Kwakwaka’wakw Peoples of Alert Bay (Vancouver to Amchitka: 1971)

Greenpeace crew visit the Kwakwaka’wakw Peoples of Alert Bay ('Yalis) in the Indigenous territory of the Namgis First Nation, on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada. The crew members are in the traditional Big House and were given regalia to wear and blessed with water and eagle feathers. This special ceremony was a huge honour and their way of thanking and protecting the crew from harm on their first Greenpeace campaign.

This is a photographic record by Robert Keziere of the very first Greenpeace voyage, which departed Vancouver on the 15th September 1971. The aim of the trip was to halt nuclear tests in Amchitka Island by sailing into the restricted area. 

The crew on-board the ship, are the pioneers of the green movement who formed the original group that became Greenpeace.