Category Archives: History

Finding Gilean Douglas & The Protected Place

Originally broadcast in Season One of the Deep Roots Initiative, Cortes Radio, CKTZ, 89.5 FM

In search of the deep spiritual roots of today’s environmental crisis, Sobhanā ​Dilani Hippola ​traces the footsteps of a pioneer spiritual ecologist, Gilean Douglas, from an old miner’s shack in the Cascade mountains to the majestic land of Channel Rock here on Cortes Island.  Gilean’s life and nature writings offer insight into the importance of dwelling close to wilderness and protecting sacred places.

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Vintage Vignettes #8-#14

Have you ever wondered what life was like in a small island community in simpler times?  Imagine: no ferries, no electricity, few roads or cars, no medical services, ambulance or firefighters. Back then life was what you made of it, with the help of your neighbours. Local self-reliance meant gathering and growing food, rowing and walking to get around, and generally having a great deal of practical knowledge and skills. And making your own entertainment. But that doesn’t mean life was dull. Not at all.

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Vintage Vignettes 1-7

Come on board for the first season of Vintage Vignettes, a joint project of Cortes Community Radio and Cortes Island Museum and Archives, brings you “radio snapshots” of local life in simpler times. These brief episodes feature dramatized voices from the past with archive recordings of music from the “Old Timers”, a dance band that played locally for several decades. In Vintage Vignettes 1 -7 we focus on colourful characters and memorable events, from the first drive across Cortes Island to the 1946 earthquake.

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Launch Of The Modern Environmental Movement

Greenpeace exploded into the public’s awareness after confronting the Russian Whaling fleet off the coast of California. This kind of environmental action was unheard of  in 1975! The next day, there were photographs around the world. Looking back today, Rex Wyler thinks that, in some ways, that moment was the launch of the modern environmental movement.

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