Alert Bay
| Alert Bay 'ya̱lis | |
|---|---|
| Village | |
| The Corporation of the Village of Alert Bay[1] | |
|
The big house near Alert Bay. | |
_location_map.svg.png)  Alert Bay Location within British Columbia | |
| 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 |
| • MP | John Duncan (Conservative) |
| • MLA | Claire Trevena (NDP) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.78 km2 (0.69 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 30 m (100 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 1,200-1,500 |
| • Density | 360/km2 (2,300/sq mi) |
| 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 [2] ) is a village on Cormorant Island, in the Regional District of Mount Waddington, British Columbia, Canada. 1,200-1,500 people live within the village.[3]
Population
More than half of the village's 1,200-1,500 residents are First Nations people.[3] 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,[4] Alert Bay 1A on the west.[5]
Facilities and features
Alert Bay has a grocery store, museums, a traditional 'big house', a hospital, an RCMP station, a drug store, a post office, three restaurants and retail gift shops, a BC liquor store, a Royal Canadian Legion, a pub, doctors' offices, dental clinic, a drug and alcohol treatment centre, Alert Bay Drugs has automated teller machine exterior of their building. also automated teller machine inside Bayside Pub. The town has an 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 is also one campground and an ecological park consisting of a cedar swamp and a small area of old-growth trees.
There is the Alert Bay Elementary School elementary school in Alert Bay for children in kindergarten and grades 1 to 7 and the T'lisalagi'lakw School (independent) owned and operated by the 'Namgis First Nation for children in Nursery, Kindergarten and grades 1 to 7. Grades 8 to 12 travel by foot ferrywater taxi to a school in nearby Port McNeill on Vancouver Island, along with students from Sointula on nearby Malcolm Island and others on North Island.
Alert Bay is also home to the world's tallest totem pole.
U’mista Cultural Centre
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. During the 1970s and 80s, the Kwakwaka'wakw regained their possessions after long negotiations. The returned artifacts are housed in a museum at the U’mista Cultural Centre.[6]
Origin of the name
The settlement was named c.1860 after the Royal Navy ship HMS Alert, which conducted survey operations in the area.[7] and HMS Cormorant.
Climate
| Climate data for Alert Bay | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high humidex | 13.6 | 16.1 | 19.5 | 23.3 | 38.9 | 30.6 | 35.0 | 35.1 | 29.5 | 31.8 | 18.3 | 14.4 | 38.9 |
| 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) | 6.1 (43) |
7.0 (44.6) |
9.6 (49.3) |
11.4 (52.5) |
14.3 (57.7) |
15.8 (60.4) |
18.0 (64.4) |
18.4 (65.1) |
16.0 (60.8) |
11.8 (53.2) |
7.4 (45.3) |
5.4 (41.7) |
11.8 (53.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 4.3 (39.7) |
4.6 (40.3) |
6.3 (43.3) |
7.7 (45.9) |
10.4 (50.7) |
12.2 (54) |
14.1 (57.4) |
14.4 (57.9) |
12.2 (54) |
9.0 (48.2) |
5.5 (41.9) |
3.6 (38.5) |
8.7 (47.7) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 2.4 (36.3) |
2.2 (36) |
3.0 (37.4) |
4.0 (39.2) |
6.4 (43.5) |
8.5 (47.3) |
10.2 (50.4) |
10.4 (50.7) |
8.3 (46.9) |
6.1 (43) |
3.5 (38.3) |
1.8 (35.2) |
5.6 (42.1) |
| 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) |
| Record low wind chill | −21.5 | −26.5 | −22.0 | −4.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | −9.2 | −24.8 | −23.0 | −26.5 |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 215.9 (8.5) |
149.9 (5.902) |
109.7 (4.319) |
103.4 (4.071) |
78.3 (3.083) |
79.1 (3.114) |
45.4 (1.787) |
62.3 (2.453) |
76.8 (3.024) |
209.9 (8.264) |
249.6 (9.827) |
193.3 (7.61) |
1,573.5 (61.949) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 210.2 (8.276) |
138.9 (5.469) |
108.4 (4.268) |
102.9 (4.051) |
78.3 (3.083) |
79.1 (3.114) |
45.4 (1.787) |
62.3 (2.453) |
76.8 (3.024) |
209.4 (8.244) |
246.5 (9.705) |
186.7 (7.35) |
1,544.9 (60.823) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 6.2 (2.44) |
12.1 (4.76) |
1.4 (0.55) |
0.5 (0.2) |
0.0 (0) |
0.0 (0) |
0.0 (0) |
0.0 (0) |
0.0 (0) |
0.5 (0.2) |
3.1 (1.22) |
6.5 (2.56) |
30.2 (11.89) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 20.9 | 18.2 | 17.8 | 19.0 | 17.4 | 15.9 | 11.9 | 11.5 | 14.1 | 19.8 | 23.3 | 20.8 | 210.4 |
| Avg. rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 19.8 | 17.0 | 17.5 | 19.0 | 17.4 | 15.9 | 11.9 | 11.5 | 14.1 | 19.8 | 22.8 | 20.0 | 206.5 |
| Avg. snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) | 2.4 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 9.6 |
| Source: [8] | |||||||||||||
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
References
- ↑ "British Columbia Regional Districts, Municipalities, Corporate Name, Date of Incorporation and Postal Address" (XLS). British Columbia Ministry of Communities, Sport and Cultural Development. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
- ↑ "FirstVoices: Kwak̓wala. Nature / Environment - place names: words". Retrieved 2012-07-08.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "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.
- ↑ Walbran, John (1909). British Columbia Coast Names, 1592-1906: their origin and history. Ottawa.
- ↑ "Calculation Information for 1981 to 2010 Canadian Normals Data". Environment Canada. Retrieved July 9, 2013.