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Land, Indigenous peoples, settlers, and today’s communities.

Since time immemorial, Ancestors of the people called K’ómoks today consisting of the Pentlatch, Ieeksan (eye-ick-sun), Sasitla (sa-seet-la), Xa’xe (ha-hey) and Sathloot (sath-loot) people have been the caretakers of this land, which they called the “Land of Plenty.” This Land of Plenty stretched from what is known today as Kelsey Bay in the north, down to Hornby and Denman Island in the south, and included the watershed and estuary of the Puntledge River, also acknowledging that these boundaries and place names are colonial constructs.

The K’ómoks First Nation refer to the lands between the bays of Comox and the Beaufort mountain range as the path between, it was a travel and trade route to the Alberni corridor and a connection to the indigenous communities on the western side of the island.

Land agreements included the 1884 Settlement Act stripped these lands for its caretakers. At the Museum we acknowledge that we are a colonial created institution, and I would like to thank Charlene Everson, Emily Shopland and Violet Williams for guiding the museum in early discussion on what reconciliation could mean for our organization and how we could create actionable steps; in maintaining a positive dialogue with a forward focus, sharing contemporary K’omoks narratives, and incorporating First Nation languages where they felt it appropriate. Their time and guidance helped us gain insight and learn how to best support their voice in our museum’s walls. This is an ongoing process and we have so much more to learn.

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CVA259-1
B.C. Miners’ Liberation League tag day outside Labour Temple (CVA259-1)
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Resistance & Resilience Mining

The Big Strike

1912-1914

Twenty-three months of fighting.
By 1912, Vancouver Island’s coal mines were bubbling with discontent.

Laying the Tinder

Wages were unfairly low despite the flourishing coal industry. Employees' safety concerns were quickly dismissed by employers, and workers weren’t allowed to join the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) that could advocate for them. In addition, companies pitted workers against each other. They paid an absurdly low wage to Asian workers who couldn’t afford to turn down the work, then leveraged that low-cost labour when white workers threatened to strike.

Born in 1889, Oswald Mottishaw, commonly known as Oscar, was raised in Nanaimo by his mother, Elizabeth, and father, Samuel, alongside his seven siblings on a little acreage. At the age of twelve, Oscar lost his older brother, Frank, in an explosion at an Extension mine in 1901. It claimed the lives of seventeen men. In 1909 he married Susie Roberts and in 1911, Susie and Oscar had their daughter, Alice. Oscar worked the mines in Extension to support his young family and was active in the local union, most likely influenced by his older brother's death.

Lighting the Match

On June 15th, 1912, Oscar Mottishaw and Isaac Portrey, as members of the gas committee, reported the presence of gas during an inspection in an Extension mine in Nanaimo. Although the committee was required by law to report its findings, the company opposed it, due to their notices reduced productivity. The pair's involvement with the local Union and role in the gas committee led to the Company firing them for their potential as ‘troublemakers.’

In September, Oscar travelled north to Cumberland and was hired by a hewer to work for him. When the superintendent discovered who Oscar was, he was fired and banned from the mine.

On September 15th, 1912, the miners of Cumberland declared a ‘one-day holiday’ to request Oscar’s rehiring.

On September 17th, the miners were locked out of their work unless they agreed to a two-year contract binding them to their existing work conditions. The company’s response only strengthened the strikers’ resolve. Word spread quickly across the Island, and workers in Ladysmith and Extension joined their Cumberland comrades in their defiant act.

So began the Big Strike.

Fuel to the Fire

What was advertised as a short strike until Oscar was reinstated to his position turned into the biggest labour dispute in the history of Vancouver Island.

The Canadian Collieries Company, which owned and operated the Cumberland mines, moved swiftly to ensure they remained operational, adopting draconian treatment tactics towards the rebellious miners and their families.

The mining companies recruited Europeans and Chinese strikebreakers to suit up with helmet and pick and descend underground throughout the Big Strike to ensure the mines remained operational.

The Chinese workers were blamed for taking work from striking miners, yet were not included in unionization efforts. They were seen as a problem rather than potential allies.

Union Pins
button, promotional (993.054.045C)

During the Big Strike, the company specifically singled out Joe Naylor and other miners who actively advocated for unionization. They were labelled as agitators and faced severe treatment. Many were banned from returning to work even once the Big Strike was over.

