Clayoquot Island (also known as "Stubbs Island") lies just a few nautical miles from Tofino and is brimming with history. It sits just south of Opitsaht, home of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations on Meares Island, who have lived there for over two centuries.
The name was given by the resident First Nations and took its spelling from the early traders (first recorded in 1785), appearing over the years as Clioquatt, Clayocuat, Klaooquat and Klahoquaht. It comes from the word for "another" or "different" ("Tla-o" or "Cla-o"), combined with the word for people or village, "quaht."
West of Vancouver Island, the island comprises nearly 250 acres of rainforest, beaches, sand dunes and vibrant gardens. The Nuu-chah-nulth people lived a fruitful, simple life navigating the land and shores. Their culture is rooted in ethics that cultivate community, and they highly value respecting the environment, cultural traditions and workmanship.
After explorer Captain Cook arrived in Clayoquot Sound in 1776, traders soon followed in search of sea otter furs and dogfish oil. One of the first trading posts beyond Fort Victoria was established in 1860, and among the first to permanently settle was Frederick Thornberg, alongside missionaries. As Clayoquot grew into a community, the first hotel and beer parlour on the west coast were built, followed by a school, a log jail, a gold assay office and residential houses.
By the 1890s, Bering Sea-bound vessels were outfitted in Clayoquot waters; at one time, 16 schooners were recorded moored at the island.
Each year the coastal villages hold a celebration within a few days of Queen Victoria's birthday, May 24th. All kinds of festival games take place, including a logging competition and the keystone contest, a tug of war. To this day the tradition is celebrated with a public opening every Victoria Day weekend.
Around the turn of the century Tofino was settled, and in 1923 an estimated 30 Japanese families immigrated to Canada, settling in the Clayoquot Islands and mooring some 30 to 40 fishing boats at the island. The community intermixed with the other inhabitants, enrolling in school alongside trader families. A few of the Japanese-Canadian families who settled here were the Igarashi, Katsuro, Kimoto and Okada families.
As a result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Ottawa ordered the removal of all Japanese from the coast. It was a devastating time. Families were forced to evacuate without notice, their village plundered and boats confiscated, leaving each economically ruined. Of those families, the Karatsu are among the best documented; they were legally evacuated by British Columbian officials after twenty years of living here (1922 to 1942).
From the early 1940s to 1990 the island passed through a variety of private owners, until 1990 when Susan Bloom took possession of it. Since then she has graciously registered 70% of the island to the Land Conservancy of British Columbia, turning it into a wonderful conservation area. This voluntary legal agreement, a covenant between Bloom and the Land Conservancy, is bound to the land title indefinitely, regardless of who owns it.
In exchange for the covenant, the TLC monitors and regulates the site's objectives (the historic Japanese village, forest growth and shoreline bird-nesting habitat) and guarantees it will maintain the natural habitat.
To date, the population of Clayoquot Island is two. The caretakers, Chris Taylor and Sharon Whalen, live there with an environmentally sound, self-sustaining existence: they use solar panels to power their generators and make potable water through a sand-filtering system. Their primary objective is to maintain the natural beauty of the large gardens.
A tradition started in the early 1900s (an annual May long-weekend festival) is still in operation today and open to the public.