The story goes that a crow landed on the beach and heard the sound of a giant clam shell. He finds creatures huddled inside, but being the trickster he is, he coaxes them out into the outside world. After liberation, they became the first inhabitants of Haida Gwaii.
The Haida people have lived for thousands of years on Haida Gwaii, a remote archipelago in the Pacific off the west coast of Canada, south of Alaska.
After the arrival of Europeans, the Haida were nearly wiped out by smallpox, but they still clung to their land—so rich in wildlife that it’s sometimes called Canada’s Galapagos Islands, and loggers prized it for its ancient giant cedars and spruce trees. Forest and mouth watering.
For decades, the Haida people’s steadfast struggle to regain control of their land despite their remoteness has attracted significant attention in Canada, sparking scrutiny of the country’s long-unacknowledged brutal colonial past. question.
Haida people oppose logging, connect with environmentalists. They have allied themselves with non-Haida communities at home and found common cause with other Aboriginal groups around the world.
In 2002, they sued the Province of British Columbia over their rights to the land and supported their claims of ancient connections to the islands through a museum that showcased their art, artifacts and foundational myths (such as the Crow Story).
Their methodical and painstaking pursuit came to fruition in May, when the British Columbia government passed a law—the first of its kind in Canada—recognizing the Haida Aboriginal title throughout Haida Gwaii. No provincial or federal government in Canada is willing to recognize Aboriginal title to their lands.
In the coming years, the provincial government’s management of land and resources is expected to be transferred to the Haida Council and the Haida People’s Government.
“As far as we’re concerned, we knew exactly what we wanted,” said 89-year-old hereditary chief Frank Collison, recalling decades of dealing with unresponsive provincial and federal governments. Who we are and why we do what we do “They just have no interest in doing anything and are content to keep us under their control. “
British Columbia Premier David Eby said the title recognition means the province is “moving beyond a place where the rights of the Haida Nation are denied to a place where the rights of the Haida Nation are recognized and upheld.”
While the province continues to provide services like health care and maintain infrastructure like highways, exactly how power will be transferred to the Haida River will still need to be negotiated with the B.C.
Some legal experts say the province’s laws lack clarity on some key issues, including the impact of Aboriginal title on private lands owned by non-Haida people.
Others question whether the province can recognize Aboriginal title — the inherent rights of Indigenous groups to the lands they occupied and used before colonization — without the federal government.
Haida leaders say they are optimistic about reaching a deal with the federal government, which has also been working to recognize Native title.
Still, on Haida Gwaii, a population of 5,000 people is split evenly between Haida and non-Haida, the development is seen as a watershed moment.
Aboriginal communities spoke of colonial liberation and the reclaiming of their natural resources.
Among non-Haida people, known as “settlers” on the islands, many expressed support for the change, but others said they feared a future dominated by the Haida.
Court rulings over the years indicate that the Haida will eventually win their claim. As a result, British Columbia’s provincial government, led by the left-leaning New Democratic Party, decided to negotiate a deal to broker the legislation.
“It shows basic respect and that’s welcome,” said Jason Alsop, president of the Haida Council.
Mr Alsop was speaking at the council’s headquarters overlooking Skidegate.
The Haida benefited from the often fertile land and sea and developed a prosperous society as traders, sailors, artists, and owners of people enslaved during wars with other indigenous groups. Haida Gwaii means “people’s island” in the Haida language.
By the late 1800s, diseases introduced by Europeans reduced its population by 20,000 to 600 people. In the 20th century, the Haida people were further marginalized due to Canadian government policies and large-scale logging.
In the 1970s, the Haida and some other Aboriginal groups in Canada began to reaffirm their position.
“We’re starting to get back on our feet,” said Nika Collison, executive director of the Haida Gwaii Museum in Skidegate.
Leaders established the Haida Nation Council, an elected body that represents the community in negotiations with the provincial and federal governments. They built the museum to not only showcase their culture but also solidify their claim to Aboriginal title by returning human remains and artwork from museums around the world.
They revived traditional knowledge that had been almost lost. Former committee chairman Gudjao (his Haida name) recalled that they built a canoe out of cedar trees for the first time in 75 years, “reverse engineering” the surviving canoes.
They also carved a totem pole out of cedar and erected it for the first time in decades. At Skidegate, they turned to a matriarch who was responsible for preserving cultural knowledge in a matriarchal society.
“She’s the only one who remembers how to put up a totem pole,” said Diane Brown, 76, another matriarch who can recite the founding story in Haida.
Leaders see their movement as part of a global independence and environmental movement.
Guujaaw says they have Strategies were exchanged with indigenous groups in the Amazon, New Zealand, Australia, Chile and Myanmar.
Gudggio also gained unexpected allies, such as Dale Lore, the former mayor of Port Clements, a logging village north of Skidegate. It took Mr Lore 14 years to transform from an ardent defender of logging to an opponent and supporter of Haida autonomy, he said, explaining that Gurjaf had contributed to that transformation.
“The Haida people are not trying to win this battle in one fell swoop,” he said. “They take one bite at a time, swallow it, digest it, and then go back for the next bite.”
In 1995, Mr. Lore, who specializes in carving logging roads in the forest, stumbled upon lichen and moss-covered canoes on the forest floor—canoes carved from giant cedars that had been abandoned by the Haida. , Haida died of smallpox in the 19th century.
“It makes me sick,” Mr. Lore said, pointing to one such canoe during a recent visit to the forest.
After becoming mayor of Port Clements, Mr. Lore signed an agreement with the Haida Council in 2004 recognizing Haida ownership and private lands in the village.
However, not everyone is happy with the changing balance of power.
Randy O’Brien and Gloria O’Brien own one of the largest independent logging companies in Haida Gwaii, which has also long signed A provincial contract was awarded to service highways in the region.
The O’Briens say the overall supply of wood has decreased over the years as Haida leaders and environmentalists have waged a battle against logging, hurting their business. Three years ago, they said, they were forced to clear half of the cedars from a 320-acre property they had planned to pass on to their children and grandchildren.
The O’Brien family said as power began to shift toward the Haida, elected officials became indifferent to their complaints.
“They wouldn’t call back, and in Victoria, we couldn’t even get in to see anyone,” Ms. O’Brien, 73, said, referring to the provincial capital. The couple said they were worried about the future of their business, which they have done in Haida Gwaii since the mid-1970s.
“When we first came here, we met a lot of local people who became our friends,” said Mr. O’Brien, 76. “
“But all of a sudden, they’re now—” he laughed. “They will be our overlords.”
Committee chairman Mr Alsop said the Haida wanted to move away from a “number-based logging model”.
Prominent Haida artist Christian White, 62, said he has watched barges laden with cedar logs leave Haida Gwaii for years, even though the Haida people themselves have been hampered in accessing the trees vital to their culture Forestry regulations restrictions.
In his studio, where one of his sculptures depicts people emerging from a clam shell where a crow sits, Mr White said: “We are the ones who share, but other people, they get more than they deserve. many.