But Strikers took pride in their cause and took any chance they could to display their passion. Banners, signs, and button pins were commonplace on picket lines.

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Hunters with deer (987.028.005)

The mining companies evicted the strikers and their families that lived in company-owned houses as a pressure tactic and to make room for the European strikebreakers moving in. Miners and their families were forced to move in with relatives or set-up camp with their comrades at what became known as ‘Striker’s Beach’ in Royston or at Comox Lake.

As protests persisted and paychecks remained absent, poverty gripped many individuals, leaving them with no choice but to rely on the land for sustenance, seeking their next meal.

Peaceful Protests and Mounting Discontent

In the initial months of the strike in 1912, protests were mainly peaceful. Around 500 men, women, and children regularly lined the main street in Cumberland, campaigning for their cause. The local chief constable reported the playing of discordant music, waving of umbrellas and chanting down Dunsmuir Avenue. The Provincial Police, often called ‘Special Police’, were brought in to maintain the peace between the protesters and strikebreakers.

In Cumberland, Asian miners initially participated in the strike. But on September 24th, twelve special provincial police officers were sent into their townsites and cut off communication with the rest of the community. Although the precise nature of events remains unclear, many believed that the Asian miners were threatened with deportation if they did not work.

The special provincial police maintained their presence in the community to keep the peace between the protesters and strikebreakers.

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Mineworkers, their wives and children, parade in Ladysmith (E-02631)

On May 1st 1913, thousands of miners from across the Island converged in Ladysmith for the largest parade and display of solidarity the Island had seen.

On May 2nd 1913, 3,700 miners went on strike from Cumberland to Ladysmith.

Wives, sisters, and daughters campaigned vehemently during the Big Strike. On November 28th 1912, Hanna White and Ethel Douglas were arrested and charged with assaulting a strikebreaker, calling him a ‘scab’ and hitting him with their umbrellas. They were let off on suspended sentences.

Raging Riots: August 11-13

As time went by, frustrations progressed from peaceful protests to isolated incidents of violence.

In mid-July 1914, the special provincial police posted in Cumberland seemingly started a fight with the strikers amassed on Dunsmuir Avenue. Chief agitator Joe Naylor and others were arrested for unlawful assembly.

These isolated incidents of brawls and violence culminated in widespread riots in August of that year.

Buildings were destroyed, Chinese workers and strikebreakers were beaten and intimidated, while their houses were plundered, and company housing was burned.

Disturbances in and around Cumberland resulted in some attempting to set fire to Union Bay Wharf and others trying to blow up the trestle bridge in Union Bay.

Tempers were flaring.

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Damage to Ladysmith homes (D-03325)

Protestors targeted ‘scabs’ (strikebreakers) and mine management. Often smashing windows and singing union songs in their defiance.

On August 12, 1913 strikers in Ladysmith exhibited particularly violent behaviour. A crowd of protesters hurled rocks and bricks through the Temperance Hotel windows and several houses belonging to strikebreakers and mine supervisors. In one instance, a small stick of dynamite was thrown into strikebreaker Alex McKinnon’s bedroom, blowing off his hand.

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Damage to Quong Lee’s store (F-05339)

Chinese miners were widely used as strikebreakers. Although supporting much of the Big Strike, their exclusion from union efforts and being forcibly recalled to work by the Company fed into racial discrimination. Protestors targeted Chinese and Japanese property during the Strike, homes and businesses were plundered and damaged. The belief was that Chinese and Japanese miners drove wages down and made the mines unsafe.

Troops Marchving
Troops marching (998.047.075)

After cries for help from the Mayor of Nanaimo, John Shaw, the Government ordered groups of militia soldiers to squash the outbursts of violence.

In Cumberland, 450 soldiers arrived on the morning of August 15th.

They established themselves in the newly erected schoolhouse and built a cookhouse with help from the municipality. It was hoped that the militia would deter potentially violent strikers and quell the overflowing discontent now rife in Cumberland. Shortly after their arrival, they paraded a machine gun down Dunsmuir Avenue to dissuade and intimidate the rowdy crowd.

