A natural swamp, fed by an underground spring, the Ecological Park provided an especially useful water source for entrepreneurs Spencer and Huson's saltery, and later on, for the cannery. However, the dam built to exploit this resource caused the swamp to back up into the surrounding grove of cedar, thus killing the trees. Nonetheless, these tall naked trees provide much favoured perches for bald eagles and ravens. The Village of Alert Bay has since built a boardwalk across the swamp, and three trails provide access through the surrounding forested areas.
Bunchberry Cornus Canadensis
The four petalled white flower of the bunchberry has a similar appearance to a Dogwood's flower. In August the flowers are replaced by red berries, Southern Kwakiutl natives ate large quantities of the berries mixed with oil.
Bracken Fern Pteridium Aquilinum
The bracken fern is the largest most common fern in B.C. The fern branches were used as bedding by indigenous people. Also, Bracken Ferns were used as a sort of lid on food containers.
Skunk Cabbage Lysichiton Kamtschatcehse
This plant prefers marshes and swampy areas, The flower of the Skunk Cabbage appears in the spring before the leaves, Skunk cabbage is named after it's sickish sweet odour. Native people used skunk cabbage leaves for wrapping food or lining food containers.
Red Alder Alnus Rubra
Alder is a common tree. Its bark is slightly rough and grey. Leaves are a dull green and grow to about three to five inches in length. The strait grain of Alder wood makes it easy to carve, This wood was a natural choice of the natives for making dishes, spoons, and rattles. The wood was also valued as a fuel because of its hot smokeless flame.
Salal Gaultheria Shallon
Salal grows well in coastal forests and is easily identified by its leathery evergreen leaves. The white or pink flowers precede the hairy, purple-black berries which were traditionally harvested in late summer. Kwakiutl women traditionally wore special cedar bark, when harvesting salal berries. These berries were a major food sources to Northwest Coast natives, ripe berries were dipped in eulachon oil and eaten one at a time.
Salal cakes, made from dried berries, were stored in wooden boxes near the fire for winter consumption. Dried salal berry cakes were prepared by soaking them in water, mashing the mixture then pouring eulachon oil over them.
Cedar Trees
Yellow cedar
Chamaecyparis Nootkatensis
Western Red Cedar
Thuja Plicata
There are several examples of cedar trees that have been culturally modified in the park. Careful observation will reveal cedar trees that have had bark strips removed from them. Also, along Trail #2 there is a good example of a tree which has had a plank split away from it leaving the tree still standing.
To split a plank away from a living tree cavities were chiselled in the tree trunk to allow wedges to be driven in at the top and for the plank to come away at the base. The plank was then either pulled away from the trunk with a rope or a crosspiece was inserted under the plank and left for the wind and weather to complete the work of splitting.
During the summer months when the sap runs in cedar trees native women would gather the bark. To do this they would first look for a tall, straight tree with few branches. After selecting a tree a prayer was said thanking the tree for providing them with its bark. This prayer of respect ensured a good supply of cedar in future years. An adze was used to make a small horizontal cut and a cut up from either-side of this. The bark was lifted away from the tree trunk with a bone, bark stripping tool. Holding the free end of the bark and walking back from the tree a strip of bark was lifted away. Evidence of early and recent cedar bark stripping is apparent in the Ecological Park. Cedar bark was used to make mats, baskets, hats, twine and rope.
