Gwaii Haanas – The Haida People

From our early reading and planning, we knew that the Queen Charlotte Islands/Haida Gwaii were the homeland of the Haida people.  We also understood that over the nearly 10,000 years of their life on these islands they had developed a complex culture with a rich artistic tradition.  They had a reputation as fierce warriors who “ranged at will”, and the sight of Haida war canoes appearing out of the mists brought fear from present day Sitka to Seattle.

We also had learned that epidemics of measles and small pox in the late 1800’s had decimated the Haida.  The loss of more than 90% of the population, and abandonment of all but two of their villages must surely have devastated their cultural life as well.   We were not sure what to expect in this regard.

The Haida Cultural Centre in Skidegate.

On a wall in the new addition of the Haida Heritage Center, we saw a moving quote from Bill Reed about those times:  “It was a triumph of the human will that those alive then, and their children to follow, remained sane and managed to adapt.”  While touring the new addition to the Haida Heritage Center in Skidegate, we began to sense that a powerful renaissance is underway among the Haida.  It was probably first visible to westerners through artists such as Bill Reid.  However, the renaissance includes much more.  There is a strong linguistic and political dimension as well

We walked around the Haida Language Center in Skidegate, which has a fine frontal pole carved by Bill Reid.  Later, two of the Watchman we met described, in very positive terms, the Skidegate Haida Immersion Program (SHIP).   This program used audio recordings of Haida elders made in the mid-1900’s to more fully recover the Haida language and develop a written language. Adults and youth, native and non-native, attend this program.

Haida Language Centre with pole by Bill Reid.

The political dimension shows most clearly in the increasingly successful efforts of the Haida to recover ownership of their homeland.  The logging protests of 1985 were one part of this effort.  Frank, a Watchman at Tanu, mentioned with evident pride that his father used his seiner to bring in boatloads of protestors to Windy Bay on Lyell Island.  The logging confrontation on Lyell Island lead to the compromise that created the jointly managed “National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site” on the southern third of the island chain. 

. 

This compromise was a disappointment to many Haida who will accept nothing less than full sovereignty over their homeland.  Shirley, one of the Watchmen at SGang Gwaay, shared her feelings about this arrangement.  She concluded by saying that perhaps the Park Reserve was a good thing after all, because it gave the Haida a means to make more people aware of their culture (and their cause?).

It was Leah, a Watchmen at Windy Bay, who’s words best captured for us, the spirit of the Haida today.  She was discussing the hard times when village after village was abandoned as their populations were decimated by disease.  The survivors, of necessity, gathered into two remaining villages.  Leah noted that this was a difficult transition because of historical rivalries and conflicts between villages and prominent chiefs.  Then after a pause, she continued “But we are all Haida now.”   They do seem united in the goal of recovering sovereignty over their homeland.

For us, the experience of visiting these old Haida villages was greatly enhanced by our conversations with Watchmen, young and old, who formed a bridge between the past and the present.  We are leaving Gwaii Haanas with the sense that we did not travel through the remnants of a vanished people.  Rather, we saw some of the history of a people who are recovering their strength and have a strong sense of identity.