The Hawaiian Island in the heart of BC
Of all the pioneer names in British Columbia that have survived through the generations, perhaps the most unusual is Maria Mahoi. She was not a politician, nor wealthy coal baron, explorer or Hudsons Bay Company official. Rather, she was a mother. And yet that alone has been enough to earn her a place of honour and have her homestead enshrined as an integral part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. Her defining trait was her spirit, which allowed her and her family to flourish at a time when Maria had every reason to be suppressed, being twice indigenous – as both a Hawaiian and as a British Columbian native. "She was a woman who had a value of success...