BILL REID GALLERY OF NORTHWEST COAST ART

The Bill Reid Gallery was established by the Bill Reid Foundation to celebrate the Haida master artist Bill Reid (1920 - 1998), contemporary Indigenous Northwest Coast Art and the diverse living cultures of the Northwest Coast. Bill Reid was an acclaimed indigenous artist who infused Haida traditions with his own modernist aesthetic to create both exquisitely small as well as monumental work that captured the public's imagination. His best known works include several large sculptures, Raven and the First Man, The Spirit of Haida Gwaii which have been showcased on the Canadian $20 bill as well as Chief of the Undersea World.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yiwonj2IGwo

Website: https://www.billreidgallery.ca/

Location: 639 Hornby St, Vancouver, BC V6C 2G3

Abandoned St. Eugene Mine

Located on the shores of Moyie Lake, the town of Moyie BC was once famous for the huge St. Eugene Mine, which can still be seen from the highway. In the 1890s a valuable deposit of Lead and Silver ore was discovered on the slopes above the south end of the lake. Soon a mine and not long after a town was established at this location. The ore was discovered by a native fellow, who was encouraged to search for this type of material by a local Catholic Priest (from the St. Eugene Mission – hence the mine's name). The claims here were staked by and were owned by the church for a short time before the property was sold to a mining syndicate under the name St. Eugene Consolidated Mining Company Limited. Later the giant Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company (Cominco – now called Teck) bought the property.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmrRzdJZphA

NIKKEI INTERNMENT MEMORIAL CENTRE

The Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre serves as a reminder of the forced removal of Japanese Canadian population from the West Coast during the Second World War. Approximately 12,000 of the 22,000 displaced persons were sent to internment camps established in remote regions by federal authorities. Located at the site of a former camp, the Nikkei Centre is one of the few places to have preserved traces of this tragic episode, notably a community centre and three cabins built to house the internees. The Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre was designated a national historic site of Canada in 2007. Dedicated to remembrance, this site constitutes an important memorial for the Japanese Canadian community.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qXiHxZYwL8

Website: http://newdenver.ca/nikkei/

Location: 306 Josephine St, New Denver, BC V0G 1S0

SS MOYIE | World's Oldest Passenger Sternwheeler

The SS Moyie paddle steamer sternwheeler worked on Kootenay Lake in British Columbia from 1898 until 1957. After nearly sixty years of service, she was sold to the town of Kaslo and restored. Today she is a National Historic Site of Canada and the world's oldest intact passenger sternwheeler.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lr3j0eYFlo

Website: https://www.klhs.bc.ca/

Location: 324 Front St, Kaslo, BC V0G 1M0

Leitch Collieries Provincial Historic Site

Leitch Collieries was one of the largest and most ambitious coal mines in the early history of the Crowsnest Pass. Established in 1907, it was the only coal company in the Pass completely Canadian owned and operated. A ‘colliery’ is a coal mining and processing plant. All of the major mines in the Crowsnest Pass had surface operations where coal was cleaned and graded prior to loading it onto railway cars for shipping, and some operated coke ovens, where coal was superheated without allowing it to burn, producing coke used in the steel industry. The collieries in the Crowsnest Pass were big operations with large impressive structures of stone, brick and wood, each with their own power-generating stations and even their own towns. Leitch Collieries even had its own sandstone quarry, used in the construction of its facilities. Despite less than ten years of active mining, the facilities at Leitch Collieries were impressive structures built to last. Leitch Collieries Provincial Historic Site is located on Highway 3, about 3.5km east of Bellevue. Designated as a Provincial Historic Site, its remaining structures were stabilized, walking trails established and informative displays were installed. Interpretive staff are on site between May 15 and Labour Day. This fascinating site provides a good insight into the large support plant needed for a major coal mining operation a century ago.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTgwIdbJHPU

Website: http://www.leitchcollieries.ca/

Location: Crowsnest Pass, Alberta