CVA259-1
B.C. Miners’ Liberation League tag day outside Labour Temple (CVA259-1)

Two hundred and thirteen protesters were arrested by the police and militia during the Big Strike.

Charged with assault, obstruction of police, and unlawful assembly, sentences ranged from three months to two years in prison. One hundred and sixty-six individuals were tried, and fifty were convicted and sentenced to terms in prison.

Six people were arrested in Cumberland. Many of the arrests appeared to be politically motivated, suggesting they were instigators of the violence and riots in July and August. The most famous example of this was the arrest of Joe Naylor in July 1913. His key role in the workers' movement made him a continued target for authorities.

The women are a long sight worse than the men, and at Nanaimo, they were continually telling us that we would get it in the neck.

Tom Norris, in Daniel Schade, The Vancouver Island Coal Miners, 1912-1914: A Study of an Organizational Strike (1980).

From the outset, women actively participated in the protests, standing alongside their male counterparts. While the miners primarily focused on gaining control over working conditions to ensure their safety, the wives of miners had a broader perspective, prioritising the health and well-being of their families and the community.

Woman Crying
A woman crying (983.230.043)

Tragically, when mining disasters struck, it was the women who were left to shoulder the burden of picking up the pieces. The loss of husbands and sons not only shattered families but also meant the absence of breadwinners, resulting in the loss of company housing and no compensation.

Despite the challenges and the scarcity of morale during the strike, these resilient women organised weekly dances, providing moments of respite and unity. Alongside their supportive role, they continued to play a vital part as advocates for the rights of their husbands and sons, fighting for their fair treatment and just conditions.

Yet their anger intensified towards the militia following the arrests.

Few women were arrested, and even fewer were sentenced. At a time when women were expected to be passive and the upholders of morality, the judges were shocked to see such behaviour.

Mrs. Axelsone of Ladysmith, in particular, appalled Judge Howay, who presided over the trial of the Ladysmith strikers arrested in August. When her husband was arrested, Mrs. Axelsone barged through a line of awestruck policemen, wielding an axe, and breaking her husband out of jail.

During the trial, she turned the tables on the authorities once again. The prosecutor attempted to demean her by asking her to sing in front of the court. Yet her lovely voice and catchy song “Hooray! Hooray! We’ll drive the scabs away!” riled up the court attendees, people singing along and applauding. Despite the judge’s discontent towards such mockery, she was not prosecuted. He punished her and other women like her by giving harsh sentences to their husbands.

It Takes A Village

The Strike spelled hardship for the miners and their families. Poverty was widespread in the community. The people and businesses of the village came together to support their own in the toughest of times and gave them the strength to endure in the fight for their rights.

Local businesses such as the Campbell Brothers played an extremely important role. They supported many families throughout the strike by allowing them credit at their stores, knowing that it would never be repaid. They even allowed homeless families to camp on their farmlands. Their selflessness was appreciated in a time of severe hardship.

Alexander Campbell became the first socialist mayor of Cumberland in 1913.

The United Mine Workers of America paid relief to any striker, member or not, that required it. At first, payments were in cash, later in credit at local businesses like the Marocchi and Campbell stores. Strike pay was $4 per week for individuals. Eventually, though, the money ran out and the scales tipped.

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Campbell’s Store (981.315.002)

A Battle Lost

After nearly two arduous years, the Big Strike ground to a halt in the summer of 1914. Despite persistent protests and violent outbursts, the Canadian Colliery Company had not yielded.

The mines had continued to operate nearly seamlessly and by the second year of the strike they were producing almost as much coal as before the strike began. Their ability to employ strike-breakers, and protection from the government-funded militia, meant they had no reason to bend to the miners' demands.

The dwindling funds of the UMWA meant the withdrawal of strike pay. As attentions turned to Europe and the onset of the First World War, the Big Strike lost its momentum. Many of the men who fought so enthusiastically for the cause signed up to join the Canadian forces and fight in Europe.

Although the battle was lost for improved conditions and better pay the Cumberland community showed its character; caring for its own in times of strife, and never giving in, despite the odds.

It wouldn’t be until 1938 that the Cumberland mines were unionised.

The Big Strike remains unrivalled in the history of the BC labour movement.