Its worth taking the ferry to Quadra just to see this small but excellent museum and the village. It houses a sacred potlach collection of repatriated artifacts -- masks, ceremonial dress, canoes, totems. The items are wonderful and the interpretation is excellent. We arrived just when an elder was telling stories -- an unexpected treat. And there is a carving shed next door where they are carving totems.

Go see this!

After visiting the U'mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay, we wanted to see the other BC Cultural Centre that showcased Potlatch masks. Since we were on a sailboat, we took the ferry to Quadra Island and then walked about 1 1/2 miles to find the Centre. There are little signs directing along the highway, but no sidewalks. Luckily, traffic is light and the scenery is relaxing.
The museum is compact and has probably a hundred masks, artifacts and other First Nations items. I found the blown up historical photographs really interesting as they showed how villages were built. The newspapers of the day were fascinating--not only stories about First Nation issues, but other world events happening. Most of the items are in glass boxes, although the totems and a few masks are in the open. The gift shop is very small with a few local artists represented.
There also is a totem carving shed, but when we visited, no one was available to discuss the totems being carved. The Centre is definitely worth a visit, though, and it should be better promoted because the First Nation history found here is educational. There also is a walk along the beach that sounded fun, but we'd already walked 1 1/2 miles and had another 1 1/2 miles to get back to the ferry.