Uchucklesaht Chief Councillor Charlie Cootes Sr. said his heart was filled with pride as he watched the Rush family perform three songs at Elhlateese, the tribe’s main village, on July 7. It was the first time in 60 years or so that a cultural ceremony was held in the remote community, he said.
The occasion was a celebration of the village’s new hybrid generation station and distribution system. The new diesel/battery station brings Elhlateese reliable, cost effective and safe power and opens the doors to many social and economic opportunities, explained Cootes.
The new system has two 100 kilowatt diesel generators (named Lucy and Ethel by a worker who helped install the station) that not only power the community but renew the energy stores of a bank of batteries as part of the state-of-the-art system.
Photos at: http://www.hashilthsa.com/gallery/powering-uchucklesaht-tribe-celebrates-new-power-generating-system
This battery power allows for the generators to be turned off during low load hours to reduce fuel consumption, emissions and noise. In the future, the generators could be used only as back up, as the community expands the system to include solar- and water-generated power. Uchucklesaht and BC Hydro are working to find a site to place a micro-hydro facility on the nearby river.
The new system also allows for the community to expand to three times its size, which is a goal of Uchucklesaht’s. Cootes and others have been dreaming of the day when Uchucklesaht citizens can return to their traditional territory to live. Plans for a new subdivision are in the works.
The power system was made possible through BC Hydro’s Remote Community Electrification Program.
Uchucklesaht is the third community in B.C. to upgrade under the program, but the first off grid First Nation community. The first civic community was Toad River in 2009, and then came the Southern St'at'imc in 2010.
These five First Nation communities north of Harrison Lake, already connected to the grid, were the first First Nations communities to make upgrades through the RCE program.
Uchucklesaht’s system went live on May 31 after about four months of work in the community.
Talks began in 2006 and other stakeholders, including Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC), were soon brought onside. AANDC contributed $1.6 million to improve the community’s infrastructure, part of Canada’s investment to stimulate economic growth and improve the quality of life on reserves.
With that money, a main road to the site of the generation station was widened and improved, new power poles, transformers and cables were installed which brings the power down into the village from the station, and home wiring was upgraded where needed.
The system is innovative and unique. It is the first containerized diesel battery hybrid generating station owned by BC Hydro, and is the first prime power station for a community that is unmanned, remotely controlled and monitored via satellite. Uchucklesaht is also the first remote community to receive smart meters.
The hybrid system was designed and built by EA Energy Alternatives. Company representative Kevin Pegg was on hand to provide tours.
Elhlateese is one of two Uchucklesaht communities located an hour by boat from Port Alberni. The day’s celebration began on the docks in that city where Uchucklesaht members, BC Hydro staff and representatives from the various other companies involved met to take the Francis Barkley down the Alberni Inlet to Kildonan. Some of the Uchucklesahts hadn’t been home in many, many years.
Participants disembarked at the band-owned Green Cove Store dock, and loaded into water taxis for the final leg of the journey to the Elhlateese dock. A long walk up the newly improved road to the generation station brought guest to the celebration site where a luncheon was provided.
The Rush Family sang a welcome song, then performed a song that was composed by Bill Howard, with words by Steve Rush. It was the first time the song was performed publicly, and Marie Samuel, who together with sister Beaulah Howard provided choreography for the dancers, was overjoyed that it premiered in the family’s home territory.
Called the Echo Song, it will be sung for the family’s potlatch Oct. 13 that will assert the seating of Ha’wilth Tom Rush.
Cootes told the Rush family that he was proud to be able to witness it. He said it was good to see the culture come back to the community, a goal that chief and council heard clearly stated by Uchucklesaht’s youth as part of the community’s healing journey.
The third song performed by the family was the Kleco song.
After the songs and an exchange of gifts, the guests mingled about to talk about home and reminisce. Ha-Shilth-Sa spoke with Dorothy Cootes, a resident of the village, who documented the changes that came to Elhlateese with the power station through photographs that were compiled in an album.
She said she was going to miss the old Elhlateese as the village powers into the future, but she also said she was going to miss all the workers that toiled on the project through sunshine, rain and snow.
She said it was good to see the village teeming with activity again.
