Thursday 24 August 2017

Haida Gwaii Trip August 2017

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











A black bear came to visit while we sat on the back deck






K &K's "handy-man" friend, Art



Scenes along the Inside Passage





















Lighthouse complex at Dryad Point, 5 hours from Port Hardy


Fish farm?




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)








An intricately woven cedar hat is treasured and valuable, often worth many hundreds of dollars.





























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




At Hiellen, just below Tow Hill, is this totem, carved by master carvers from Old Masset Christian White, Corey Bulpitt and assistants.







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 visited a different cemetery just a bit north of Masset. An incredibly mossy, serene place.












Plenty of huckleberry bushes!
















We ended the day with a visit to Jaalen's workshop.

Jaalen Edenshaw, master totem carver and Kathy Bedard (his mother-in-law):



Next day, heading south from Masset towards Skidegate













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

Here are a few of the many dances at the ceremony...






And finally, a video clip of the bear we "met" at Ken & Kathy's in P. Hardy