Sointula, British Columbia
Encyclopedia
Malcolm Island, British Columbia
Malcolm Island is an island in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located north of Haddington Island in the Queen Charlotte Strait near Vancouver Island. It has ferry access from the Vancouver Island community of Port McNeill...
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Lying between Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
and the British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
mainland, northeast of Port McNeill and not far from Alert Bay, the island is part of the historic and present territory of the 'Namgis First Nation. the village has a population of roughly 800.
The name Sointula (literally the place of chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
) means "Place of Harmony" in the Finnish language
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
. A group of Finnish settlers founded the village in 1901 after rowing north from Nanaimo
Nanaimo, British Columbia
Nanaimo is a city on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It has been dubbed the "Bathtub Racing Capital of the World" and "Harbour City". Nanaimo is also sometimes referred to as the "Hub City" because of its central location on Vancouver Island and due to the layout of the downtown...
. They planned to set up a utopian socialist
Utopian socialism
Utopian socialism is a term used to define the first currents of modern socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, and Robert Owen which inspired Karl Marx and other early socialists and were looked on favorably...
society known as the Kalevan Kansa,and wrote to visionary Matti Kurikka
Matti Kurikka
Matti Kurikka was a Finnish journalist, theosophist, and utopian socialist....
in Finland to lead the new community. They were looking for a way out of Dunsmuir's mines in Nanaimo. It was a physically hard life and a devastating fire almost brought the fledgling community to its knees. Financial difficulties continued to plague the group. After they worked for free for two years on the Capilano Bridge
Capilano Suspension Bridge
The Capilano Suspension Bridge is a simple suspension bridge crossing the Capilano River in the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The current bridge is long and above the river...
project, the Kalevan Kansa was disbanded. Many of the community members remained on the island as have their descendants.
The town remained and prospered well into the 1970s as an unusually vibrant resource-based settlement. Fishing and logging activities have been the mainstay for the community. The early cooperative ventures
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
led to other businesses that are still operating. planted seeds that are also alive today. The Sointula Cooperative Store, the oldest co-op shop
Consumers' cooperative
Consumer cooperatives are enterprises owned by consumers and managed democratically which aim at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of their members. They operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit...
in the province, still handles drygoods, groceries and fuel for the islanders. In addition there is a cooperative bakery, Wild Island Foods, which served Finnish bread (pulla
Pulla
Pulla is a mildly-sweet Finnish dessert bread flavored with crushed cardamom seeds and occasionally raisins or sliced almonds. Braid loaves are formed from three or more braided strands of dough. The braids may also be formed into a ring. These braided strands or rings are typically coated with...
) and home-cooked meals until the summer of 2008. The shellfish cooperative
Worker cooperative
A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and democratically managed by its worker-owners. This control may be exercised in a number of ways. A cooperative enterprise may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which...
, Malcolm Island Shellfish Coop (MISC), was involved in research on the feasibility of raising and selling abalone
Abalone
Abalone , from aulón, are small to very large-sized edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae and the genus Haliotis...
, but closed for financial reasons in 2006. It relocated the abalone to an area near Port McNeill donated by Orca Sand and Gravel.
In recent decades, declining forestry and fishing industries have hit Sointula hard. Its school-age population has shrunk, although housing prices have risen as owners from as far as California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
have bought homes as summer retreats. Sointula is home to a museum, and is easy to reach by government car ferry from Port McNeill or Alert Bay.
Wildlife on the island and in the waters around the island is abundant. Orca whales
Orca
The killer whale , commonly referred to as the orca, and less commonly as the blackfish, is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. Killer whales are found in all oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas...
return to the so-called "rubbing beaches" on Malcolm Island's northern edge near Bere Point Regional Park every summer and fall. Seals
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
and porpoises can be viewed from the beaches. Birds, mink
Mink
There are two living species referred to as "mink": the European Mink and the American Mink. The extinct Sea Mink is related to the American Mink, but was much larger. All three species are dark-colored, semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, which also includes the weasels and...
, otter
Otter
The Otters are twelve species of semi-aquatic mammals which feed on fish and shellfish, and also other invertebrates, amphibians, birds and small mammals....
, beaver
Beaver
The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
and deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
live all over the island. The temperate rainforest vegetation helps to sustain the mood of an uncluttered and peaceful haven.
Bill Gaston
Bill Gaston
Bill Gaston is a Canadian novelist, playwright and short story writer.Gaston grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Toronto, Ontario, and North Vancouver, British Columbia....
's 2004 novel Sointula is named for the community and has a plot that revolves in part around it. Rachel Lebowitz
Rachel Lebowitz
Rachel Lebowitz is a Canadian writer.-Biography:She was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1975. After attending graduate school at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec she moved with her husband, Zachariah Wells, to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2003...
's 2006 book Hannus is also in part about the early days of the commune. Paula Wild's book Sointula gives a good overview of the island ways and its history. More recently, Sointula Museum, collaborating with the University of Victoria
University of Victoria
The University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is the second oldest public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It is a research intensive university located in Saanich and Oak Bay, about northeast of downtown Victoria. The University's annual enrollment is about 20,000 students...
, has published Practical Dreamers, a history of the island's cooperatives complete with many historical pictures.
Sointula is also the location of Living Oceans Society
Living Oceans Society
Living Oceans Society is a Canadian environmental organization that focuses exclusively on marine conservation issues. It is based in Sointula, British Columbia, with a satellite office in Vancouver, British Columbia...
's head office
Head Office
Head Office is a 1985 American comedy film, produced by HBO Pictures in association with Silver Screen Partners. It stars Judge Reinhold, Eddie Albert, Lori-Nan Engler, Jane Seymour, Richard Masur, Michael O'Donoghue, Ron Frazier, Merritt Butrick and was directed and written by Ken...
, although it also has an office in Vancouver. Living Oceans Society, founded in 1998, is a non-profit research and public education organization committed to conserving marine biological diversity in order to ensure a healthy ocean and healthy coastal communities. It is Canada's largest non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
focused on marine conservation
Marine conservation
Marine conservation, also known as marine resources conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas. Marine conservation focuses on limiting human-caused damage to marine ecosystems, and on restoring damaged marine ecosystems...
issues.
External links
- Sointula, Malcolm Island Community Website
- Sointula Info Centre - community information website
- sointula.com - Local site
- - Sointula - Place to visit for boaters cruising the BC Inside Passage to Alaska
- Google Map of Sointula and surrounding area
- Living Oceans Society website