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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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No. 5 Mine Crew
No. 5 mine, photograph commemorating record breaking shift (982.009.002)
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Story • 6 Min read
Mining

The Mining Men

The Coal Workers of Cumberland

The development of the coal industry on Vancouver Island attracted people from all over the globe. Immigrants built their homes around the areas where work was available, forging their own communities, and creating a multicultural workforce. However, where there was inclusion, there was also alienation and persecution.

E-01185
Coal miners at Extension (E-01185)

Who you were and where you came from had a significant impact upon your experience in the Cumberland mines.
White miners had the best opportunities and ability to climb the workforce ladder.

Picking Table Loading Boom
Picking table and loading boom (991.052.016)

Beginning at first as a young lad working above ground at one of the picking tables, boys were a vital part of the workforce. Boys would often leave school as soon as possible to accompany their fathers to the mines to work and contribute to the family's income. They were a crucial part of the workforce. They were also cheap labour.

Labourers provided the ‘muscle’ in creating the mine's foundations. They dug tunnels, set timbers, and helped to lay tramway tracks both below and above the pit.

Hewers, known in Cumberland as ‘Contract Miners’, were digging up the coal itself and were at the top of the pit hierarchy. It would take years of experience to become a hewer but the pay, freedom, and status was worth it. Hewers were paid by weight of coal produced, would have the freedom to hire helpers under them, and to choose how many hours a day to work.

Young men underground were initially employed as trappers: assigned to open and shut the doors that kept the ventilation in the mine operating. As they moved up the ranks, they became helpers, who would assist the hewers by carrying buckets of coal amongst other tasks and mule drivers.

Tulley Brown and Bill Platt
Two miners timbering (983.081.022)

Cumberland miner, Daniel Morgan started his career as a labourer and became a mining engineer. After years of experience, he could gain industry-recognized qualifications and attain positions of seniority in the workforce.

Certificate of Competency for Daniel Morgan
Certificate of competency for Daniel Morgan (996.004.004)

During the time of colonial settlement and rampant industrial development on the Island, mining companies treated non-Europeans with a disposable attitude.

The Kwakiutl at Suquash, near Tsaxis (Fort Rupert) and the Snuneymuxw in Nanaimo mined the coal themselves and traded with the early Europeans settlers. They later negotiated the Europeans' direct access to it with treaties. But soon, the colony stopped making treaties and ignored the ones in place. Industrial companies took hold of the remaining coal seams on unceded territories.

Asian workers were segregated socially, economically and politically. They were not allowed to live in company housing, and they were paid a fraction of their white counterparts’ wage. Even during the ‘Boom Years’ of the coal industry in Cumberland, the Chinese and Japanese miners' pay didn’t improve.

The opportunities to progress through the workforce ranks were non-existent, they were not allowed to become contractors and were assigned unskilled and undesirable positions as labourers, helpers and mule drivers.

Pay Statement from No.4 Mine for Wong Poy
Pay statement for Wong Poy (982.020.021)
7 mules and men by railway
Mules and men (982.056)

Chinese workers had a reputation for being the best mule drivers in the Cumberland mines. Prior to mechanisation, mules were introduced underground for haulage. They pulled heavy coal cars and performed jobs that would have taken dozens of labourers to perform.

Two Men Underground
Two men underground with a coal car (990.025.015)

Firebosses held a position of authority, they were responsible for all the safety checks before the men went underground. Checking that gas wasn't present at the working face was a top priority. At times canaries were brought underground to detect poisonous gases. Their rapid breathing meant that when exposed to dangerous gases, they would become agitated or sway in their cage, and—in particularly bad cases—die.

Miners knew conditions were unsafe when a canary showed these signs, and were signalled to stop work and evacuate the mine.

Mule in a harness underground
A mule and a coal car underground (990.025.014)

The hierarchical structure within the mining workforce had clear divisions. Considered the most valuable ‘employees’ in the workforce, in the event of a disaster, the mules were the first to be evacuated followed by the white miners, and finally the Asian workers.

3 Asian Canadian miners with hand Pick and Shovels
Three miners (981.326.001)

Asian workers were often blamed for mining disasters and used as scapegoats in the press which ultimately led to aggressive and oppressive laws being added to the Coal Mines Regulation Act that prevented them from working underground. In Cumberland, the Canadian Collieries Co., paid the government fines and continued to employ Chinese miners underground.

Outside of the internal mine workings, additional barriers created greater inequalities and divisions among workers.

Although risking life and limb, Asian miners were excluded from the labour fight to provide better working conditions and the right to unionise. The use of Asian miners as strikebreakers strained social relationships with the white workforce and led to further racial slander in the years that followed.