Alert Bay, British Columbia
| Village of Alert Bay 'ya̱lis |
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| — Village — | |
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| Coordinates: 50°34′57″N 126°55′31″W / 50.58250°N 126.92528°WCoordinates: 50°34′57″N 126°55′31″W / 50.58250°N 126.92528°W | |
| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  British Columbia |
| Region | Central Coast |
| Regional district | Mount Waddington |
| Incorporated | 1946 |
| Government | |
| • Governing body | Alert Bay Village Council |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.78 km2 (0.69 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 30 m (100 ft) |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Total | 556 |
| Time zone | PST (UTC-8) |
| Highways | ferry to Port McNeill and Sointula |
| Waterways | Johnstone Strait, Broughton Strait, Cormorant Channel |
| Website | Village of Alert Bay |
Alert Bay (Kwak'wala: 'ya̱lis [1]) is a village on Cormorant Island, British Columbia, Canada. According to the 2006 census, 556 people live within the village.[2]
Population
Slightly more than half of the village's 556 residents are First Nations people.[2] The village is in traditional Kwakwaka'wakw territory. Two Indian Reserves take up the rest of Cormorant Island, Alert Bay 1 on the east side of the island,[3]Alert Bay 1A on the west.[4]
Facilities and features
Alert Bay has a grocery store, a museum, a traditional 'big house', a hospital, an RCMP station, a drug store, a post office, a couple of restaurant and retail establishments, a BC liquor store, a Royal Canadian Legion, a pub, a drug and alcohol treatment centre, a credit union and an automated teller machine. The town is served by Alert Bay Airport, a public airport and the Alert Bay Water Aerodrome. There is a boat harbour and a BC Ferries terminal with service to Sointula and Port McNeill. There are also 2 campgrounds and an ecological park consisting of a cedar swamp and a small area of old-growth sitka spruce and coast hemlock forest.
There is one elementary school in Alert Bay for children in kindergarten and grades 1 to 7. Older students generally travel by water taxi to a school in nearby Port McNeill on Vancouver Island, along with students from Sointula on nearby Malcolm Island.
Alert Bay is also home to the world's tallest totem pole.[citation needed]
Potlatch ban
In 1921, the Government of Canada, in an effort to stop the potlatch custom of dance, song, and wealth distribution under Section 116 of the Indian Act, confiscated many items including wooden masks, copper shields, and dance regalia, some of which were later placed in the U’mista Cultural Centre in the village. During the 1970s and 80s, the native population regained their possessions after long negotiations. The artifacts housed in the cultural centre, as well as items stored in other museums, were given back to the village.[5]
Origin of the name
The settlement was named c.1860 after the Royal Navy ship HMS Alert, which conducted survey operations in the area.[6]
Climate
| Climate data for Alert Bay | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 13.9 (57) |
16.7 (62.1) |
18.7 (65.7) |
23.5 (74.3) |
35.2 (95.4) |
30.0 (86) |
29.4 (84.9) |
33.3 (91.9) |
27.9 (82.2) |
23.9 (75) |
17.8 (64) |
15.6 (60.1) |
35.2 (95.4) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 5.4 (41.7) |
6.8 (44.2) |
8.9 (48) |
11.3 (52.3) |
14.1 (57.4) |
15.7 (60.3) |
17.9 (64.2) |
18.2 (64.8) |
16.1 (61) |
11.9 (53.4) |
7.5 (45.5) |
5.6 (42.1) |
11.62 (52.91) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 1.5 (34.7) |
2.0 (35.6) |
2.6 (36.7) |
3.9 (39) |
6.1 (43) |
8.3 (46.9) |
10.0 (50) |
10.4 (50.7) |
8.4 (47.1) |
6.0 (42.8) |
3.3 (37.9) |
1.7 (35.1) |
5.35 (41.63) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −11.1 (12) |
−13.6 (7.5) |
−7.8 (18) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
0.0 (32) |
2.2 (36) |
1.1 (34) |
5.6 (42.1) |
1.1 (34) |
−3.9 (25) |
−12.6 (9.3) |
−13.3 (8.1) |
−13.6 (7.5) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 209.2 (8.236) |
147.7 (5.815) |
125.6 (4.945) |
94.5 (3.72) |
73.7 (2.902) |
81.0 (3.189) |
50.5 (1.988) |
65.4 (2.575) |
91.3 (3.594) |
191.4 (7.535) |
251.5 (9.902) |
209.6 (8.252) |
1,591.4 (62.653) |
| Source: Environment Canada[7] | |||||||||||||
Geology
Volcanic features in the geography around Alert Bay are part of the Alert Bay Volcanic Belt. It appears to have been active in Miocene and Pliocene times. No Holocene eruptions are known, and volcanic activity in the belt has likely ceased.
See also
↑Jump back a sectionReferences
- ^ "FirstVoices: Kwak̓wala. Nature / Environment - place names: words". Retrieved 2012-07-08.
- ^ a b "2006 Canadian Census". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
- ^ BC Names entry "Alert Bay 1 (Indian Reserve)"
- ^ BC Names entry "Alert Bay 1a (Indian Reserve)"
- ^ "Dancing around Alert Bay". Straight.com. Retrieved 2006-06-01.[dead link]
- ^ Walbran, John (1909). British Columbia Coast Names, 1592-1906: their origin and history. Ottawa.
- ^ Environment Canada—Canadian Climate Normals 1971–2000, accessed 12 April 2012
External links
- Background courtesy of Alert Bay Visitor Info Centre
- Village of Alert Bay
- Oceanview Cabins, Alert Bay, BC
- Alert Bay's Census Profile
- BBC World Service Documentary on Alert Bay
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