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Alert Bay or 'Yalis, meaning "Spreading Leg Beach" was an ancient resource site and has been a traditional home of the 'Namgis people for several thousand years. It is located on Cormorant Island in the Queen Charlotte Strait. In 1860 the site was renamed "Alert Bay" after a British naval gunship. Colonial entrepreneurs set up a fish saltery at 'Yalis in 1870 and persuaded the 'Namgis people to relocate there from Xwalkw to provide labour for the new factory. The Namgis Burial Grounds at…

Alert Bay or 'Yalis, meaning "Spreading Leg Beach" was an ancient resource site and has been a traditional home of the 'Namgis people for several thousand years. It is located on Cormorant Island in the Queen Charlotte Strait. In 1860 the site was renamed "Alert Bay" after a British naval gunship. Colonial entrepreneurs set up a fish saltery at 'Yalis in 1870 and persuaded the 'Namgis people to relocate there from Xwalkw to provide labour for the new factory. The Namgis Burial Grounds at…

Tsonoqwa facing seaward to signify payment of delinquent marriage transaction. This figure once held three carved coppers, one on its head and one in each hand.

Tsonoqwa figure which originally faced a debtors house with arms outstretched to show it was waiting for a marriage payment from another household in the village (sources say the transaction was between a Chief Herbert Johnson and his father in law). When the payment was made the figure was rotated toward the sea to acknowledge the payment.

Tsonoqwa facing out to sea and holding coppers to signify delinquent marriage payment was made. The coppers were eventually removed or succumbed to the elements..

Re-carving of Tsonoqwa figure by Bill Holm, 1943-2009. Located at the Burke Museum, University of Seattle Washington.

This painting was done by Emily Carr, 1871-1945 while in the field. It is of a Tsonoqwa figure that stood outside Chief Herbert Johnson's House. A Bill Holm, 1943-2009 reconstruction of this piece is now on display in the portico in front of the Burke Museum at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Alert Bay or 'Yalis, meaning "Spreading Leg Beach" was an ancient resource site and has been a traditional home of the 'Namgis people for several thousand years. It is located on Cormorant Island in the Queen Charlotte Strait. In 1860 the site was renamed "Alert Bay" after a British naval gunship. Colonial entrepreneurs set up a fish saltery at 'Yalis in 1870 and persuaded the 'Namgis people to relocate there from Xwalkw to provide labour for the new factory. The Namgis Burial Grounds at…

Alert Bay or 'Yalis, meaning "Spreading Leg Beach" was an ancient resource site and has been a traditional home of the 'Namgis people for several thousand years. It is located on Cormorant Island in the Queen Charlotte Strait. In 1860 the site was renamed "Alert Bay" after a British naval gunship. Colonial entrepreneurs set up a fish saltery at 'Yalis in 1870 and persuaded the 'Namgis people to relocate there from Xwalkw to provide labour for the new factory. The Namgis Burial Grounds at…

Alert Bay or 'Yalis, meaning "Spreading Leg Beach" was an ancient resource site and has been a traditional home of the 'Namgis people for several thousand years. It is located on Cormorant Island in the Queen Charlotte Strait. In 1860 the site was renamed "Alert Bay" after a British naval gunship. Colonial entrepreneurs set up a fish saltery at 'Yalis in 1870 and persuaded the 'Namgis people to relocate there from Xwalkw to provide labour for the new factory. The Namgis Burial Grounds at…

Alert Bay or 'Yalis, meaning "Spreading Leg Beach" was an ancient resource site and has been a traditional home of the 'Namgis people for several thousand years. It is located on Cormorant Island in the Queen Charlotte Strait. In 1860 the site was renamed "Alert Bay" after a British naval gunship. Colonial entrepreneurs set up a fish saltery at 'Yalis in 1870 and persuaded the 'Namgis people to relocate there from Xwalkw to provide labour for the new factory. The Namgis Burial Grounds at…

Alert Bay or 'Yalis, meaning "Spreading Leg Beach" was an ancient resource site and has been a traditional home of the 'Namgis people for several thousand years. It is located on Cormorant Island in the Queen Charlotte Strait. In 1860 the site was renamed "Alert Bay" after a British naval gunship. Colonial entrepreneurs set up a fish saltery at 'Yalis in 1870 and persuaded the 'Namgis people to relocate there from Xwalkw to provide labour for the new factory. The Namgis Burial Grounds at…

Alert Bay or 'Yalis, meaning "Spreading Leg Beach" was an ancient resource site and has been a traditional home of the 'Namgis people for several thousand years. It is located on Cormorant Island in the Queen Charlotte Strait. In 1860 the site was renamed "Alert Bay" after a British naval gunship. Colonial entrepreneurs set up a fish saltery at 'Yalis in 1870 and persuaded the 'Namgis people to relocate there from Xwalkw to provide labour for the new factory. The Namgis Burial Grounds at…

Alert Bay or 'Yalis, meaning "Spreading Leg Beach" was an ancient resource site and has been a traditional home of the 'Namgis people for several thousand years. It is located on Cormorant Island in the Queen Charlotte Strait. In 1860 the site was renamed "Alert Bay" after a British naval gunship. Colonial entrepreneurs set up a fish saltery at 'Yalis in 1870 and persuaded the 'Namgis people to relocate there from Xwalkw to provide labour for the new factory. The Namgis Burial Grounds at…

Alert Bay or 'Yalis, meaning "Spreading Leg Beach" was an ancient resource site and has been a traditional home of the 'Namgis people for several thousand years. It is located on Cormorant Island in the Queen Charlotte Strait. In 1860 the site was renamed "Alert Bay" after a British naval gunship. Colonial entrepreneurs set up a fish saltery at 'Yalis in 1870 and persuaded the 'Namgis people to relocate there from Xwalkw to provide labour for the new factory. The Namgis Burial Grounds at…