Aboriginal Experiences
Carving
The First Nations peoples of Port Hardy and northern Vancouver Island have resided here for at least 8,000 years, according to the findings of an archeological dig near the Bear Cove ferry dock.
The Fort Rupert band lands east of town past Storey Beach is home to the latest generations of Kwagu'l, or Kwakiutl, a band within the larger Kwakwaka'wakw nation. Experience First Nations culture touring Fort Rupert, at the Kwakiutl Art of the Copper Maker Gallery, and other Port Hardy galleries.
Touring Fort Rupert
Fort Rupert (or Tsaxis as it is known by the Kwakiutl) is definitely worth a visit to see its historic cemetery, the Big House, many totem poles, and colorfully decorated public buildings. Also hiding in the underbrush are a few last crumbling remnants of the fort erected by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1849, notably a stone chimney. Sandstone petroglyphs dating back to the 1860s can also be found (after careful searching) on the upper reaches of the oceanfront tidal zone.
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To reach Fort Rupert, take Byng Road (aka "the airport road") off Highway 19 and turn left at the Royal Canadian Legion onto Beaver Harbour Road. The first right is Tsak'is Way, which leads into the reserve. Just off-shore from here is Shell Island with its white beach of shell fragments.
Kwakiutl Art of the Copper Maker Gallery
The highlight of a drive through Fort Rupert is the Copper Maker Gallery - home base for internationally renowned carver Calvin Hunt and his apprentices. Hunt continues a time-honoured artistic tradition in a family line that includes his grandfather Mungo Martin, famed for his totems at Thunderbird Park adjacent to the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, and such contemporaries as his brother Stan C. Hunt and nephews Tom and Trevor Hunt.
The gallery (114 Cooper Way) carries a wide variety of work by Hunt, his mentor (and second cousin) Ross Hunt Sr. and former apprentice Mervyn Child. Masks, silk-screen prints, paddles, miniature canoes, and hand-engraved sterling silver jewellery are on sale here. Far more than a retail outlet, however, this is a working gallery. The smell of fresh cut western red cedar is in the air, blueprints sit on worktables and the friendly, approachable carvers themselves can usually be found hard at work on a new project in either the gallery or the canoe shed out back.
Port Hardy Galleries
Kwakiutl art is displayed and sold at a handful of galleries in downtown Port Hardy. The gift shop at the Port Hardy Museum and Archives (7110 Market Street) carries a selection of masks, drums, original paintings, prints, textiles, and carvings. Framed prints by local, regional and aboriginal artists are a specialty at Al Murray's Graphics West Gallery (7015 Market Street).
Swing by the Port Hardy Visitor Centre for more information about Aboriginal culture and history in the area.
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