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Digging into the buried history of Vancouver Island’s Black miners

Cumberland had a significant if obscure community working the coal mines in the 19th century
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This cairn on the way to Comox Lake from Cumberland marks where the village’s Black community once stood. Photo by Ali Roddam

By Madeline Dunnett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter THE DISCOURSE

In 1889, 60 Black miners arrived in Cumberland, B.C. from Pennsylvania and Ohio, hoping for work and a better life.

At that time, the coal industry was booming and workers came from around the world in search of opportunity. But miners faced harsh working conditions, racism and segregation.

Much of the history of the small Black settlement north of Comox Lake Road between Chinatown and No.

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