Early this morning, National Geographic Sea Lion entered the port town of Queen Charlotte City on the eastern side of Graham Island. As breakfast was being served, final docking and arrangements with port authorities and our ship’s agent were completed, allowing for our exit and our much-anticipated entry into Haida Gwaii! This archipelago has over 400 islands, the tops of a submerged ridge, located approximately 65 miles off of the mainland coast of British Columbia. To the west of this archipelago the continental shelf drops off abruptly; which is also the point of the Queen Charlotte Fault, one of the great ruptures in the earth’s crust. This rupture marks the meeting of the Pacific Plate and the North American plate, one of the most seismically active places in the world.
Lindblad-National Geographic were making a re-entry into this part of the Northwest Coast for the first time in over twenty years and there was much excitement on board Sea Lion. Our plans for the day were extensive, beginning at the Haida Heritage Centre in Skidegate, a short bus ride from the Queen Charlotte city dock. The Heritage Centre is only six years old and gave us a chance to see the story of the Haida people from the perspective of the continuing Haida community drawing the past into the present...telling the traditional stories of the Haida, adding in scientific knowledge, combining an exhibit of stories of land and sea.
From the Heritage Centre we made an hour-and-a-half journey north along the entire length of Graham Island to the Haida community of Old Massett. With a growing population of seven hundred people, the village is made up of over twenty Haida Eagle and Raven clans. Many, many Haida artists and carvers call Old Massett their home and today we were very fortunate to be invited into the personal homes of several well-known Haida artists and chiefs. Christian White, Jim Hart and Reggie Davidson all opened their homes, carving sheds and art centers to our small group of travelers from around the world.
Each step we took, each glance we made with our eyes, our hearts followed as we bore witness to the phenomenally rich, complex, detailed storytelling of each Haida we met. Many of the stories we heard were portrayed in the Haida art that surrounded us...from carved poles to woven hats to carved bracelets, rings and earrings, to form line painted and printed we found yet another story encompassing details of heritage that has been passed down through many generations from the Mythic Age to the present.
After much visiting we returned to our first host, Christian White, to hear just a few more stories, visit one more carving shed and in the lovely late afternoon light we were feasted, as is traditional all along the Northwest Coast. The community of Massett came together to present to us some of the most important traditional foods of the Haida and Northwest Coast people. We feasted on smoked salmon, herring roe on hemlock bows, dried halibut, banoc, red huckleberry jam, pickled sea asparagus, deep-fried octopus, salmon pate, smoked halibut, sun-dried seaweed and a lovely assortment of sweet delights!
Sitting together in the warm afternoon sun, it was clear that the decision of the Haida people to share their treasure – this place called Haida Gwaii – had been a gift, one that each of us would take home in the story we would share of our journey through Haida Gwaii.
