscape, offering easy access to remote forests, beaches, streams and lakes. Walk among giants on pathways made spongy from decades of coniferous needles falling. Inhale the freshest ocean air, rich with sea-spray, along pristine shoreline.
