Tent Island

Tent Island lies within the traditional territory of the Penelakut First Nation on Canada's West Coast. These folks were here long before colonists arrived in this area fewer than 200 years ago.

Access to the area is "by invitation only," since much of the uninhabited island is used by nearby residents of Kuper Island as a traditional foraging ground.

After living within sight of the island for nearly ten years, I finally got to see a good chunk of the territory during a search and rescue exercise. In many ways the place is much like it's always been, at least since the end of the last ice age. There remain many large arbutus and fir trees throughout the island, and the coast alternates between towering sandstone caverns and white shell beaches. The area's traditional peoples still harvest the island's seasonal bounty of salal berries, fir sap wild mushrooms, seaweed, oysters and clams.

During this evening's circumnavigation of the island, my team came across evidence of a midden, an area used as a trash heap for leftovers of the harvest. Some of these "shell pits" can be several feet deep, reflecting their use as traditional kitchens and gathering areas through the centuries.