Queen Charlotte Sound, the body of water between the north of Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii, is exposed to the west by the mighty Pacific Ocean, which showed her true colours for our journey. We experienced a huge following sea, strong gusts and rain which soaked us to the bone and heavily reefed down we had a white knuckle ride, at alarming speeds, to these mystical islands.
Haida Gwaii (formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands) translates as “Islands of the People” and is a cluster of remote islands off the British Columbia coast, seismically active because of a fault line off it’s west coast. Geologically Haida Gwaii was partially covered by glaciers which retreated 2,000 years before the rest of British Columbia leaving behind unique plants, birds and animals not found elsewhere.
The Haida people have lived on these islands for many thousands of years, migrating from Asia. They had a symbiosis with their surroundings with a fully sustainable way of living. Fishing, hunting and gathering berries in the summer; wood carving, painting, building canoes (tluu), building houses and organising ceremonial customs during the winter. They were respected and revered along this coastline as arbitrators and great warriors. Their culture was intertwined with the land, sea and spirit world - the Orca is the chief of the ocean people, Bear (taan) chief of the forest and the Eagle (Gud) chief of the skies. Human beings are supernatural and able to change from human form to other creatures. They had spiritual connections and carried out sacred ceremonies for plants and nature. Haida society was legally and socially structured. They had slaves which they captured on their warring missions on the mainland and whom they treated as part of their functioning community.
The Western Red-Cedar (ts’uu, meaning tree of life) with its towering height and giant girth has soft wood for carving and bark for fibres woven into clothes, hats, ceremonial masks, blankets, carrycots, ropes and rugs. Its resistance to rot (due to natural fungicides in its heartwood) was a vital part of Haida society and the most important of all plants in the Haida culture. Before using a trunk for a pole the Haida checked the health of the tree by making an inspection hole, coating the inside with clay and lighting a fire inside the hole. If smoke was seen rising from the top then the heartwood was dead and rotting; if there was an absence of smoke the tree was healthy and usable. Cedar was used to build houses, ceremonial centres, ocean-going canoes and totem poles. One interesting fact is that cedar wood was also used for kindling and a wad of cedar bark enclosed a smouldering piece of kindling, stored in the two halves of a clam shell and buried in the sand. Hours later this “slow match” could be used again to light a fire.
The house frontal poles were hand carved with their family crests and represented the family history. They were erected outside their residence with an oval opening at the base to allow entry to the dwelling. The extended family lived in one dwelling with a male as the overall chief of the house. The houses were built from cedar, using huge cut posts and beams, interlocked so they could be dismantled, stacked on their canoes and rebuilt in another camp. Generally only the house of the Chief of the village (Nang’iitlagadaas, meaning respected, wealthy one) was erected over tiered, deep earth pits of enormous proportions…..this structure was also used as the ceremonial centre of the village.
At the time of first European contact in these lands there were approximately twenty permanent villages distributed along the coastline.
The women were the traders of the family and traded sea otter pelts with European mariners for metals from 1774 until the extirpation of these mammals. Mining, forestry, fishing and whaling companies saw a lucrative potential in these islands, setting up their operations on Haida ancestral lands bringing smallpox, measles, TB, venereal disease, illegal alcohol, firearms and money which devastated the Haida population and culture. By 1900, the population had reduced to a tenth. By 1915 the surviving 600 people congregated in the last remaining villages of Skidegate and Massett.
The Haida used story telling to orally pass on their history from generation to generation, with much having being lost due to death from the introduction of European diseases and missionary influence. Haida language is known as a “language isolate” because it doesn’t have a relationship with any other language. The first written accounts of the Haida people, their culture, stories, plants, animals, birds, sea creatures were the journals of the fur traders and early miners. It wasn’t until 1980 that a written description of the phonetics, symbols and sounds of the language were published by John Enrico and then modified into a written system to be taught in schools by Golie Hans. Today the spelling of words and dialects differ according to which centre the families live.
In the 1970s and 1980s Haida Gwaii became world recognised by the actions of the remaining island residents wanting to reclaim their ancestral lands and heritage and halting logging on uninhabited islands in the archipelago. Parks Canada and the Haida jointly manage the reserve known as Gwaii Haanas, (place of wonder/beauty) which covers the southern part of Moresby Island and waters. Their role is to protect the ecology and culture of the Haida people. This is viewed by the Haida Nation as merely a truce since, for example, even though a national park which is meant to include the sea commercial fishing is still allowed.
