Brian Crumback aboard Solitude: bringing Christian friendship to isolated villages on BC’s north coast.

Outside, the rain limited visibility; but the weather forecast told us we had a one-day window of opportunity to cross from the Port McNeil/Port Hardy area to the remote Rivers Inlet – so off we went.

I was crewing for Brian Crumback, a 20-year veteran of the North American Indigenous Mission (NAIM). The organization specializes in reaching out to First Nations reserves with the gospel message.

From 1954 to 1961 I had worked for the hospital at Bella Bella, skippering the medical outreach boat for the legendary and godly Dr. George E. Darby. Brian, knowing this, invited me to accompany him on this trip. My knowledge of Rivers Inlet, where Brian had not gone before, would be helpful.

For the past three years, NAIM’s 50-foot boat, Solitude, has enabled Brian to poke into tiny places with some flexibility.

Brian and his wife Mary have a home in Campbell River, but this mid-March trip signalled the start of the yearly mission cycle which allows him to visit remote communities.

Every second year, as student volunteers are available, he oversees teams living in the villages and running Christian-based sports and/or Bible programs. He travels by boat until the fall storms send him scurrying back to his ship’s winter berth in Campbell River.

The first stop after leaving Campbell River was Port McNeil, where we entertained a couple of friends on board in the evening. The next day a storm kept us in port, but a Christian family invited us for a friendly lunch.

Rivers Inlet is home to a band of under 100 people at Owuikinuv (pronounced something like ‘Oh WAH keen oh’), where Brian had one contact. He was anxious to meet the people, and hoped to open some doors for ministry.

Boss Bolton, of the Eagle Clan, shows off his eagle headdress.

At the house, Rose Johnson treated us to a wonderful salmon feast – and we sat around talking, sharing stories and admiring Rose’s beautiful button blankets.

Brian offered to hold a hymn-sing/service Sunday evening, so this was broadcast to all the homes on their ever-present VHF radios. Like a ship’s radio, these are on all the time, with people chatting, asking favours, or – as happened as we visited – warning everyone to “get all the kids in, there’s a cougar walking down the street!”

But God’s sense of humour was evident. Another, more personal, invitation and introduction to the villagers occurred because Rose and Boss collect the garbage weekly – and this was garbage day.

So, with me driving the truck and Boss accompanying, we stopped at each house – and Brian met everyone in the village, as he collected their garbage sacks and invited folks to the service.

At 11 o’clock that evening, we headed back to the boat – where an excited resident warned us that the wind was rising, and the village pier was unprotected. So, in a blinding snowstorm, we sought shelter further down the inlet – anchoring in a small cove. Brian and I took turns the rest of the night, watching the anchor and the wind.

Continue article >>

Rose Johnson holds up one of the button blankets she crafts.

When I was skippering the William H. Pierce here in the 1950s and 60s, these places were bustling with commercial fish boats; today, more sports fishers fly in to try their luck.

At Bella Bella (population about 2,000), Brian had a few contacts – but he was hoping to extend his circle. As we tied up, a young man bounded over to greet him, and invited us for supper – this time a tender moose roast, done admirably by this grateful youth group member whom Brian had befriended in Prince Rupert.

The next day, I went to visit a friend I knew ‘way back when.’ She grew up in the area. After completing her nursing course she came back to work in Bella Bella, and has retired after 40 years of working in the hospital. She and her husband, now seniors, were going to an elders’ luncheon – so they invited us along.

The great traditional feast was held in a newly-built seniors’ centre. We were served three different salmon dishes, clam ‘burgers,’ crab in the shell, halibut, cod and seaweed, as well as rice and potatoes, with oolichan grease to drip over whichever morsel suited us.

This grease is considered a rare delicacy; a jar can be purchased from either the Nass, the Kitimaat or the Bella Coola people for upwards of $100 per quart.

The feast was a great time for Brian to meet people. I had brought along some 55 year old pictures of Bella Bella children, and people were pleased to see these old shots. I left them for the Cultural Centre.

Brian was grateful to visit with long-time friends, too. Some of these contacts go back 40 years, to when the mission operated another vessel called the Willis Shank.

The weatherman cut short our stay, as a storm was forecast. We beat the weather up to Klemtu, through another stretch of open water. We cleared the decks of snow and arrived in late afternoon sleet.

Again, as we tied up, Brian’s friends greeted us warmly, and came on board for conversation. Brian had lived in Klemtu, so is well known there. His Tsimshian and his unerring ability to recall names, as well as people’s relationships within and beyond Klemtu, have done much to win a hearing for the gospel.

Klemtu has some 400 people, with 50 employed in commercial salmon farming. The band leaders spoke just like the CEOs of any successful commercial operation, dealing with issues of the trade.  

One evening, we held a hymn-sing/service – and Brian asked me to give my testimony. I felt people warming to me as I spoke of the Lord’s goodness.

In the mornings, we went to the local coffee shop to sit and talk, mostly with village elders. One tourist-wise elder, who shows people through the newly-constructed longhouse, greeted me with his hand raised, a twinkle in his eye, and the greeting, “How!”

So ended my part of the journey. Brian planned to find someone to travel with him on to Prince Rupert, where Mary would join him.

Safe travel, Brian, and God be with you.

May 2007