There’s a clear effort underway to weave First Nations culture into Tofino’s lucrative tourism economy.
In November 2024, Island Coastal Economic Trust (ICET) announced a $180,000 project investment with IISAAK OLAM Foundation towards building a commercial art space and carving facility at Naa’Waya’Sum Gardens (formerly the Tofino Botanical Gardens). The project, which also received support from the First Peoples’ Cultural Council’s Heritage Infrastructure Program, aims to be complete by July 2025.
Tofino Arts Council (TAC) also launched the Makuw’as pop-up market in October 2024 in collaboration with Tourism Tofino and the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce as a way to raise the profile of local Indigenous artists.
“It makes me feel happy. When my dad went to residential school, they weren’t even allowed to speak their language never mind practice their art and culture,” said Nuu-chah-nulth artist Elizabeth George, whose cedar woven hats and jewelry are featured on the Makuw’as pilot e-commerce site and in-store at the Tourism Tofino Cox Bay Visitor Centre.
George says the hardest part about weaving cedar accessories is pulling the actual cedar bark off the tree – a job her husband Matthew Curly has embraced.
“We usually don’t go to the same spot twice because you can’t strip the tree where you have before, so you have to move,” she explained. “They cut down a bunch of trees by Crystal Cove and Ocean Village and they gave Tla-o-qui-aht permission to go in there and strip the trees before they cut them. I got a whack of cedar from that and made a bunch of hats.”
George also offers classes on beading, cedar weaving and dream catcher making throughout the year. She says spots for her workshops fill up quick and she feels proud when she sees her students evolve into independent artists.
“That’s my hope, is to teach the children, so it will continue on,” said George.
Her booth ‘Tumook Arts & Crafts’ has been a staple at the Saturday Tofino Markets on the Village Green for over five years, and with native paintings by her mom Annie and beaded jewelry by her sister Michelle on hand, she says everyone in her family has something to do with her craft table.
“She works really hard on her stuff,” said Annie, who moved to Tofino in Tla-o-qui-aht traditional territory 54 years ago. “When we first moved to Tofino it was just one street.”
For distinguished Tla-o-qui-aht carver Joe Martin, the new carving facility at Naa’Waya’Sum will offer an immediate benefit for the community when it comes to overcoming the issues tied to residential schools.
“I think it’s really good to be able to do things with your hands,” said Martin. “It’s one of those things that this new carving shop can do. If you’re doing something with your hands, you’re using your hands and thinking about what needs to get done. I feel it really helps mental states and how people can live better.”
Martin helped carve a č̓iinuł (totem pole) for the ancient village site of Opitsaht. The č̓iinuł was raised on July 1, 2022 and honours Nuu-chah-nulth history while remembering MMIWG and the children who never made it home from residential school.
The other half of the log was carved into a č̓iinuł that was erected in the middle of the Naa’Waya’Sum Gardens on Aug. 1, 2023.
“The pole raised at Naa’Waya’Sum is in honour of the responsibilities to our future generations, and that’s to take care of the land,” said Martin. “Whenever the next major earthquake happens, it’s not going to be pretty and I think that’s only a matter of time. When that does happen, it’s supposed to be a major quake from northern California all the way to here, and that’s going to leave a lot of infrastructure destroyed.”
“If we don’t take care of the land as we should, we’re going to all starve to death. It’s going to take months or years for them to get here,” he said.
George thinks it’s a sign of support when non-Indigenous people wear her cedar woven hats or native style beaded earrings.
“I think it looks nice on them,” said George.
“As long as it’s not yellow cedar,” her mom adds. “Yellow cedar can only be worn by royalty. It’s way lighter and you have to go up the mountain to find it.”
$14 million spent on shopping in Tofino
A 2019 economic impact report prepared for Tourism Tofino shows that in total, visitors to Tofino are estimated to spend $295 million per annum. This figure was based upon an estimated 76,700 individual day visitors and 522,400 individual overnight visitors to Tofino each year. According to the report, visitors also spent an estimated $50 million on food & beverage and $46 million on activities, excursions and entertainment. Visitors spent nearly $14 million on shopping and $3.2 million on local transport.
“We are building trust within the communities,” said Emily Elston Macnab, TAC’s director of communications and engagement. “(Makuw’as) is a long-term program and that’s really what our goal is, not just to have a website up for a little bit, it’s to make sure that we are having meaningful impact within the community and driving sales from tourism into the pockets of (Indigenous) artists so that they get to benefit those who visit their land.”
Likewise, the future Naa’Waya’Sum facilities will “prioritize Indigenous community members employment and seasonal internships, while increasing Indigenous representation in the vibrant visitor economy across the Tofino and Ucluelet region,” notes a joint media release from ICET and the IISAAK OLAM Foundation.
TAC, a non-profit that supports about 80 west coast artists, offers free membership to Indigenous people, which includes voting privileges, a listing on their website and other benefits. Macnab encouraged Nuu-chah-nulth artists to reach out if they would like assistance in amplifying their online presence.
