An introduction to Haida Gwaii

Before we get into what we did here, let me start by telling you a bit about where we are and what we are doing here. It is a bit long, but we found the place quite fascinating, and it really helps to understand a bit about the history here.

The Islands

Haida Gwaii, or the Queen Charlotte Islands as it used to be known, is an archipelago off the northern coast of British Columbia, reaching almost up to the edge of Alaska. There are around 150 islands in total, but the two main and largest are Graham Island and Moresby Island; we were staying in Queen Charlotte on Graham Island.

The islands are sometimes referred to as the northern Galapagos, because they have quite a diversity of flora and fauna, including various sub species, like the black bear here that is somewhat larger than those found elsewhere, or the type of stoat that is smaller than all of the rest. However, it was not the wildlife we were here to see – which is just as well, as we hardly saw any. It may be similar to the Galapagos scientifically, but I think you’d be disappointed if you came here expecting to have the kind of plentiful and fantastic wildlife experiences that you get in the real thing!

The Haida People

Unusually for us, we were more interested in the people here, than the wildlife. These islands have for centuries, been home to the Haida clans of First Nations People. It has been suggested that they may have arrived here around 13,000 years ago.

The Haida were a pretty fearsome bunch, known for their aggression in battle, and carrying out raiding parties against other First Nation tribes, including abducting people to be used as slaves in their villages.

We had read about these abductions of slaves before arriving, and we had wondered whether this would be discussed, or just glossed over. We were pleased to find that the Haida guides that we had were quite open about it. They did make a point of trying to differentiate between their actions and that of the Black African Slave Trade, by saying that, whilst people were taken against their will, and made to work, they were treated considerably better than slavery suggests.

We were told that, similar to the need to be seen to be generous at a potlatch, it was important that you were seen to treat your slaves well. Indeed, there are tales of them being taken back to their home villages so that they can be shown off for how well they are cared for. There are also stories that, with the need to try to avoid too much intermarriage, some slaves even married into the tribes, although of course being cynical as I am, I have to wonder just how much choice they had in that matter.

With having slaves to do most of their chores, the Haida had more time on their hands, and one by product of that is that they spent more time on artistic pursuits, meaning that their artwork and carvings are some of the most celebrated amongst First Nations people.

The Haida have two clan groups, The Ravens and The Eagles, and they lived in around one hundred settlements scattered about the islands. When the Europeans arrived, the Haida numbered around 3,000. The initial interaction was not too bad, focussed on trade and largely leaving the Haida in peace. However, in time, the British Colony started to encroach on their land, and began programmes of mining their resources.

And with increased contact, the Haida, like so many of the indigenous population, were devastated by outbreaks disease, mostly smallpox, brought over by the white settlers. By 1900, the Haida population had dwindled to only around 350 people, a loss of 90% of lives. Eventually, the individual villages were no longer sustainable, and those that were left moved to new communities in either Old Masset or Skidegate, on Graham Island, the largest island.

The islands here are a mixed community now. There are around 2,000 Haida people, with about a third living in Skidegate, a third in Old Masset, and the rest in other locations. The remaining 2,500 residents are other Canadians and some foreign settlers.

 

The fight for control of the islands

In 1974, whilst the islands were still under the authority of the Canadian Government, the Haida people set up the Council of the Haida Nations, to try to establish some degree of control for themselves and to make a claim for the title of the land. These title claims are a complex issue for the Canadian Government and Courts, and the issue has still yet to be resolved.

For once though, the old Indian Act came may well come to the aid of the Haida people. In the simplest of terms, it contained a clause that enforced any land agreements made between the white settlers and the First Nations people; this is often a bad thing, as those ‘agreements’ were often unfair and forced, but it does mean that an agreement was necessary. In the case of the Haida though, they never signed such a treaty, and so it seems that they have a considerably better chance of arguing that their lands had been taken incorrectly.

In the meantime, they have already made significant progress towards gaining control over their lives and lands. This came about after the small-scale logging on the islands was massively increased in scale in the 1980s. The Haida people had already been trying to protect the southern part of the islands since 1974, but as the logging escalated, so did their protests. The most important of them was the Lyell Islands protest, and they succeeded in stopping the logging.

The subsequent South Moresby Agreement in 1988 provided safeguards to protect the southern part of the islands, with the creation of the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site, and placed the lands under a shared stewardship with the Haida people.

This was further improved in 1993, with the signing of the Gwaii Haanas Agreement, which created the Archipelago Management Board, which has equal membership from the Council of Haida Nations and, at the time Parks Canada, but now more widely from the Government of Canada. Then in 2010, the Haida Gwaii Reconciliation Act created a marine reserve in the area, and also changed the name of the islands to Haida Gwaii (Islands of the People).

This joint decision making was reinforced by a court ruling in 2004, which specifically prevents the Canadian authorities from making decisions that may have a negative impact on their lives and lands, without consulting with the Haida people.

What's so special here?

One advantage of the islands being remote and hard to each, is that, unlike many old First Nations villages on the mainland, many of the settlements here were not taken over by white settlers. Instead, the villages were simply abandoned and, whilst a combination of time, weathering and the scavenging of collectors, means that there is not all that much to see, it is possible to visit some of them, to get a glimpse of how they used to live.

Anthony Island is home to a particularly good example, the old Haida village of SGang Gwaay. This village remains here are sufficiently impressive that, in 1981, the site was granted UNESCO World Heritage Site status. It is this that we have come to see.