Orange painted rocks line the main stretch of road in the heart of Huu-ay-aht First Nation (HFN) territory like memorials for every child that didn’t make it home.
HFN was a population of 2,800 in the late 1700s, but by 1881 the nation was decimated by a smallpox epidemic and colonization; parents were forced to send their children to Indian residential schools, it became illegal for HFN to sell fish and the Indian Act imposed rules that made it illegal to host cultural ceremonies like potlatches.
Despite a long history of adversity, HFN’s resurgence was plain to see on at Huu-ay-aht Days 2024, Aug. 16 to 18, at the paradisical Pachena Bay Campground located on the west coast of Vancouver Island within the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.
“You could hear the kids laughing,” said Marlene Mickey, a HFN grandma of 18.
Mickey journeyed from Victoria to camp on her traditional territory with her family for the special weekend.
“Last year, there weren’t this many people. We used to be able to park our car beside our tent, but this year the cars are all on the side. The kids are having fun,” she said.
“The road improvements definitely opened up our little community to the rest of the world,” adds Qiic Qiica, a cultural interpreter for Kiixin Tours (HFN’s ancient village site) and speaker for the nation. “This is probably our biggest Huu-ay-aht Days event we’ve ever had, and I think that’s because of the road access.”
After decades of lobbying and many traffic fatalities, the resurfacing of the 77-kilometre Bamfield Main road that connects the HFN village of Anacla to Port Alberni was completed in October 2023 to allow for safer passage.
Event organizer Kimmie MacDonald told the Ha-Shilth-Sa that going forward, Huu-ay-aht Days will always be on the third Friday, Saturday and Sunday of August.
“We’re keeping it at a set date, so people have a year in advance to prepare to be here next year. We had 190 registrants and 122 registered to camp,” said MacDonald. “One HFN couple travelled from Reno (Nevada) and another travelled from Tacoma (Washington).”
For the first-time, HFN rented bouncy castles from Campbell River and a dunk dank to raise money for the youth gathering Pow Wow in Utah. For five bucks, participants had three chances to dunk a community leader, including: HFN Group of Businesses CEO Patrick Schmidt, RCMP Const. James Wingfield, Parks Canada First Nations Manager Tammy Dorward and HFN Chief Councillor John Jack.
“I put him last so people would stick around,” MacDonald chuckled.
Born in Port Alberni, elders Theresa Peters and Jane Peters moved to Anacla in the early ‘70s when HFN began to rebuild their traditional summer village site after a magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck off the coast, causing a tsunami on Jan. 26, 1700.
The sisters, who are kixƛaaqa or beachkeepers, joined the Huu-ay-aht Days celebration for lunch and opening prayers at the House of Huu-ay-aht on Friday and wandered down to the campground to take part in the afternoon activities.
“We’ve welcomed so many (to Pachena Bay) we’ve lost count,” said the Peters sisters.
After a hearty pancake breakfast on Saturday morning, HFN citizens took part in canoe rides and learned some traditional paddling chants.
“For the future, I’d like to see more cultural tourism or eco-tourism. There is a lot of opportunity there,” said Qiic Qiica from the bank of the Pachena River.
