NISHGA GIRL Gillnetter to make overland odyssey from Port Edward, British Columbia to Hull, QuebecHull, Quebec, September 16, 1998 — The gillnetter Nishga Girl will soon make its final journey from B.C.'s northwest coast to a permanent mooring at the Canadian Museum of Civilization (CMC) in Hull, Quebec.
Commissioned by Nisga'a chief Harry Nyce and his wife Deanna in 1967, the Nishga Girl is one of over 200 fishing vessels built by Jack "Judo" Tasaka, who is now 90 years old. It was recently donated to the Museum by the Nyce family who owned and operated the Nishga Girl out of Prince Rupert for nearly twenty years.
Nishga Girl is over 10 metres long, 3 metres high and approximately 3 metres wide, weighing several tons. It has undergone restoration at the Tasaka boatyard by Donald and Bruce Tasaka, the sons of the man who built it.
The Nishga Girl will be the centrepiece of a new, permanent exhibit on West Coast communities in the CMC's Canada Hall, which recounts 1,000 years of Canadian history and settlement. Visitors will walk in to a full-scale environment to discover they are standing on a dock in a small settlement on Canada's Pacific coast. The scene, based on several British Columbia fishing and canning communities, provides a window on life in a typical West Coast settlement in the late 1960s.
The exhibit will also illustrate the interaction of cultures on the West Coast by highlighting the skill and craftsmanship of Japanese-Canadian boatbuilders and fishers as they worked in collaboration with aboriginal fishers and other members of the West Coast's distinctive communities. The CMC wishes to underline the support and collaboration of the National Association of Japanese Canadians and the Japanese Canadian National Museums and Archives Society in this project.
The Nishga Girl will be on display at the CMC as soon as October and the full exhibit is due for completion in the year 2000.
SEND-OFF CELEBRATION — SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19
The Nishga Girl's odyssey officially begins in British Columbia on Saturday, September 19 at 1:00 p.m. with a send-off celebration and dance at the dock in Port Edward, held by Nisga'a Chief Harry Nyce and his wife Deanna. The celebration is open to the public.
DEPARTURE — SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26At 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 26, crane operators will lift the Nishga Girl out of the boatyard in Port Edward and load it onto ane open CN rail car that will carry it, via Edmonton and Winnipeg, to Hull, where it is expected to arrive about one week later.
Information (media):
Media Relations Officer: (819) 776-7169
Senior Media Relations Officer: (819) 776-7167
Fax: (819) 776-7187
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