Far to the northwest of the coastal B.C. town named Bella
Bella – and stretching even further north than the sheltered, forested island
where I was born – lies the great archipelago of Haida Gwaii. “Archipelago” is
pronounced AR-KI-PE-LA-GO. It means a big group of islands.
If you look for Haida Gwaii on older maps, you might see it
labelled as the “Queen Charlotte Islands.” An English sea-captain, George
Dixon, explored the archipelago in 1787, and named it after one of his ships,
the Queen Charlotte. In those days,
the queen of England was named Charlotte; her husband was King George III.
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| Shellfish growing on driftwood. |
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| Pillar Rock, on Graham Island. |
1787 was a long time ago, but it’s really like the day before yesterday compared to when the archipelago was first discovered! The Haida First Nation have lived on these islands for at least 8,000 years.
In 2010, the government of British Columbia officially changed the name from “Queen Charlotte Islands” to Haida Gwaii, which means “Islands of the People.”
This bear is my friend Bill. He is proud to reflect the culture of
the Haida Nation.
Many Haida people work as fishers, loggers, and
artists. Their ancestors were master woodworkers who carved magnificent panels,
house columns, masks, crests, boxes, and tall totem poles. They created
art in stone, copper, leather, cedar bark, and other materials, too. Modern artists
also create beautiful jewellery, and fine paintings.
One of the people who helped assure that Haida art still
flourishes today was a man named Bill Reid. His mother, Sophie Gladstone Reid,
was Haida. Bill Reid was a great artist. You can see some of his work at the
Museum of Anthropology on the campus of the University of British Columbia in
Vancouver, B.C.
Hey, ask your teacher to show you a Canadian $20 bill! One
side shows two of Mr. Reid’s most famous sculptures, Raven and the First Men (which you can visit on display at the
U.B.C. Museum of Anthropology) and Spirit
of Haida Gwaii (which you can see at the Canadian Embassy in Washington,
D.C., or at Vancouver International Airport).
Mr. Reid also carved this fantastic giant bear, now at the U.B.C.
Museum of Anthropology. Yup, you could say that my buddy Bill is this bear’s
cub!
Visitors go to Haida Gwaii to cycle, tour museums and
cultural sites, go surfing, camp, kayak, and fish. And I can tell you – the fishing
here for salmon and halibut is great!
The wild bears of Haida Gwaii are a unique sub-species of
black bears. Their scientific name is Ursus
americanus carlottae – see how that last bit, carlottae, refers to “Charlotte,” the old name for the archipelago?
The Haida word for bear is Taan. The Haida people feel a great respect for the black bear, an “Elder Kinsman” and
protector of the animal kingdom.
Map courtesy Wikipedia
Story © S. Clouthier
Photos © S. Clouthier and D.
Wei
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