Interview with Bill Rice-Wyse

Audio recording and transcript of Bill Rice-Wyse's 1979 interview with Lynne Bowen for the Coal Tyee History Project. During the interview, Rice-Wyse shares details from his 10 years in Protection Island Mine, where, to his recollection, he was one of only a few Indigenous workers who went underground. Rice-Wyse shares how he played for the Western Fuel Company's baseball team, and he talks about his job as a "chunker." He explains some coal mining equipment, particularly the electric motor system that was used to haul coal underground in the connected Protection Island and Number 1 Esplanade Mines. He talks about Granby, and how he considered getting a job there, but didn't because the housing situation wasn't desirable. Throughout the interview, Rice-Wyse shares details about his experience living as an Indigenous person in the Nanaimo area, and he also speaks about his connections within the Snuneymuxw First Nation.