TV mogul Oprah Winfrey visited the tiny B.C. community of Alert Bay Friday
  
Victoria Times Colonist
Saturday, August 04, 2007


              
Oprah with Sean Whonnock, Sylvia Gaudet & Bertha Isaac
(Photo credit: Bryan Hunt}

Oprah Winfrey at the Oscars in February: "Wise Woman."

The tiny community of Alert Bay is still bathing in the afterglow of an unexpected visit Friday by the queen of daytime TV, Oprah Winfrey.

Winfrey came to the community of 556 people on Coromorant Island, about 500 kilometres north of Victoria, just before noon Friday, according to 'Namgis First Nation Chief Bill Cranmer.

She arrived on a 150-foot yacht owned by B.C. billionaire Jim Pattison, who visits the small community in Johnstone Strait about once a year.

On the PerezHilton.com celebrity gossip site, one reader wrote in about the visit: "We don't get a lot of excitement here, so when I noticed this giant yacht parked at the local dock, I knew it was someone important. Sure enough, the town was buzzing with word that OPRAH WINFREY was here! I couldn't believe it!"

"People were just so excited to see her," Cranmer said Saturday. "It was like a mob. She signed autographs, posed for pictures."

Cranmer picked up Winfrey and Pattison in his truck and brought the two back to the U'mista Cultural Centre and the 'Namgis big house, where a potlatch was in progress. Winfrey was given a tour of some native artifacts at the cultural centre before heading up to the potlatch.

"She's got quite a fan club up here," Cranmer said.

Andrea Cranmer, co-ordinator of the T'sasala Cultural Group, says she admires Winfrey and watches her television show because she promotes things like women's leadership. She was in the big house with hundreds of others when Winfrey made her entrance.

"I was really shocked and then it was kind of like a dream that she was standing inside our big house," Andrea Cranmer said. "Some people cried, some people were just hugging her, praising her for being in Alert Bay."

During the potlatch, it's customary for women not to speak, she said. But the chief made an exception, and Winfrey, fresh from a whirlwind tour of the cultural centre, told the assembled crowd that they're fortunate to have their culture intact.

Andrea Cranmer said Winfrey praised the 'Namgis ancestors and the rest of the people for keeping their traditions alive when many African-American traditions had been lost.

Winfrey was given an honorary name in the language of the 'Namgis that roughly translates to "Wise Woman" and she took part in some dancing before walking back to the dock.

"It's still amazing," Andrea Cranmer said Saturday. "We're like, who's coming next? Bono? Come with Bono next time! Because we all believe in the same things - healthy spirits, being connected - so it's really cool."

The Alert Bay rumour mill had it that Winfrey and Pattison's next stop would be Nimmo Bay, a nearby fishing resort that once played a role in an episode of the TV show Boston Legal.

Alert Bay itself is no stranger to celebrities. John Wayne, Bob Hope and Merv Griffin were all known to visit the village, which they enjoyed because they could have a drink in the pub without being bothered, according Alert Bay Mayor John Rowell. When Rowell heard about Winfrey's surprise visit, he made his way down to the dock but the TV mogul was long gone.

"It was the topic of conversation last night," Rowell said.

But not everyone in town was star-struck.

"I knew she was here, but I just don't give a s--t," said Alert Bay resident Roy Johnson, when reached by phone. "It was inconsequential."

© Victoria Times Colonist 2007