The past two Septembers I have taken Quest University to Hartley Bay and into the Greatbear Rainforest for their ecology class. Led by instructor Nobi Suzuki, the ecology class focused on the incredible wildlife at that time of the year, the wild salmon runs, Humpback Whales and of course the search for the rare Spirit Bear. When you are in the Great Bear Rainforest you cannot separate the environment and the people and many of the students were captivated by culture of the Gitga'at people. My adopted community of Hartley Bay is an incredibly giving community and these unique classes experienced much more than what was written in a course description. Nobi approached me about coming up for a Culture and Tradition Class and I could not think of a better time than the month of May. At this time the coast comes alive and the Gitga’at people make their way down to their ancient fishing village, Kiel, to harvest some of their traditional foods like halibut and seaweed. So i met the group in Prince Rupert on the 16th for a 10 day sojourn down to Hartley Bay.
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| Feast in Cultural Center in Hartley Bay- Jen Dickie photo |
