Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Kwiakah and Tla’amin First Nations are now recognized in Strathcona Regional District (SRD) territorial acknowledgements. The SRD added their names in response to strong requests from both nations. A series of motions to this effect were passed at the July 19 SRD Board meeting, in Campbell River.

Most of the Kwiakah’s 21 members now live in Campbell River, where their band office is located.

On June 2 Frank Voelker, Band Manager of the Kwiakah Firts Nation, wrote the SRD, “Together the Kwiakah, Wei Wai Kum and We Wai Kai form the Ligwilda’xw Nation. We are the smallest member Nation, and we are too often forgotten. Kwiakah’s core territory stretches from Phillips Arm (Matsayno Indian Reserve #5 and other former Kwiakah village sites in the Inlet) into parts of Bute Inlet and also includes treaty-selected lands on the southern part of Stuart Island.”

“In the spirit of fairness and accuracy, our community strongly recommends that Kwiakah be represented in the SRD First Nations Territiorial Acknowledgement (verbal and written form) and any other regional documents concerning Electorial Area C.”

At the SRD Board’s July 19th meeting, Regional Director’s Mark Vonesch of Cortes Island (Area B) Robyn Mawhinney of Area C moved that “the verbal territorial acknowledgements for Sonora Island, Stuart Island, Bute Inlet and Toba Inlet, in Electoral Area C, be amended to read as follows: ‘I would like to acknowledge that we are on the unceded traditional territories of the Homalco and Kwiakah First Nations.’”

The motion passed, with no opposition.

At their inaugural meeting, on January 25 of this year, the SRD’s First Nation’s Committee expressed hesitations about including the Tla’amin Nation in SRD territorial acknowledgements.

This elecited a strong response from Hegus (Chief) John Hackett, who wrote, “Electoral Areas B, C, and D of the Strathcona Regional District all encompass areas included in the Tla’amin Area, as outlined and recognized in Appendix A of the Tla’amin Treaty. The Tla’amin Treaty is a constitutionally protected agreement under Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. The Treaty does not extinguish Tla’amin’s existence to these lands, it reinforces them. As you may know, there is a parcel of Tla’amin treaty land on Cortes Island, which Tla’amin has full jurisdiction over. This parcel is well within the boundaries of the SRD. Tla’amin has occupied our territory, which now includes boundaries of the SRD, since time immemorial.”

“Refusing to acknowledge Tla’amin’s millennia-long relationship to the land that SRD now represents in an example of colonial erasure of Indigenous peoples.”

The SRD Board responded on July 19.

Director Mawhinney moved “that the Tla’amin First Nation be added to the verbal and written territorial acknowledgement for Electoral Area B, and that the territorial acknowledgements for Electoral Area C and D be revisited following further consultation motion.”

Director Vonesch seconded the motion, which passed.

This led to a motion to include both the Kwiakah and Tla’amin First Nations in the SRD acknowledgement

Director Mawhinney: “That the written territorial acknowledgement for the regional district be amended to read as follows, ‘the Strathcona Regional District respectfully acknowledges that our corporate office and the Strathcona Gardens Recreation Complex are located on the traditional unceded territory of the Laichwiltach people.”

“We also recognize that we operate within the traditional, treaty and unceded territories of the Ehattesaht, Homalco, Ka:'yu:'k't'h'/Che:k't1es7et'h', Klahoose, K'omoks, Kwiakah, Mowachaht/Muchalaht, Nuchatlaht, Tlowitsis, Tla'amin We Wai Kai and Wei Wai Kum First Nations.”

Regional Director Gerald Whalley seconded the motion, which carried.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - On July 21, Manda Aufochs Gillespie welcomed Cortes Island songwriter/guirtarist Rick Bockner for the fourth in a series of Friday Market Live Music shows under the big tent in the Village Commons.

Rick began playing guitar at age 7 and was fortunate to be given his first lessons by Pete Seeger, a family friend. Rick was part of the influential San Francisco band Mad River from 1967-69, before moving to B.C. and settling in the Kootenays.

   

Rick toured as a solo act from 1992 to 2020 in Europe, the UK, and Canada. He has released 5 albums in that period under his Harby Dar Music label, and taught at music camps and festivals.  In more recent years Rick was a co-founder (with Rex Weyler) of Love Fest- a music celebration on Cortes held every August. He continues to play and teach at a more leisurely pace these days.

Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 and Mondays at 6:30 p.m./Wednesday at 6 a.m. @CKTZ89.5FM or livestreamed at cortesradio.ca. Find repeats anytime at www.folku.ca/podcasts.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie? Folk U - On Friday July 14, Manda Aufochs Gillespie welcomed Sun Rob for the third in a series of Live Music concerts under the big tent in the Village Commons.

Sun Rob is an introspective artist whose craft delves into illuminating

the unspoken parts of the psyche through archetypical metaphors and channeled mantras. We are all made of stardust, and Sun Rob strives to remind us of our divine nature through his music. Just as the Sun shares its radiance with the world below, Rob aims to illuminate the inner landscape of the mind through shared experiences and insights.

Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 and Mondays at 6:30 p.m./Wednesday at 6 a.m. @CKTZ89.5FM or livestreamed at cortesradio.ca. Find repeats anytime at www.folku.ca/podcasts.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board awarded Rewilding Water & Earth Inc. the contract to manage a Beaver Coexistence Project on Cortes and Quadra Islands. 


The first phase is purely informational. 


“Beavers are the ultimate wetland managers, and they're on it all the time. They're checking their dams every day. For us humans to be able to not only co exist, but partner with wildlife like beaver will be a huge benefit to us as we see the climate changing and as we're trying to adapt to and be more resilient to climate change,” explained Miranda Cross of Rewilding Water and Earth. 


There has been an ongoing human/beaver conflict at the beaver maintained wetland near the entrance to Kw’as Park, on Quais Bay Road, Cortes Island. 


MC: “The beavers continue to block the culvert that goes under Quais Bay Road. It carries water from the wetland to the lake. When beavers block that culvert, the road ends up being flooded. That's a risk to the residents there, it blocks their egress and impacts their safety. Also, that road  is one of the main water supplies for the fire department. If that road was to wash out or become flooded, the fire department wouldn't have one of their main supply intakes available in the event of an emergency. When that culvert gets blocked, the highways department comes with some equipment and removes the debris.” 

“This is an ongoing cycle. Every time the beavers build a dam and they're blocking the culvert, they use what's available: sticks and  deep, dark, rich, organic wetland soil, which we know is full of nutrients, including phosphorus, which contributes to algal blooms. Every time the culvert is unplugged, a flush of sediments is released toward the lake. There's nothing else in between the lake and that culvert. It just goes straight into the lake.” 

“I'm interested  in this site particularly  because of my involvement in the Dillon Creek wetland project, which was implemented to mitigate nutrient inputs into the lake that were causing algal blooms.”

“We've identified this as a point source of nutrients, and there are some really low tech, low cost solutions available to us in terms of beaver coexistence. Pond levellers that can help regulate the height of the dams and exclusion fencing to keep the culverts from being blocked.”

“I was just at a 'Working with Beavers' symposium in Edmonton, where they're spearheading these kinds of projects in Canada. We had the opportunity to go visit Elk Island National Park where they have something like 400 active  beaver lodges, a ton of beaver activity, and they have road networks and culverts. So we got to visit some of the culverts they're using these techniques on.” 

"Nothing is 100% maintenance free, but there's a growing body of research and evidence to show that there's dramatic cost savings once these techniques are used. A few times a year, one person on foot  can  take pictures and make sure it's functioning. They might have to move a couple sticks, but it's a lot less maintenance and so savings for taxpayers, as well as increased safety and lower risk for flooding and for road washouts." 

“I've never actually installed one of these structures, so part of the project is to bring a beaver coexistence specialist, who's an expert in these strategies, to Cortes to provide us with some guidance and recommendations.”

This project is one of the smaller components of a $1.1 million Disaster Risk Reduction/Climate Adaptation grant awarded to the SRD.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - This started out as a story about the incredible blueberry harvest in the midst of this year’s drought. 


One of the seniors picking at Sunnybrae Farm gave Cortes Currents the tip, which Mike Manson subsequently confirmed.


“We are seeing what we think might be the biggest crop ever. In terms of pounds per bush, and the fruit is ripening differently. It's ripening in a more condensed manner, which is good for picking. The big crop is probably due to favourable conditions for pollination in the spring. Whether or not that had anything to do with dry weather, I'm not sure. Maybe the bees were glad it wasn't raining and cold and wet, but certainly pollination was key, without that you don't get a crop. For whatever reason, conditions were favourable for bees to be flying and doing their job,” he said.


