First stop, Campbell River
Lots of eagles here, and even more in Haida Gwaii. (At one point in Old Masset we saw 4 telephone poles in a row with an eagle on top of each one.)
We stayed at Ken & Kathy's house in Port Hardy
Picturesque tidal area in Port Hardy
K &K's "handy-man" friend, Art
Scenes along the Inside Passage
Lighthouse complex at Dryad Point, 5 hours from Port Hardy
Swanson Bay, now deserted...former sulphite pulp mill
We reached P. Rupert, spent the night there, then took the day ferry to Haida Gwaii
Beach-walk with our host at "Serenity Now B&B", in Tlell, Haida Gwaii
En-route to Masset to attend the head-stone moving and memorial ceremony for Ken Bedard's sister, Andrea, who passed away 3 years ago.
Although it was raining hard, we decided to check out the Golden Spruce Trail
Directly across the river was where the famous golden spruce was cut down
Ken and Kathy invited us to attend this amazing ceremony in honour of "Skil Jaadee" (Andrea) in Old Masset. This was preceded by the headstone moving ceremony which placed the headstone in its permanent position in the Old Masset cemetery.
This is how one attendee described the ceremony: "Last night in Old Massett, the Dickson/Matthews/Bedard families held a beautiful dinner to celebrate the Headstone placement for their loved one, Andrea Dickson. Andrea is the Granddaughter of the late Chief Weah, Willie & Emma Matthews. Her siblings, Danny, Sharon, Ken, Butch, Dickie, Billy, Terry, Teddy & Emma Kate & families organized a wonderful tribute for their Sister."
A truly moving part of the ceremony was the Spirit Dance, performed by Ken & Kathy's daughter, Jaskwaan (Amanda), wearing a white carved mask. Filming was not allowed for this dance, but here is a description: "The Spirit Dance is always such a powerful dance to signify the last presence of the departed loved one. It's a time for the thin veil between this realm and the after world to drop so that Andrea can make her last walk among her loved ones to share her love & her spirit one last time. The family chain connects for one last time before she makes that final crossing to the spirit world."
Will Bedard (centre)
Ken & Kathy Bedard
Jaskwaan Bedard (Amanda)
The Edenshaw family: (l to r) Nora-Jane, Jaalen, Haana, Jaskwaan (Amanda) and Wiijaa
We returned to the cemetery in Old Masset the next day
A building in Masset
The road north to Hiellen and Tow Hill
A very rainy morning
Scenes from summit of Tow Hill
With Kathy and Ken in Masset
This description comes from the Museum of Northern British Columbia...
...and this display appears there:
We went to see Miles Edgar in Old Masset
We ended the day with a visit to Jaalen's workshop.
Jaalen Edenshaw, master totem carver and Kathy Bedard (his mother-in-law):
Balance Rock, just north of Skidegate
Totem in Skidegate village
Haida Heritage Centre, the museum in Skidegate--fantastic place to visit
The 3 rings (skil) represent the number of potlatches this chief has hosted
This totem, carved by Bill Reid, was moved to the museum from Skidegate Village for preservation
Traditional village representation
BC Ferry returning to Charlotte from Moresby Island.
Some pigeon guillemots
Looking at Skidegate Village from ferry heading back to Prince Rupert
Ominous weather, nearing Prince Rupert
A strange sight, just around from our motel in Rupert!
Prince Rupert Museum displays, mostly Tlingit artifacts
The little "pendants" are Auklet bills
After the museum, we were off the another museum:
Leaving Prince Rupert for the return trip back to Port Hardy
A very wet day!
Bella Bella again... Lots of salmon jumping on our return trip!
VIDEO CLIPS
And finally, a video clip of the bear we "met" at Ken & Kathy's in P. Hardy
