Around the World in 8000 days: The UNESCO World Heritage Site of S'Gang Gwaay

Welcome to our travel blog. We are Tabitha and Nic. In 2011 we 'retired' in our early 40s and set off to travel the world. We spent our first year in South America and have been lucky enough to make two trips to Antarctica.

Our blog is a record of our travels, thoughts and experiences. It is not a guide book, but we do include some tips and information, so we hope that you may find it useful if you are planning to visit somewhere we have been. Or you may just find it interesting as a bit of armchair travel.

Thursday, September 28, 2017

The UNESCO World Heritage Site of S'Gang Gwaay

S'Gang Gwaay, Haida Gwaii

Our second full day in Haida Gwaii meant our second boat trip with Haida Style, this time with a very early start, as we were heading right down to the southern end of the archipelago. Our destination was Anthony Island, and the Haida village of S’Gang Gwaay, or Ninstints, which is the name that white visitors gave it, based on the name of the village Chief.

Rainforest, S'Gang Gwaay, Haida Gwaii

Today, we were on the covered boat with James, and as it was a bit bumpy, and the journey was around 4.5 hours each way, we were quite glad of that. A few of our fellow shipmates felt a bit queasy in the rough patches as it was. Nic was OK though, as he had taken a tablet just in case, and I was don’t generally have any problem with seasickness anyway.

It was a long journey down to S’Gang Gwaay, and we were all pretty glad when we finally arrived, even if we were a little disappointed that in order to avoid missing our slot with the Watchmen, we didn’t have time to stop and watch the couple of humpbacks that we had seen in the bay.

Watchman Kelsey, S'Gang Gwaay, Haida Gwaii

The boats and away from the village site, in order to avoid spoiling the experience in the village, so to get there, we took a walk through the mysterious looking rainforest, with its dark moss and ancient trees. The main trees here are cedar spruce and hemlock, which we learned to tell apart by the patterns on their bark.

We were shown around the village by Patrick from Haida Style, and Kelsey, one of the Watchmen. They gave us a great tour around, with lots of interesting information and some lovely stories about the carvings on the totem poles.

Totems, S'Gang Gwaay, Haida Gwaii

Like Skedans, there were some remains of Haida Long Houses, and some collapsed and decaying poles, but unlike that village, S’Gang Gwaay also has quite a number of memorial poles that are still standing, and while the colours are long gone, the intricate carvings are still very visible. It isn’t hard to see why this was granted UNESCO World Heritage Site status.

Totems for guest Chief, S'Gang Gwaay, Haida Gwaii

We loved seeing the poles here. They may not be as well preserved as those that we might see in a museum or gallery, but there is something far better about seeing them still standing in the place that they were carved and raised, and where they served their proper purpose.

Standing here, they aren’t just a piece of artwork, they are a meaningful connection to the

people that once inhabited the village, as well as a stark reminder that those same people were decimated by disease brought by white colonists. Indeed, one of the poles, which stands a little away from the rest, at the edge of the village, is believed to be the mortuary pole of the Chief of another village, where the smallpox wiped out almost everyone, and the few that remained were allowed to join the village here.

Totems, S'Gang Gwaay, Haida Gwaii

Now I’m definitely not one of those people who goes to places and claims to be able to ‘feel the spirituality’. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t recognise when a place is meaningful, and S’Gang Gwaay certainly is that. It helps that Kelsey and Patrick brought the stories to life so well, but even without that, there is definitely a sense that you are somewhere quite special and unique. This was certainly the highlight of Haida Gwaii for us.

But whilst we did consider that the destination is worth the journey, if it felt like a long way out to S’Gang Gwaay, it felt even further on the way back.

Steller Sea Lions, Haida Gwaii

For a bit of respite, we stopped off again at the rock where the steller sea lions haul out and hung out with them for a while. We did think at one point, that we were going to be ‘seen off’ by one of the big males. He seemed to be mouthing off at us quite a bit, and made his way down to the water, as if he was threatening to come over and deal with us.

I wouldn’t say that he looked agitated by our presence – and certainly none of the others did – and he didn’t even seem that aggressive, it just looked like a lot of posturing. Perhaps he was trying to show off to the ladies or youngsters. Anyhow, he did get in the water, but didn’t come anywhere near us, just went and had a little swim around.

Haida Gwaii

We finally arrived back at Queen Charlotte later than expected, and glad that we had kept something quick and easy to cook when we got home after our thirteen hour day.

If you want to read about our other trip with Haida Style, and see more information about them, you can check out our post about Skedans, here:https://aroundtheworldin8000days.blogspot.com/2017/09/a-trip-to-haida-village-of-skedans.html