We rented this 2009 VW Beetle to do some exploring by land.
This is a historical picture of the Hudson Bay Company's Fort Rupert built 1849. It served as a trading post as well as a base for workers in the nearby coal mines. Kwakiutl First Nation's people had inhabited this area for over 9,000 years.
Fort Rupert was destroyed by fire in 1890.
This chimney is all that remains of the fort today.
The present area of Fort Rupert village was the site of an enormous bank of clam shells called a "Midden" , two miles long, half a mile wide and fifty feet high. The shells were the last vestiges of enormous feasts held here for generations and they came to play a part in local history in World War II when they were used to level the airport nearby. Today, there is no such evidence of a Midden just a few scattered clam shells. Middens are now considered archaeological sites protected under British Columbia law, and may not be disturbed.
We located the site of the ancient petroglyphs carved into sandstone by the Kwakiutl.
There many mystical faces carved in the rock.
No one is really sure of the meaning of the carvings and one can only speculate that this might be a ceremonial figure.
The carvings could represent spiritual figures.
Perhaps they could represent the dead from the world beyond.
There are moon and sun like shapes.
Some appear to skeleton heads.
The high tide covers the petroglyphs therefore they are only visible at low tide.
In the small village there is an historic cemetery.
This remarkable "Big House" is the center of the community.
The Elementary School is decorated with traditional impressions of eagles, a frog, a bear and a happy child's face.
1 comment:
The school in your picture is actually Kwigwis Daycare. I have heard that some of the figures on the petroglyphs are of halibut.
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