After the extirpation of the sea otters the sea urchin population exploded. Sea Otters play a vital role in the kelp forest ecosystems by being a voracious shellfish eater controlling the Red Sea Urchins, who eat through vast quantities of kelp. Kelp forests are an ideal habitat for egg laying fish and molluscs. Bull kelp (hlkyaama) was suggested in Haida mythology as kelp that marked the entrance to a supernatural beings home under the sea. The bulbs were used for storage of grease and dogfish oil and the stipe as fishing line and rope. In the absence of the otter, the urchin population has exploded causing an imbalance of the ecosystem. Sea Otters are slowly returning but in small numbers. Northern Abalone is an endangered sea snail shaving been heavily fished in the 1970s. The Haida harvested Abalone for their diet, ceremonial use, art and jewellery. In 1990 fishing for this snail was forbidden but the Abalone population has not yet recovered. Poachers of Abalone are a problem here and the Fisheries are on constant watch. Rats, Raccoons and Red Squirrels were introduced by western man and continue to have a devastating effect on nesting birds, many of whom are unique to the islands. Sitka black-tailed deer (k’aad) browse intensively and very little undergrowth exists in Haida Gwaii with the elimination of ferns and berries as the outcome. Each year there is an active cull of the deers on nominated islands. Certain islands have restricted access to protect the cultural, spiritual and ecological factors. Visitors to Gwaii Haanas are limited to 100 people per day with a compulsory orientation programme. All rubbish must be taken out of the reserve. Watchmen police these heritage sites providing guidance, safety advice and a wealth of information regarding their heritage, culture and stories. In the past Watchmen were an important part of the community as they patrolled their villages, alerting the village of any approaching enemy.
On arrival in Gwaii Haanas we were welcomed by a pod of Orcas, a Fin whale and Humpbacks (kun) blowing in the distance. Heater Bay on the east coast of Kunghit Island was our first anchorage using most of our chain. The bay is named after Billy Heater an early twentieth century whale harpooner, who was a bible preacher on land and a “potty mouthed individual” on the boat. He was so successful that the whaling company kept him on until he was 75 years old! Despite the pilot books suggesting this to be a temporary anchorage our anchor held well in strong gusts but the sea-state was kind and we felt very comfortable for our few days there. Crabbing and kayaking were a feature in this bay, seeing our first Sitka Deer on the foreshore, a variety of birdlife and once again the most spectacular were the Bald Eagles, gliding over the trees, picking up the thermals, looping higher and higher.
We had a beautiful calm day when we travelled to our next anchorage. We overnighted in an idyllic anchorage in Etches Point Cove in Louscoone Inlet, surrounded by drying kelp and seaweed covered rocks. Humpback whales were blowing and diving just outside the entrance all evening, feeding off spawning Pacific Herring shoals (linang). A pair of Harbour Seals blew loud bubbles at one another and then had a short frenzied fight before dropping under the water. We believe that they were males deciding who was the most dominant.
This cove was perfect for an early morning departure to get to the UNESCO site on nearby SGaang Gwaii (pronounced Scang Gwy), meaning “wailing island” due to the sounds of the winds whistling through the rocks.
We temporarily anchored in a rocky north-west cove and kayaked to the beach where we followed a well trodden path through a forest dell to the Watchmen’s cabin. We were met by David, Donna and Kelsey who reside on site for several months during the spring-summer period. We were fortunate to have David to ourselves as no other visitors had reached the island. We were asked to respectfully photograph above the base of the poles as there maybe remains of the deceased lying at the foot. There was a short, beautiful walk partly along boardwalk to Nan Sdins village which was abandoned just over a hundred years ago, due to a Smallpox epidemic. The decaying yet regal funeral poles, most heavily carved, look out to sea, surrounded by a path of bleached Geoduck (pronounce “gooey-ducks) clam shells. There was a sense of calm and serenity when we entered this village. Haida tradition states when a chief died, his eldest nephew (since birth he was destined to become the next chief and raised accordingly) has two years to organise his uncle’s funeral pole carving, a potlatch to celebrate his life together with enclosing the human remains in the Chief’s “bent box” and interring the box in a cavity at the apex of the pole. The “bent box” is made by the individual from one piece of cedar wood, bent into shape by hot stones and steam, generally painted and not carved. During their lifetime, this box is used to keep all their personal possessions, clothes, dried plants and substances. They were watertight and sometimes used for cooked in - a multi purpose box.