“We've never seen a dry year start so early.  This year, the dryness started mid May. I remember May 13th was 30 degrees Celsius.  I think  the early heat this year has affected  the way the fruit has ripened. I haven't seen it ripen in this fashion before.” 

However, there are three blueberry farms on Cortes island and, as I was soon to learn, they are in different micro-climates.


Linnaea Farm was also having a good year but, according to Tamarra McPhail, conditions there are not the same as in Mansons Landing. 


They were even more different a mere 10 kilometres to the west at ‘Nanagumps Berry Farm and Guest House’ in Whaletown, where the crop wasn’t especially good this year.  


Everyone agreed that there wasn't much money to be made growing berries.  Their motivation was passion. 


Donna Behn said, “This is what gives us a reason to get up in the morning.”


She and her husband Tom are supposedly ‘retired,’ and have been running the farm and a guesthouse for 13 years.

The name Nanagumps is a combination of what their grandchildren called them, ‘Nana’ and ‘Gumps.’

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Cortes Island’s own Jemma Hicken just released her first major album, ‘Get it Together.’ Cortes Currents interviewed her shortly before that.


“I love performing and  I love playing music by myself too, but it does feel special to come back to Cortes and be able to perform on Cortes because it's really where it started for me,” she said.


"Home is definitely Cortes. I was just telling somebody the other day, that there's a beach access down at the bottom of Hayes Road. I grew up on Potlatch, so that was the closest beach access to my house. There's this big rock at the bottom of the beach access. It's a rock that you can climb on, sit on, and I went down there alot. My parents also got married at that rock. I spent a lot of time at that one big rock, and if I was to pinpoint the centre of my universe, that would be it."


CC: Tell us about the album.


JH: “I’m so excited! It came out on July 21st and It's been a long time coming. I've had so many songs that have been backlogged. There's been a whole host of things in the way. I didn't have the time or space to do the recording, but finally I bit the bullet this year and contacted Corwin Fox in Cumberland. He has a studio called Hidden Well.”


“We did all of the recordings in April. It was a pretty fast process, just a couple of months from start to finish. It was really amazing. I went in twice over the course of maybe six or seven days and recorded all of my parts.”


“Corwin  recorded, mixed, mastered, and produced the album. He's been adding instruments to the songs over the next couple of months after that. It's been really exciting to get to hear them with new textures and layers coming to life in the studio. So he's a huge part of it and I'm really excited to release it. It's gonna be fun.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) have not found any European Green Crabs in Manson's lagoon and so far there've been no sightings north of Nanaimo.

“We haven't found any, that’s really good news, but we've been very pleased to partner with DFO. Hopefully, if we ever find them, we'll be able to track them out and stop them from harming the valuable habitat here.”

34 explained Helen Hall, executive director of FOCI.

“We got contacted by the Department of Fisheries and Ocean last year. They wanted to come onto the island as part of a project they're doing with a lot of communities up and down the coast, to try and find out whether green crabs are spreading in this area. We set traps in Manson's Lagoon twice last year, and very luckily we didn't find any.”

“This year DFO came back and said this is a project they want to keep doing. They bring all the traps over, we trapped last month and we didn't find any.”

“It's a brilliant learning exercise for our summer student, 58 Manuel Perdisa and we have two volunteers, Penny and Claude, who have helped us on other projects.”

“This week the three of them went out with Patty Menning from DFO. They're setting two types of traps, a large prawn trap and smaller minnow traps. 12 traps were set in Manson's Lagoon on one day and the next day we go back . They get the traps out of the water, empty them into a plastic container which has water in them. We found lots and lots of graceful crabs. We're actually measuring those crabs as a recording exercise, but we also found some other interesting species, then we release everything back into the lagoon. We keep all those records and the data's going back to DFO..

“We haven't found any, that’s really good news, but we've been very pleased to partner with DFO. Hopefully, if we ever find them, we'll be able to track them out and stop them from harming the valuable habitat here.

According to Renny Talbot,  Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator for Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), there have not been any sightings north of Nanaimo in the Salish Sea area.

CC: Where are you looking for European Green Crabs in my broadcast area?

Renny Talbot: “We’re looking on Cortes Island and Quadra Island, as well as the Fanny Bay area and Comox. We've set up with local stewardship groups and with our First Nations partners, early detection monitoring programs in those locations.”

