Quadra Island is an island off the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, part of the Discovery Islands. It is separated from Vancouver Island by Discovery Passage, and from Cortes Isla, and one near the Cortes Island ferry terminal at Heriot Bay. The island has many beaches, trails, lakes, and parks. Main Lake Provincial Park is located on the northern part of the island, and Rebecca Spit Marine Provincial Park is on the eastern shore, near Heriot Bay.
The island is home to a thriving art community, as well as a growing number of white-collar professionals who commute to Campbell River, on Vancouver Island.
There is an elementary school on the island. Schoolchildren in grades 7 through 12 travel by ferry to Campbell River to attend École Phoenix Middle School or Carihi Secondary School. The Cape Mudge Reserve on the south tip of the island is home to the We-wai-kai, one of the main bands comprising the Southern Kwakiutl (the other being the We-wai-kum based in Campbell River on Vancouver Island). Together they are known as the Laich-kwil-tach (historically known as the Euclataws or Yucultas, names which are more familiar to speakers of British Columbia English). The Nuyumabales Cultural Centre is located within the Cape Mudge village and holds an important collection of art and regalia from earlier times, items that were repatriated after many years from museums elsewhere.
The Southern Kwakiutl (part of the larger Kwakwaka'wakw ethnic grouping) migrated into the northern Georgia Strait from Queen Charlotte Strait over two centuries ago, enslaving, displacing and absorbing the Comox and Pentlatch peoples who formerly lived there.
Famous quotes containing the word island:
“If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off from others lands, but a continent that joins to them.”
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626)