culture shock interactive gallery

Culture Shock is 100% owned and operated by Namgis FIrst Nations Entrepenurs, Barb, Donna, Andrea Cranmer they come from families with a wealth of knowledge in Kwakwaka'wakw Culture, They have beautiful local made arts and treasures. When you enter Culture Shock, you meet the real people! who will share their passion of keeping culture alive in well in Alert Bay BC.POP into Culture Shock you won't regret it!

Enjoyed a coffee and smoothie while doing a bit of last minute shopping before we caught the ferry to Port McNeill. Aboriginal art including clothing - prices were good - some lower priced items for those little souvenirs for friends and well priced larger art works.

This little shop is amazing! We had just been to see the Tsasala Cultural Group dance performance and the lady in the shop was one of the dancers. In the gallery they were playing a David Attenborough documentary and she casually showed us her and her sisters dancing some 30 years ago. Plan on spending lots of time in the shop....lots to look at....and lots of fascinating conversation. We went to their salmon barbecue and felt so welcome...it was wonderful....we even tried (and liked) glitna.They have many different types of activities: cedar weaving, singing, storytelling, tours....you should check before you visit Alert Bay to see what is coming up.

We stopped by Culture Shock for coffee (which was great)... But we were privileged to hear 2 people sing local songs, written by family members, and accompanied only by a small handheld drum! This was spontaneous music at its best. If I were a TV producer making a programme about indigenous people I could not have given a better example! Thank you Culture Shock!

When having an excellent latte in the Culture Shock Gallery in Alert Bay, we were invited to a traditional salmon barbecue.The barbecue is one of the activities people can do with "Culture Shock" to get to know Namgis Culture. Other activities are cedar weaving, storytelling and cultural tours.K'odi Nelson, a Namgist Firs Nation man who is deeply embedded in traditional culture showed us the way to prepare wild sockey salmon. After he showed us, we had to do it ourselves. It was fun to do. The atmospher was nice and relaxed with joking going on between participants and teacher. While preparing the salmon we learned al lot about First Nation culture and issues. It was very interesting to talk to people like K'odi en Barb Cranmer, a Namgis filmmaker who lives in Alert Bay and works for culture shock. Meeting these people and taking part in the barbecue was an enrichment to our holiday on Vancouver Island. And the salmon was the best I ever ate!

Wonderful customer service melds with traditional experiences that will give you memories for a lifetime.