Coastal Dwellers

Author Sylvia Olsen and her daughter explain the origins of the Cowichan sweater and the ingenuity and resilience of Coast Salish hand workers.

In the early 1900s, Finnish socialist philosopher, Matti Kurrika, established a utopian colony off the coast of Vancouver Island named Sointula- the Finnish word for harmony.

Leah Oke is one of Canada's female pioneers in professional cold water surfing. She attributes her success to her unique upbringing as a squatter on Sombrio Beach on Vancouver Island.

The sinking of the S.S. Valencia in 1906 was one of Canada's biggest marine tragedies at the time and would lead to the formation of a 75-kilometre access trail, which today draws thousands of hikers annually to Vancouver Island.

Seafood has always been a main stake of the west coast diet and an important resource for trade.

British-born Francis Rattenbury won a competition to design British Columbia's new parliament building. His vision would draw millions of tourists to the capital city, and his life would unexpectedly end in scandal.

Robert Bateman is one of Canada's most prolific wildlife artists and naturalists. His move from Ontario to Salt Spring Island in 1985 would inspire him to paint and publish a book called "Thinking Like a Mountain."

In 1964, a tsunami flooded the unsuspecting communities of Alberni and Port Alberni and forever changed British Columbia's emergency planning.

Poverty and discrimination rampaged Victoria's Chinatown in the late 1880s. A group of Chinese merchants created the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association and helped secure a home for their people in Canada.

Jeff George and Caroline Woodward are light keepers who care for Lennard Island Lighthouse just off the coast of Tofino, B.C.

BC has a history of unique coastal communities and cultures, including Coast Salish wool workers, utopian colonies and a surfer haven.