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Sointula | |
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  Sointula Location inBritish Columbia | |
| Coordinates:50°37′50″N127°01′07″W / 50.63056°N 127.01861°W /50.63056; -127.01861 | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | British Columbia |
| Regional district | Mount Waddington |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 576 |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific Time Zone) |
| Area code | 250 |
| Climate | Cfb |
Sointula is an isolated village onMalcolm Island inBritish Columbia,Canada. Lying betweenVancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland, northeast ofPort McNeill and not far fromAlert Bay, the island is part of the historic and present territory of the‘Namgis First Nation. At the2011 census, the village had a population of 576, down 3.0% from the2006 census.[1]
The nameSointula means "Place of Harmony" (literally 'the place ofchord') in theFinnish language. A group ofFinnish settlers founded the village in 1901 after rowing north fromNanaimo. They set up autopian socialist society known as theKalevan Kansa, based on cooperative principles.[2] and wrote to visionaryMatti Kurikka in Finland to lead the new community. They were looking for a way out ofthe mines operated by theDunsmuir family onVancouver Island. It was a physically hard life, and a devastating fire in the Sointula community hall in 1903 killed three adults and eight children[3] almost bringing the fledgling community to its knees.Kalervo Oberg, a Finnish-Canadian anthropologist born in 1901, came with his family to Sointula in 1902, and they were caught in the fire of 1903. Two of his sisters died in the fire.[4]
Financial difficulties continued to plague the group. They worked for free for two years on theCapilano Bridge project, and after that the Kalevan Kansa was disbanded as a utopian colony in 1905,[5][6] but many of the community members remained on the island, as have their descendants.
The town remained and eventually prospered well into the 1970s as an unusually vibrant resource-based settlement. Fishing and logging activities have been the mainstay for the community. The earlycooperative ventures led to other businesses that are still operating, planting seeds that are also alive today. The Sointula Cooperative Store, the oldestco-op shop in the province, still handles dry goods, groceries and fuel for the islanders. Theshellfish cooperative, Malcolm Island Shellfish Coop (MISC), was involved in research on the feasibility of raising and sellingabalone, but closed for financial reasons in 2006. It relocated the abalone to an area near Port McNeill donated by Orca Sand and Gravel.
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In the 21st century, declining forestry and fishing industries have hit Sointula hard. Its school-age population has shrunk, although housing prices have risen, as owners from as far asCalifornia have bought homes assummer retreats. Sointula is home to the Sointula Museum,[7] and produces an online newsletter, theSointula Ripple.[8] It is easy to reach by car ferry, operated byBC Ferries from Port McNeill and Alert Bay.[9]
Wildlife on the island and in the waters around it is abundant.Orcas return to the so-called "rubbing beaches" on Malcolm Island's northern edge nearBere Point Regional Park every summer and fall.Seals andporpoises can be viewed from the beaches. Birds,mink,otter,beaver, anddeer live all over the island. Thetemperate rainforest vegetation helps to sustain the mood of an uncluttered and peaceful haven.
Sointula is the location ofLiving Oceans Society's head office, although it also has an office inVancouver. Living Oceans Society, founded in 1998, is a non-profit research and public education organization committed to conserving marinebiological diversity in order to ensure a healthy ocean and healthy coastal communities. It is Canada's largestnon-governmental organization focused onmarine conservation issues.[10] In addition, a seasonal Canadian Coast Guard Inshore Rescue Boat Station is located in Sointula during the summer.[11] The station is staffed by a coxswain and two crewmembers, using a Rigid Hull Inflatable Fast Rescue Craft.
Bill Gaston's novelSointula (2004) is named for the community and has a plot that revolves in part around it.Rachel Lebowitz's bookHannus (2006) is also partly about the early days of the commune. Paula Wild's bookSointula gives a good overview of the island's ways and history. More recently, Sointula Museum, collaborating with theUniversity of Victoria, has publishedPractical Dreamers, a history of the island's cooperatives complete with many historical pictures.
Sointula, and its original Finnish settlers, are the subject of a Finnish musical also named "Sointula", byTuomo_Aitta [fi]; a Finnish theater company visited Sointula to perform it in 2013.[3][12]
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