Both a Discovery Island and a Gulf Island, it is the second largest island. Most people live on the southern half, most of the north is Crown land.
Loggers and miners arrived in the 1880s with the Lucky Jim Mine opening in 1903 and producing gold and copper.
Hourly ten-minute ferry.
Camping: We Wai Kai Campground, Heriot Bay Inn RV Park.
www.quadraisland.ca; www.quadrarec.bc.ca
Cape Mudge Lighthouse
Fenced, can’t be visited. Trails around lighthouse and village scenic.
CAPE MUDGE VILLAGE
The We Wai Kai First Nation have lived at Cape Mudge since the early 1800s when they overcame and replaced the orthern Cosast Salis people who had established a large village there.
The territory of the Kwa’Kwa’Ka’ Wa’Kw Nation includes territory between a line running from Cape Mudge, Quadra Island to the mouth of Bute Inlet northward to Smith Inlet and around Vancouver Island to Quatsino Sound.
It was near present day Cape Mudge village that the first contact was made between European explorers charting the British Columbia coast and local First Nations. In 1792 Captain George Vancouver landed at the village of Tsa-Kwa-Luten which at that time was inhabited by Coast Salish people. Shortly after, in the 1840s the Salish left the village and the Laichwiltach took over the desirable site at the edge of rich salmon fishing grounds and overlooking the Georgia Strait.
Today the Laichwiltach are a prosperous people involved with several major concerns in nearby Campbell River and on Quadra Island. The ancient village site that Captain Vancouver landed two hundred years ago is now the location of a full service resort Tsa-Kwa-Luten Lodge & RV Park.
NUYUMBALEES CULTURAL CENTRE
In 1884, the federal government introduced the Anti-Potlatch laws, designed to assimilate and acculturate Canada’s First Nations populations. The Potlatch was one of the most important ceremonies for coastal First Nations. It marked important occasions and served a crucial role in the organization and social structure of our communities. Determined to maintain the cultural traditions and languages that had sustained our peoples since time immemorial, the ceremony moved underground, far from the watchful eyes of the local Indian agent.
In 1921, a large Potlatch on Village Island resulted in the arrest of 45 people, of whom 22 were imprisoned, their ceremonial goods confiscated. Many refused to relinquish their way of life and some spent months incarcerated for failing to abide. Others, in an effort to save their Chiefs and nobility from being prosecuted and jailed, reluctantly relinquished their cultural treasures. In 1951, the law banning the potlatch was rescinded but it was too late for the many confiscated pieces that had made their way into museums and private collections around the world.
In 1975, the Hereditary and Elected Chiefs of the Kwakwak’wakw peoples founded the Nuyumbalees Society to negotiate the return of their Potlatch Collection and Regalia, collectively know as Kikasuw. The fifteen Chiefs involved selected Cape Mudge as the location for the building of this new facility, a condition for the return of the pieces. In February 1979, one-hundred and four pieces out of the thousands of of Kwakwa’wakw Kikasuw confiscated, were returned. In June of the same year, Nuyumbalees Cultural Centre opened its doors determined to facilitate a revitalization of the Kwakwaka’wakw language and culture.
Today, the Centre welcomes thousands of visitors each year who come to learn the Potlatch story. Language classes attract participants of all ages and cultural programming helps develop greater cultural capacity in the community.
PETROGLYPHS OF QUADRA ISLAND
Nearly one-hundred carved boulders at thirteen different sites have been located on Quadra Island. Extensive research focused on ninety individual rock features, situated at eleven sites with references connecting the boulders to each other and their settings. Forty-four petroglyphs have spirit figures depicted on them. Forty-six have pits only and four of these are generous bowls ground into the tops of boulders.
The petroglyphs generally dated to 2,500 – 3,500 years before present. Rock carvings are significant cultural landmarks that are protected by law. The public may not take rubbings; however, photographing is permitted. There are casts available at the Cultural Centre should you wish to take a souvenir rubbing home.
Nuyumbalees has seven petroglyphs on site, including the some showcased in photos on the right side of your screen. These were brought to the Village in 1972 to protect them from erosion on the beach and from vandals. They are outstanding examples by virtue of their deep carving and large figures. The best time to view the petroglyphs is in low morning light or late evening when the shadows fill the pits and grooves.
For more information on the petroglyphs, be sure to visit the Gift Gallery for a copy of the Petroglyphs of Quadra Island, by local anthropologist and expert, Joy Inglis.
MARKETS
Quadra Island Farmers’ Market. All year round local farmers, bakers, craftspeople and musicians every Saturday from May until September in Quathiaski Cove. From October until April the market moves indoors for the Winter Market at the Quadra Island Community Centre. For more information on the Quadra Markets email: quadramarket@gmail.com
Local Food Market. On the first Saturday of each month at the Quuadra Island Legion in Heriot Bay.
Quadra Island Studio Tour. Held annually in early June but many of the studios and galleries remain open throughout the summer and some year round. Visit the Quadra Island Artists web site for more information including dates and opening times.
Quadra Island Salmon Enhancement Society’s Salmon Eco Centre An interesting blend of natural history and education is the. The centre houses informative displays on the natural environment of Quadra Island and the west coast with an emphasis on the lifecycle and habitat of salmon. Visit the eco-centre’s web site for more details and opening times.
Rebecca Spit Provincial Park is a stunning sweep of beach that juts out into the Salish Sea protecting a warm and sheltered bay while offering views of the Coast Mountains and the outer Discovery Islands;
Surge Narrows is a narrow tidal channel where the ocean water moves so quickly it boils and swirls like a whitewater river, a hiking trail leads out to an amazing view point check local tide tables to find out the best times to see the rapids.
HIKING on QUADRA
1. Chinese/Beech’s Mountain. 5kms, 7kms if combined with Beech’s Mountain Trail. 2-3 hours to 4 hours. Good climb along ridges and rocky knolls with excellent views.
TH: Parking on road that goes left (west) off Hyacinthe Bay Road, 600m north of Walcan Road.
Trail: Take the South Chinese Mt Trail on the left SW side of the parking area. Head south and west. 35 minutes to junction of S Chinese Mt Tr with Beech’s Mt Trail. Do it first if doing both.
Beech’s Mt: Turn left to climb steadily to summit. 345m elevation gain. Return to junction and climb S Chinese Mt.
S Chinese Mt: 25 min, 3kms from parking lot to summit. Views Read, Cortes and mts on island.
N Chinese Mt (recommend to skip as views not great and route sketchy). Descend NW 1km to junction N summit trail, then 500kms or 20 min to summit.
Return parking lot from junction (1km).
2. Shellalligan Pass Trails. 2 loop trails through woods and along shore of Village Bay.
TH: Village Bay Rd 2.3kms east from Granite Bay Rd to Valdez Rd. Turn Rt (south) for 4kms to turn left and drive 1.5kms to parking area 1. Do one or both loops.