Wei Wai Kum First Nation‘s latest business venture is acquiring a majority stake in the Campbell River Adventure Tours Group, which includes Campbell River Whale Watching and Wildcoast Adventures.
The current owners Stephen Gabrysh and Tyler Bruce will remain partners and oversee day-to-day operations during the transition to full ownership, which is anticipated in the near future.
This acquisition is another step in a broader economic strategy that includes a number of businesses operating within their traditional territory.
Campbell River Whale Watching co-owners Stephen Gabrysh (left) and Tyler Bruce (right) with Chief Chris Roberts of the Wei Wai Kum First Nation (centre) at the Wei Wai Kum Band office.
Wei Wai Kum Business Ventures
“This partnership is about more than business; it is about the stewardship of our waters and the future of our people,” says Chief Chris Roberts of the Wei Wai Kum First Nation, in a press release. “Stephen and Tyler have built an incredible operation that has always operated with a deep respect for this territory. By bringing these companies under Wei Wai Kum ownership, we are expanding our presence in the marine sector, creating career pathways for our youth, and ensuring that our history and culture will be shared authentically with the world.”
The Wei Wei Kum own or hold:
- The Discovery Crescent Shopping Centre, whose tenants include the White Spot, Boston Pizza, Tim Horton’s, Wendy’s and The Great Canadian Oil Change.
- Discovery Harbour Marina in Campbell River
- Discovery Harbour Fuel Sales – beside the Discovery Harbour Shopping Centre (Campbell River’s largest shopping centre)
- CRIBCO Forest Products Ltd, which has three forest tenures. These are in Pye Lake, north of Campbell River, and between Heydon Bay and Loughborough Inlet on the Mainland.
Campbell River Adventure Tours
Wildcoast Adventures has guided kayak tours throughout the region since 1997, and Campbell River Whale Watching has been a player in the region’s tourism sector since 2008. comparably long history. Tyler Bruce and Stephen Gabrysh purchased the latter a decade later. The Wei Wai Kum bring another dimension to the visitor experience.
“The Wei Wai Kum have a long-standing connection to this land, and we are excited by the potential to deepen guests’ connections with the water and local culture,” Gabrysh said. “This evolution keeps the business rooted locally, stable, and positioned for lasting success.”
This carving is a territory acknowledgment and a celebration of Liǧʷiłdaxʷ cultural heritage and storytelling, at Campbell River Whale Watching’s office at the Discovery Harbour Marina. Photo by Jenna Dixon
Wei Wai Kum History
Their traditional histories tell how the Creator warned their Chief WaiKai that a great flood was coming. He built great canoes and attached them to the top of a mountain with cedar ropes. Chief WaiKai and his people rode the flood out in their canoes.
Archaeologists trace the arrival of Indigenous peoples back to the post ice age area. One of the oldest archaeological sites in North America is at Triquet Island, about 250-300 km north of Quadra, where materials from the ancient hearth were dated at about 14,000 years. Rock scrapers, spear points, simple flake knives, gravers and goose egg-size stones used as hammers – the oldest of which date back 12,800 years – were dug up at Yeatman Bay on Quadra Island.
Assuming that their DNA has passed down to the modern era, these prehistoric pioneers would have been ancestral to the Wei Wai Kum and all the other First Nations within our area.
When they entered the era of written records, the Wei Wei Kum were one of the Laich-Kwil-Tach nations whose ancestral territory was further to the north, but whose war canoes terrorized the Stó:lō Nations along the Fraser River. They also pushed the K’omoks away from the Quinsam River.
According to their website, “The Wei Wai Kum eventually moved to Campbell River, via Greene Point (Matlaten) circa 1900.”
Orca seen on Wildcoast Adventures’ Orca Camp experience. Photo by Sara Kempner
“We are incredibly proud to partner with the Wei Wai Kum First Nation,” says Gabrysh. “This evolution allows us to deepen the connection our guests have with this land. It ensures that the business remains locally rooted, stable, and committed to success for generations to come.”
Links of Interest:
- Wei Wai Kum First Nation website
- Articles about, or mentioning, the Wei Wai Kum First Nation
- Campbell River Whale Watching
- Wildcoast Adventures Facebook page
Top image credit: The wood-fired sauna and beachfront featured at Wildcoast Adventures’ Orca Camp glamping experience. Photo by Michael Hack.
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