Seven Special Places on BC's Central Coast

A million people cruise past B.C.'s Central Coast every year. Few get to see it up close, discover its astonishing history, or meet the people whose forebears have occupied this rugged but fruitful landscape since the last glacial age.

Recently, The Tyee published a Tyee Solutions Society series exploring some of the special places on the coast seldom visited by outsiders. You can find all of these stories, including videos and timelines, here. And find seven highlights summarized below.

1) Namu Ghost Cannery: At its height, 3,500 people lived and worked there. Now only three people, all in their 60s, live year-round in the crumbling ruins of one of B.C.'s largest coastal fish-canning stations. Join one of them for a guided tour.

2) Simple but smart. For centuries, carefully laid stone traps allowed the First Nations of the Central Coast to harvest the salmon they needed to survive, while letting other fish escape to keep stocks flourishing. Visit one of these wonders of traditional engineering with Heiltsuk First Nation archeologist Elroy White.

3) Laboratory Island: Scientists find much to explore on the Central Coast, but have a hard time conducting research in its roadless, hard-to-reach archipelagos. For the lucky few, the Hakai Beach Institute provides a unique, privately funded base camp and research station. Join founder Eric Peterson for a tour of the one-of-kind facility and its leading-edge technology.

4) Layers of time: B.C.'s Central Coast may be one of the longest-settled places in North America. The peoples of the several First Nations living here now -- including the Heiltsuk, Wuikinuxv and Nuxalk -- claim a presence stretching back to the last ice age. Others came later. Trace some of the most important milestones of the last few centuries on this timeline.

5) Art of the knife. Join Wuikinuxv elder George Johnson for a rare visit to a master carver's workshop and home, and a glimpse inside his community's ceremonial "Big House" at Rivers Inlet.

6) Home for good. Forty years ago, social scientists excavating ancient graves removed scores of human remains from a site near Namu. Last year, the local Heiltsuk First Nation brought its ancestors' bones home. Join hereditary chief Harvey Humchitt for an account of the emotional repatriation.

7) Back to the future. Outsiders have come and gone from the Central Coast, riding the last century's booms and busts in fish canning, lumbering and pulp-making. Today, coastal First Nations are doing things a little differently. Visit a fish plant that's been brought back to life with a plan to bring a centuries-old approach to sustainable living into the 21st century.