CC: Who is your partner on Quadra?

Renny Talbot: “We have a representative, Patty Menning, who's working with the We Wai Kai First Nation.”

CC: What about Campbell River?

Renny Talbot: “We don't have a site in Campbell River right now. We have done opportunistic trapping in that location, but we didn't have a really good site to set up long term monitoring.”

“Our early detection monitoring program: it's once a month and it runs from from April to to October. They do a 24 hour soak. We're looking for European Green Crab, but it's also creating a baseline of those intertidal crab, fish and things like that we're catching. So that if if there is an invasion, we can really understand the ecological impact that's occurring.”

“We are lucky that there's some quasi barriers, with the Juan de Fuca as well as with the Johnson Strait, which have limited the the entry of European green Creb larva into the Salish Sea.”

“The larvae need greater than 10 degrees Celsius to survive.”

Roy L hales/ Cortes Currents - On Wednesday, July 19, the Cortes Island Museum offered visitors a rare opportunity to see some of the clothing and accessories from its collections.


The event was organized by Lily Allen, this summer’s intern, who was inspired by the dress that Margaret Smith wore when she married John Manson in the late 1890’s.


“I remember seeing the dress in the Pioneer Room when I was growing up. It was such a distinct memory in my childhood on the island, that I thought it'd be really interesting to bring it out and have people actually see it (and not just see the photo),” she explained.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - According to the BC Government, more than 18% of the light duty passenger vehicles sold in the province last year were EVS. There has been a sixfold increase in the number of annual registrations since 2016 and there are currently more than 100,000 EVS on the roads. Some of them are in remote communities like Cortes Island. As the prospect of a transition to electric vehicles becomes more likely, some are asking if this is really a viable option.

Last week Clean Energy Canada, a think tank based in Simon Fraser University, responded with media brief addressing common myths about electric vehicles. Rachel Doren, Director of Policy and Strategy at Clean Energy Canada, subsequently agreed to an Q & A interview. 

Cortes Currents asked her:


1. Some people are claiming there isn’t enough lithium and other metals on the planet to support a transition to battery electric vehicles. Is this true?

2. How long can we expect an electric vehicle to last?

3. Is there any truth to the idea that, once you factor in where their electricity comes from, EV’s produce more emissions than gas cars?

4. For years I have been hearing that EVs are just too expensive.

5. What about the idea that EVs just don't have enough range?

6. There’ve been concerns that the grid can not handle the extra demand that would come with a switch to EVs.

7. There used to be a lot of talk about using parked EVs as a backup energy source for the grid. What's happening with this idea?

8. Which is more of a fire risk, an EV or a gas car?

9. Some people believe that EVs can not handle Canada's weather.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Southern Cortes Community Association (SCCA) estimate 500 people may have turned out for Cortes Day on Saturday, July 15, 2023.

Mike Manson, whose great uncle and grandfather were among the island’s first known European settler, remembers there were once two festivals.

“I was pretty young, probably eight or nine. Historically, it was called ‘the barbecue’ and it was held in July. In August, at Manson’s Spit, they had what they called ‘the fiesta.’ My recollection is they were similar events, they both had food. I think there were games at the barbecue. I don’t remember games at the fiesta, it was more food.”

On July 1, 1954, the SCCA held a ‘picnic’ which cleared $78.50 after expenses. The club’s minutes state that a carton of cigarettes, 20ibs of sugar and 10ibs of coffee were given out as prizes.

The name ‘Cortes Day’ may have made its historical debut in connection to a picnic held the following year. One of the photographs in the Cortes Island Museum archives A shows a group of people watching the log bucking contest at ‘Cortes Island Day’ in July 1955.

Cortes Day used to be run by the SCCA and WCC, who shared costs and revenues. This was discontinued sometime prior to the WCC Board meeting of April 20, 1971, when the SCCA offered to reactivate the old arrangement. The two clubs appear to have joined forces that year because the remainder of the meeting was largely taken up by preparations, but this was not a lasting partnership.

The WCC continued to take part in later festivals, but not as organizers. The Cortes Day most of us know is organized by the SCCA, ‘with much collaboration from the community, vendors and other organizations.’

Cortes Currents asked a few of the older community members for their memories of Cortes Days past and was immediately directed to Bruce Ellingsen. He shared some memories from the 1950s.