*All three tours scheduled for this year were fully booked. Stay tuned as these tours might be offered again next year!
Join the Ucluelet & Area Historical Society for their 2023 Historic Boat Tour in the Ucluelet Harbour and learn about Japanese Canadian Pre-WWII Villages.
This 2-hour guided boat tour will circle inside the harbour (from Small Craft Harbour to Spring Cove, across to Stuart Bay, and back past Hitacu and Port Albion, ending at Small Craft Harbour) while a speaker relates stories of the days when the families of these villages made up one half of Ucluelet’s population and were a big part of the fishing economy. The boat pauses at each of the six village sites where Japanese Canadians once built their homes right on the shoreline in little groupings. There was a surprising degree of integration between the Japanese Canadians and the European settlers in those days, and the First Nations were known for being very supportive of them on their arrival on the west coast about 1920. The WWII “Internment” unjustly removed all people of Japanese ancestry in 1942, mostly naturalized citizens and Canadian-born. They were dispossessed of freedom, home, assets, education, and their sense of community. Few returned when restrictions from the coast were lifted years after WWII ended.
All along the tour route, enlarged historic photos and documents will illustrate the story. A Ucluelet First Nation co-leader will describe traditional land uses of numerous points along the route, giving the indigenous names for these places. A post-tour gathering at the Gray Whale Deli for discussion and complimentary drinks --coffee/tea/herbal tea, or hot chocolate -- is included.
The fee for this year’s tours was $75 per person.
Photo Credits: Ucluelet & Area Historical Society
