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HISTORY BUFF: How the search for Utopia has shaped Nelson

Columnist Jean-Philippe Stienne discusses the Doukobors, the Quakers, and the counter-culture movement of the 1960s

Nelson is different. To many it's refreshingly so, to others it’s just a little bit weird. The main industries in the city for its first 70 years included mining, fruit farming, shipbuilding, forestry, and railways; colonial structures were well embedded. Many people worked in government jobs, in the public schools, or at the Catholic Church-sponsored Notre Dame University. However, a large section of the regional population was already living outside the capitalist mainstream.

The Doukhobor community arrived in Kootenays before the First World War bringing the ideas of pacifism, vegetarianism, and shared ownership of land and assets. In the 1950s a group of Quakers rejected the militarism and materialism of American society to settle in Argenta, forming a work co-operative and Friends’ school. In 1963, Swami Sivananda Radha founded the Yasodhara Ashram yoga retreat on the Kootenay Lake east shore.

In the late 1960s a strong counterculture movement emerged in Western society. A rejection of capitalist materialism and Cold War militarism largely centred on the Vietnam War led many to search for an escape to an alternative – even utopian – lifestyle. The Kootenays, already containing a substantial group of sympathetic people with some shared values, became a main centre of the counterculture movement in North America. Many were turning their back on Canadian and American big cities. Others were Americans evading the draft for the Vietnam War for themselves, their partners or their children.

The Kootenays, primarily the Slocan Valley, became a major centre for communes and other back-to-the-landers. Many of these people were well-educated, highly political and cared deeply for the environment, and people soon got involved with local watershed and wilderness protection groups. Creativity blossomed with artists, poets, potters, and quilters emerging out of a movement which encouraged personal and artistic expression. Acclaimed bands Brain Damage and Pied Pumkin, and the innovative Theatre Energy collective were among the most prominent entertainment groups that emerged. Alternative education blossomed at the Vallican Whole School, Goat Mountain School in Hills and Rosebery, and later at Wildflower School in Nelson.

The new wave continued their search for an idealistic way of life through organic farming, a simple rustic do-it-yourself mindset, and an independent economy in the production of resources such as cannabis.

Many of the counterculture communes did not last long as the hardships of rural living, opposition from some locals for their non-conformity, and difficulty maintaining good relations with other communal members all took a toll. Nevertheless, the influence of the counterculture community and other alternative living communities have left a legacy that has shaped the local economy and mindsets of people in West Kootenay mainstream culture.

Today, there is a strong presence of co-operative local organizations in Nelson – we see it in housing, finance, health care, car rentals, radio, and food. There are several co-operative housing communities in our area such as the Heddlestone Village and Middle Road Community; many alternative local businesses and services thrive in our downtown; and the vibrant and diverse arts and culture scene is a cornerstone of the community.  

“Believing that we can do anything and can choose a society we want to live in is an empowering element that came out of the counterculture movement that still lives on around here,” says Will Parker, a board member of the Rural Alternatives Research and Training Society, which operates the Vallican Whole Community Centre and the Dumont Creek Burial Society. “That creative thinking. That out-of-box thinking. The sort of sense that we can change and influence the world around us ... to make the world that you want.”

The Utopia Unveiled exhibition is now on at Nelson Museum, Archives and Gallery until September 28. For more information about the exhibition please visit nelsonmuseum.ca.

Jean-Philippe Stienne is the archivist and collections manager at the Nelson Museum Archives and Gallery. History Buff runs monthly.