Hakai Coast

Hakai, meaning wide passage in the Heiltsuk language, belongs to a coast of islands, sheltered anchorages and established village sites. Namu and Koeye preserve other Heiltsuk place names, while shell middens, fish traps and canoe haulouts mark generations of coastal work. People lived in numerous villages and seasonal camps across their territory, maintaining connections between particular lands and marine resources.

During the early nineteenth century, the fur trade added a new commercial centre nearby. In 1833 the Hudson's Bay Company established Fort McLoughlin on Campbell Island, north of Hakai. The Heiltsuk community around the fort at McLoughlin Bay controlled trade in the surrounding area, bringing the company into an already inhabited maritime landscape. The passage and its neighbouring shores remained part of a wider network of Heiltsuk places. Foreign trade drew upon these connections, while epidemics accompanying the maritime and northern fur trades had already begun to affect coastal communities.