These bent boxes continue to be made today by artists, selling them for a high price. The pole carvings depict the moiety of the deceased - either Eagle or Raven with human, animal and spiritual figures. The pole tells a story about the dead chief and his family, where the clans are represented as a subsection of the moiety. Arranged marriages with the opposite clans were vital to the Haida society, apart from the status and wealth that it brought (in the form of ownership of hunting grounds, fishing streams, berry and plant areas and timber) it gave “clean blood” to the next generation. Wealth was seen, not only in the lands the chief inherited but in the dances, songs, crests and names that have been passed from Haida generation to generation. Memorial poles are generally blank and represent the memory of the dead person who had been lost at sea or died elsewhere. These particular poles are of an enormous height, some of which are deadheads (trunks that are found in the water, vertically bobbing, a great danger to us mariners, as they can hole a boat). Generally rings are carved on these poles to represent “Potlatches” that the deceased had arranged in his lifetime. Potlatches are a symbol of personal and family status and commemorated important events during the chief’s life; marriages, building of a house, birth of a new chief, raising of poles etc. Many people are invited to these Potlatches, given food, entertained and receive gifts to mark the event. The invited are expected to bear witness to the event and to share this experience with others, sharing the stories. Some mortuary poles were clad in copper (xaal) to show how wealthy the dead chief was in life. The copper has long since disappeared, although some of the copper screw holes are still evident. Copper was an extremely valuable metal for the Haida and found on the islands. We heard that there are seams of gold in the northern area but the Haida are not interested in the mining of this metal, as it is located in their prime salmon grounds and the metal alone was too soft to be of any use to them. They used rocks impregnated with gold as anchors for their canoes! The first funeral pole we encountered was rustically carved with the shape of a human and a bear. It was for the last chief on the island and carved by one of the fleeing residents, possibly an apprentice carver as the symbols are not symmetrical. Other mortuary pole carvings symbolised the Bear Mother and her two children, Eagles, Ravens (Xuya, meaning “master of tricks” and the cousin of the Eagle) and Orcas. Whilst looking at the poles David told us stories relating to the various characters. The Bear Mother story was about a young girl foraging for berries in the wood when she stepped in bear scat. Her curses echoed through the trees reaching the bears. They captured her and took her to the Bear Chief who eventually married her and she bore him two children. After many years passed the Bear Mother started to miss her human family so asked her husband to release her back to them, he agreed on the understanding that whenever she was berry gathering in the future, she had to sing a song to prevent roaming bears from attacking her.
What happened to the remains of the rest of the villagers? They were interred in their bent-boxes and placed in a mortuary house behind the main family house to decay and return to the earth. It is suggested, but not proven, that when the slaves died they were thrown into the sea.
After this magical visit we decided, as it was calm, that we would motor up the west coast to Yakulanas Bay in the Gowgaia Inlet. The coastline was dominated by towering volcanoes - San Christoval Mountain range, scarred by recent and ancient landslides, with acres of trees tumbling onto the beach like matchsticks. This visit was not one of our favourites but a chance to see the extreme west coast.
We travelled south, surrounded by a large pod of Orcas. They appeared to be a collection of adults, juveniles and one calf. The calf gaily bounced after the others, flicking up it’s tail before diving. We believe they were hunting, working as a team, huge dorsal fins slicing the waves, with the odd breaching and spy-hopping. They kept us mesmerised for several hours. Haida believe that when people drown in Haida waters, they transform into Orcas.
Our next anchorage was Sperm Cove in Flamingo Inlet, a craggy shoreline, mostly uncharted. This one was a natural beauty, tucked in behind a tiny, ancient tree-clad island, drying sand-spit with Sitka Black-tailed deer foraging the succulent kelp, climbing up the rocks to get to the best bits, Ravens cawing, Eagles soaring and Black Oyster Catchers chirruping away at low tide. We took the RIB up to the head of the inlet to the mudflats, seeking out the elusive Haida Black Bear to no avail. Crabbing was also a disappointment here and the only thing we caught were tiny dark coloured squat lobster.
We had a bumpy ride towards Louscoone Inlet but as we entered the inlet, the sun came out and a favourable down wind breeze filled the sails. Earlier in our trip we had overnighted in Etches Point Cove but this time we carried on to the head of Louscoone Inlet, near the beaches and mudflats. Yes, we were seeking the Haida Bear and another attempt at crabbing, after necessary crab-trap repairs. A barren day except for a magnificent kayak at low water where we discovered what looked like broken urns on the seabed. Stephen read that they were the egg cases of the large, spherical Moon snail, a carnivorous shellfish. They lay their eggs between a sand sandwich in a spherical shape “sand collars”. We saw hundreds of these structures throughout this tidal area.
