War Canoes

Just like we have a variety of motor vehicles to meet various needs, First Nations people who lived on our coast had different canoes for different purposes. We are probably more used to imagining the very large sea-going canoes that are often pictured rather than the slender, shallow draught dugouts pictured here. These are war canoes and were designed to carry warriors on raiding expeditions along the coast. The canoes used in ferrying families and households from one campsite to another were much larger. The war canoe race above took place on Saturday and was the first such event here for more than 100 years. The canoes are here pictured as they swept past Laurel Point in the Inner Harbour on the way to the race's end at Ship Point.