U'Mista Cultural Centre | Pacific Northwest | Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic
Guests are welcomed to the U'Mista Cultural Centre by Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw dancers.
Video by David Pickar aboard the National Geographic Venture in Alert Bay, British Columbia.
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U'mista
U'mista means when something is returned to its rightful owner'. This collection is the Potlatch collection confiscated by the Canadian Authorities during the ban. It took 6 years of negotiations for their return. This culture goes back at least 10,000 years.
If you are interested in learning more about how you can incorporate an Aboriginal art and culture experience into your visit to British Columbia, please visit:
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U'mista Cultural Center Alert Bay: Indianische Ritual-Masken – Mike singt im Hintergrund (2016)
Im U'mista Cultural Center von Alert Bay. Mike Willie erzählt, erklärt und demonstriert. Und, noch viel besser: er singt! Ja, Mike ist ein begnadeter Sänger – gern gesehen auf allen Potlatches der Umgebung und vielen anderen kulturellen Ereignissen. Es ist ihm ein besonderes Anliegen, das Liedgut der lokalen First Nations am Leben zu erhalten. Heute hatte er allerdings, glaube ich, gar nicht vor, uns ein Ständchen zu bringen. Doch ein anderer indianischer Guide, der auch mit einer eigenen Besuchergruppe hier ist, hat Mike erkannt und ihn an die Trommel gebeten. Praktischerweise befindet sich ja mitten in der einem typischen Longhouse nachempfundenen großen Halle ein massiver Zedernstamm - er dient als Trommel.
Alert Bay BC Tribal Center Dancing
05 Welcome to Alert Bay, British Columbia
We visit various places in Alert Bay, starting on the Reserve side of Cormorant Island. Included are the U'mista center, world's tallest Totem pole and the Big House
ALERT BAY, BC | Visiting the World's Tallest Totem Pole on Cormorant Island
Come join us as we continue our Vancouver Island road trip adventures by taking a day trip to Alert Bay, BC to visit the world's biggest totem pole on Cormorant Island.
In today’s video, we continue our road trip across Vancouver Island, this time ditching the car and hopping on a ferry. Our destination: Alert Bay on Cormorant Island to explore the town, see totem poles and learn about the Namgis First Nation. So come along and let’s kick off this adventure!
We arrived in Port McNeill and were able to book tickets for the ferry right on the spot! It was the end of the tourist season, plus it was also a rainy day, so there weren’t too many day-trippers. Now as a travel tip: there are 6 sailings a day from Port McNeill to Alert Bay.
After visiting the Namgis Original Burial Grounds, we walked back across town and over to the Umista Cultural Centre. It’s impossible to get lost because you’re basically just following the boardwalk along the waterfront the whole way.
The Umista Cultural Centre operates as a museum and a cultural education facility in Alert Bay. It was founded in 1980 as a project to house potlatch artefacts which had been confiscated by the Canadian government during a period of cultural repression in the 1920s, but first, we need to explain the potlatch.
Potlatch means to give, and for the Kwakwaka’wakw peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, the richest and most powerful person was the one who gave away the most. The potlatch is a gift-giving feast held on the occasion of births, deaths, adoptions, weddings, and other major life events.
Today the Umista Cultural Centre houses many of the repatriated artefacts and ceremonial regalia associated with the potlatch. It was the return of these items that gave the centre its name since U'mista's means 'the return of something important’.
No filming or photography is allowed in the hall that houses the potlatch items, but trust us, this is the one place you have to visit if you come to Alert Bay.
Another site we couldn’t miss is the biggest totem pole in the world! The totem stands 173 feet tall and is located directly in front of the Big House, where visitors can watch traditional dances and performances on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays during the months of July and August. We weren’t there at the right time of year, but if you are, you can contact the U'mista Cultural Centre for details on attending.
And that’s pretty much a wrap for our day trip to Alert Bay. It was a short visit, but with a few more hours and better weather, you could plan to do some hiking and explore the town a bit more thoroughly.
A special thanks to our partner TROVER for making this trip possible.
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ALERT BAY, BC | Visiting the World's Tallest Totem Pole on Cormorant Island:
Come join us for an epic road trip to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada where we partner with Trover to cover the island from the south all the way up to the north.
Our trip to Vancouver Island starts off with a flight from Toronto to Vancouver, followed by the shortest flight of our lives from Vancouver to Victoria.
Our journey then continues to Gold River, Sam's hometown, where we board the Uchuck III en route to Friendly Cove. We also go to nearby Campbell River where we walk along a beautiful fishing dock, tour a hatchery and come across a black bear, and hike in Elk Falls which was our favourite hike on this entire journey.
Heading to northern Vancouver Island, we base ourselves in Port Alice and visit the nearby towns of Port McNeill, Port Hardy and Telegraph Cove. For separate day trips, we take the ferry to Malcolm Island where we visit the former Finnish Community of Sointula and take another ferry to Alert Bay where we have the opportunity to appreciate First Nations totem poles, artwork and museums.