Another feature of this inlet was a buoy with a hose pipe delivering untreated fresh water from a lake on the western shore. Something, neither of us have encountered during our many years of sailing.
Rose Inlet is a gem with little written about it’s beauty in the pilot books. Photographs do not do it justice and we were humbled to be there, surrounded by rocks and shoals. Unfortunately it was too choppy to kayak whilst we were there so we took “M” as far up the isthmus as we could. Exposed rocks were a warming station for a group of Harbour Seals. Nearby on one of the small craggy islands a massive Raccoon scampered into the shade as we passed. Gnarled, windswept trees hanging on by their roots to volcanic rocks with swathes of juicy kelp swishing around the base, a magical vista. The icing on the cake was the repairs to the crab-trap were successful and we caught a reasonable sized Rock crab……lunch for tomorrow.
Highly recommended was to have supper at Susan’s (affectionately known as “Old Squaw” on the VHF) in nearby Rose Bay Harbour, who grows organic vegetables and fruit in her garden and cooks offerings from the sea.
Rose Bay Harbour has a smelly history irrespective of it’s fragrant name. The Pacific Whaling Company had a whaling operation in Rose Harbour between 1910 and 1943 processing over 2,000 whales during that time. The stench that permeated from this place was well known and some supply ships refused to dock.
Today, Rose Harbour is very pretty with privately owned properties belonging to three residents involved in ecotourism. We kayaked across the bay to a beach strewn with old fishing nets, buoys and canisters of fuel, which actually added to the charm of this place. There are no pontoons here, beach landings only. Once we had stowed the kayak we wandered along a grassy path, circumnavigating Susan’s chaotic, thriving, aromatic garden, noticing rusting relics of the whaling station. We met a group of biologists who were joining us for supper and Susan warmly welcomed us into her home, the kitchen pumping out heat from an antique iron stove surrounded by chunky dark wooden cabinets….a real homestead. Some of us sat on chunks of tree trunk around a simple table enjoying a shared meal of steamed wild mushrooms buns, stir fried freshly caught halibut with every vegetable and herb that one could imagine, finished off with a homemade ginger and coconut cake and mint tea. To update our readers, Stephen’s diet has changed enormously whilst living on Amelie. He eats many different types of vegetables, likes raspberries (which he hated because of the pips) has tried couscous and bulgar wheat, still doesn’t like sweet potatoes and cannot tolerate even moderate amounts of chilli (his airway becomes compromised temporarily). The chatter around the table was friendly and informative …….until we were joined by a local man. He has quite a reputation and written accounts of his legal battle with Canada Parks are in most of the pilot and guide books. Unfortunately we had to listen to his version twice, although this didn’t mar the evening, it certainly dominated it and he wasn’t interested in anyone else……he had his audience. Debbie was keen to hear about the biologists’ experiences and both of us needed to have a conversation with other people, after being alone for two weeks, but the evening came to a close with us kayaking back to Amelie.
We had the opportunity to kayak around the natural harbour with an “Indiana Jones” style rope bridge connecting the west and east shores. The low cloud base gave the harbour a ghostly aura with smoke leisurely wafting from the chimneys and the odd seaplane collecting and delivering guests to the RIBs of the guest houses and charter boats in port. There is a huge bird colony here, constantly fishing and squawking. The waters are clear and shallow and from the kayak we could see hundreds of enormous red sea urchins on the seabed with naked rocks barren from lime green blankets of seaweed and kelp. A colony of sea otters would help to restore the ecosystem balance here.
We had a gentle sail up the Houston Stewart channel and into the Hecate Strait, following the wooded coastline to our next anchorage in Collison Bay. This bay was named after the Reverend William Collison, an Irishman who was the first missionary to Haida Gwaii and wrote a book reflecting on aspects of Haida life before the culture altered due to Western influences.
Entering the bay the sky was dotted with hunting Bald Eagles, frantic Black Oyster Catchers and many other seabirds. Two Humpbacks were blowing close to the boat. We anchored at the head of the bay with a large Harbour Seal basking on nearby drying rocks and surrounded by masses of orange, scalloped globes pulsating under the surface with curtains of lacy tentacles in their wake. We discovered that these creatures were Stinging Cauliflower Jellyfish, highly toxic to divers and feed off Moon Jellyfish, a bluish translucent, stubby tentacled cousin who happened to be swimming amongst them. The orange colour is reported as being unusual in this species and they normally reside in the Caribbean!
So our first two weeks flew past and we look forward to sharing our continued adventures in Part Two.
