Spurred by the recent destruction in Asia, the Huu-Ay-Aht First Nation on Vancouver Island has re-submitted plans to move their village to higher grounds to prevent being hit by future tsunamis.
Huu-Ay-Aht First Nation lives on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island in the small community of Anacla, which is completely exposed to the open ocean.
For centuries this First Nation has passed down stories about the fifty foot wave that destroyed seven Huu-ay-Aht villages, and drowned the entire village of Anacla except for one person. For years no one believed this First Nation about their famed wave, until the early 1990s when scientists studying the Pacific Northwest earthquakes confirmed that an earthquake and consequential tsunami had hit CanadaÂ’s coastline.
Scientists classified the 1700 quake as a 9.0 on the richer scale, making it the largest in CanadaÂ’s history. Scientists believe that every 500 years a quake will occur along the Cascadian Fault, resulting in another huge quake and tsunami that will force the land on Vancouver Islands to drop anywhere between three and six feet.
With oral history supported by scientific evidence, Huu-Ay-Aht Chief Councilor Robert Dennis has been lobbying the provincial and federal government to relocate the village since 1999 through the Additions to Reserves legislation, according to CanadaÂ’s oldest First Nations newspaper, the Ha-Shilth-Sa.
Many members of this First Nation community support the move to the adjacent hillsides, which would cost an estimated 7 million Canadian dollars to build housing for the approximately 130 families, according to CBC news.
The Canadian government rejected the plans in 1999, but Dennis hopes that federal government will reconsider in light of the recent tragedy in Asia.
CBC estimates that roughly 5,000 aboriginal Canadians from roughly eight First Nations living on Vancouver Islands that are exposed to open stretches of beach are working together to prevent being devastated by future tsunamis.
"The idea of building our coastal communities in locations where a tsunami would not hit was foreign to most authorities [in 1999]," Brian Chatwin, of Chatwin Engineering told the Ha-Shilth-Sa. "I hope that now we can move forward and prepare all of our coastal citizens for the next tsunami."
"We work hard to keep our oral tradition alive and the history lessons from our Elders," Dennis said to the Ha-Shilth-Sa. "We must do everything in our power to prevent known risk in our communities. Our language, culture and future depend on it."
