"This property was part of the original homestead of Johan (John) Eik who arrived in Clayoquot Sound aboard his own sailing sloop. This was not John’s first visit to the area, however. After leaving his homeland of Norway in 1891, at age 22, he landed in New York and travelled to Seattle where he worked on halibut schooners fishing as far north as the Bering Sea. On one voyage the schooner sought shelter in Clayoquot Sound and John decided he would someday return.

When John pre-empted this property in 1896 this western red cedar was already about 700 years old. In March 2001, it was slated for removal after being declared a “danger tree” potentially hazardous to new development on the property.

A local protest began and two people lived high in the branches for over a month while alternative solutions were debated. In the end, the Tofino Natural Heritage Society was formed and hired a structural engineer to design and install the tree’s unique brace".
-Tofino Arts Council

Discover Eik Street / Eik Cedar

Explore the Tofino Downtown Cultural Walk

Photo provided to the Tofino Arts Council by Hamilton Family, Tofino Clayoquot Heritage Museum