If you are thinking of doing a Canada road trip, Vancouver Island should be at the top of your list. For more information and tips on all the places we visited on Vancouver Island, you can check out this Trover list:
Music We Use:
Opening at U'mista//Eröffnung in Umista 21-4-11
The Power of Giving. Gifts at the Saxon Rulers' Court in Dresden and The Kwakwaka'wakw Big House. U'mista Cultural Society and Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. Dance Performance: T'sasala Dance Group. Movie: Claus Deimel. SKD
Potlach and Totem raising in Wuikinuxv
Farewell Dance with the Kwakwa-ka-wakw
U'mista Cultural Centre, Alert Bay, Vancouver Island
Kwak̓wala Buildings and places in Alert Bay, BC 2019
Episode 3.5: Getting to the Broughtons
Join us we head through rough waters in the Johnstone Strait, see a whale in Blackfish Sound, catch rockfish on Hanson Island, and go to U'Mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay. No music on this one, but more explanation of what our days underway look like, including navigating the islands and managing seasickness.
Umista - The Power of Giving
Created to support the Power of Giving, an exchange in with a German Museum and U'mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay, BC. This was part of a contract to provide media relations support. It was a great success, as you will see. CTV used elements of this video in their coverage of the show which was there for the entire summer. It was an historic event. Shot and Edited by Gerry Reimer. Produced and directed by Phil Saunders.
Alert Bay Home of the Killer Whale Yalis Kwakwaka'wakw
proudly presents Yalis, the Cultural Centre of the Kwakwaka'wakw. Highlighting the U'mista Cultural Museum, the Big House, Master Carvers, as well as totem poles in the 'Namgis burial grounds, plusgator gardens, an ecological reserve. Also Christ Church built in 1879, the 360 Kayak Race around Alert Bay at the Alert Bay SeaFest and Music Festival in July. Master Carvers include Bruce Alfred, Wayne Alfred and Beau Dick. Masks, bent wood boxes and jewellery. Orca, Harold Alfred
Potlatch 67-67: True Reconciliation In Canada
Hereditary Chief Rob Everson shares his thoughts about true reconciliation in Canada.
Chief Robert Joseph - Part 1: Culture and Ancestry
Simon Fraser University's Centre for Dialogue presents part one in a series of videos about Chief Robert Joseph. In this interview, Chief Joseph discusses his childhood memories of Kwakwaka'wakw culture and explains why understanding the context of culture and ancestry is critical in the present day.
Chief Joseph is the recipient of SFU's 2014 Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue, for a lifetime of outstanding achievements promoting reconciliation among Canada's Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples.
More information about the award: sfu.ca/dialogue
Related videos include:
Chief Robert Joseph - Tribute Video
Chief Robert Joseph - Part 1: Culture and Ancestry
Chief Robert Joseph - Part 2: Residential School Experience
Chief Robert Joseph - Part 3: Reconciliation
Chief Robert Joseph - What is Dialogue?
Video Credits:
Produced by SFU Creative Services and Simon Fraser University's Centre for Dialogue. Some photographs contributed by:
- Royal BC Museum, photo, Hegums
- Halliday, Wm., photo, Village at Alert Bay, Vancouver Public Library 9885
- Reconciliation Canada, photo, Shelley Joseph dancing with a thunderbird mask and secret society regalia
- Halliday, Wm., photo, Potlatch at Alert Bay, Vancouver Public Library 8664
- Paull, Albert, photo, Men with potlatch bowls, masks, talking sticks and button blankets at Kingcome Inlet, Vancouver Public Library 1706
- Canada's World, photo, U'mista cultural centre, Alert Bay, BC. CC BY-NC 2.0: flickr.com/photos/canadasworld/2803068889/
- Reconciliation Canada, photo, Thunderbird mask
- A. Davey, photo, Funerary Totem with Chief and Thunderbird. CC BY 2.0:
- U'mista Cultural Society, photo, Willie Seweed next to Thunderbird Totem Pole
- U'mista Cultural Society, photo, Bighouse in Alert Bay
ALERT BAY BCCanoe Journey
2014
Alert Bay BC
Canoe Journey
Potlatch 67-67: A Discussion With Elders
Potlatch 67-67 is humbled and honoured to have three Elders sharing their knowledge and their cultural teachings of the Potlatch with us and the greater community. Elder Mary Everson nee Frank, “Uma’galis”, is Kwakwaka’wakw, K’omoks and Tlingit, and comes from the K’omok First Nation. Elder Dr. Evelyn Voyageur is from Kingcome Inlet from the Tawataineuk First Nation and currently resides on the traditional territory of the K’omoks First Nation. Chief Wedlidi Speck is a member of the Namgis First Nation in Alert Bay and his cultural connections are with the Kwakwaka’wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth and Island K’omoks. In carrying forward with a clear vision, these three culture keepers have shared their knowledge and experiences in order to help educate fellow Canadians on the impacts of the Potlatch Ban.