Salt Lagoon sits at the southwestern base of the Spiller Range on Porcher Island, connected by a tidal channel 1.8 miles (2.9 km) long to Porcher Inlet, which extends 11 miles (18 km) from the south and nearly bisects the island, about 15 miles (24 km) north-northeast of Kitkatla and 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Oona River, British Columbia. Porcher Island was named after Commander Edwin A. Porcher of HMS Sparrowhawk, based at the Pacific Station in Esquimalt from 1865 to 1868, who was sent north to investigate unrest on the Nass River. The tidal range can exceed 20 feet (6 m), and the outlet of Salt Lagoon has a tidal rapid, or skookumchuck. The island is generally flat but framed by the Spiller Range along the northeast coast and the Chismore Range along the southeast coast; the latter includes Egeria Mountain, named after HMS Egeria, with a summit elevation of 2,915 feet (889 m). Both ranges are part of the Kitimat Ranges. Porcher Island belongs to the Alexander terrane, within a composite terrane called Wrangellia, which accreted to North America during the Middle Jurassic as part of the North American Cordillera, an accretionary orogen active as a convergent margin since the Devonian. The Coast Range Batholith subsequently intruded the region and is exposed along much of British Columbia’s west coast, consisting mostly of granodiorite and quartz diorite with inclusions of older rock.

Porcher Island is the traditional territory of the Kitkatla, or Gitxaala Nation. Archaeological research has identified prehistoric occupation through a cluster of shell middens at the western end of Kitkatla Inlet, with six more surrounding the inlet and five rock fish traps. The Kitkatla are one of 14 bands of the Tsimshian people and today inhabit the village of Kitkatla on Dolphin Island, on the south coast of Porcher Island, separated by Kitkatla Inlet. Early Euro-American explorers and fur traders called this band the Sebassa tribe, after their chief Ts’ibasaa. The name Kitkatla derives from the Tsimshian Gitkxaała, meaning “people of the open sea” or “people of the saltwater,” as they are the farthest from the mainland of the Tsimshian tribes. When Prince Rupert was announced as the terminus of the Grand Trunk Railway, settlers arrived from across the continent, and by 1907 dozens of homesteaders had claimed preempted land on islands off the mouth of the Skeena River. Porcher Island was first settled by Swedish and Norwegian pioneers who grew fruits and vegetables and raised sheep, though it has always remained sparsely populated due to its isolation and severe maritime climate. Three small communities were established during the 20th century at Hunts Inlet, Humpback Bay, and Oona River, the last of which has the largest permanent population.

Salmon and herring are the most important fish in Kitkatla territory, constituting close to two-thirds of identifiable fish bones recovered from archaeological sites. Salmon sites were owned and managed by hereditary leaders; fish were caught by gaffing and spearing, using stone traps and wooden weirs, and with nets and hook-and-line gear. Herring were caught for their flesh, and roe was collected on seaweed, kelp, and hemlock branches. Over the past century, overharvesting has depleted herring stocks, and commercial herring fisheries have been closed for several years, requiring many more to recover. Halibut and other bottom fish—rock cod, gray cod, black cod, and lingcod—were a persistent and significant part of traditional diets; halibut was sliced thin, dried, and stored for later consumption. Fish were also traded with mainland peoples who lacked access to fishing grounds. In 2010 the Kitkatla participated in the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area marine planning process to identify strategies addressing threats to marine resources. A network of marine protected areas is to be designed alongside zones designated for specific uses, aimed at rebuilding ocean health while minimizing economic impacts on fishermen. Read more here and here. Explore more of Salt Lagoon and Porcher Island here: