Haida Gwaii's Disappearing Totem Poles
Our beautiful adventure with The Moresby Explorers; a one day Zodiac Tour of Louise Island (K'uuna Gw). We launched our boat from the Moresby Camp, the weather was grey, but warm and the water was still. We visited both the Ancient Haida Villages of K'uuna Llnagaay (Skedans) and Cumshewa. We saw Orca Wales and spoke to Haida Watchmen about their Haida Lineage and their time spent living at the ancient villages.
The Totem poles that still remain in these village sites will, within the next fifteen years, vanish beneath the surface of new forest growth. Although these totem poles are now protected by laws which state that, traditionally, the Haida intended for the Totem poles to disappear into the earth from which they came, many poles have been forcibly taken and preserved in museums. Seeing a beautifully preserved Totem Pole in a museum has it's merits, but seeing them in context, sitting amongst the forest, bathed in history, is magic.
Canon 100D, Helios 44-2
Our beautiful adventure with The Moresby Explorers; a one day Zodiac Tour of Louise Island (K'uuna Gw). We launched our boat from the Moresby Camp, the weather was grey, but warm and the water was still. We visited both the Ancient Haida Villages of K'uuna Llnagaay (Skedans) and Cumshewa. We saw Orca Wales and spoke to Haida Watchmen about their Haida Lineage and their time spent living at the ancient villages.
The Totem poles that still remain in these village sites will, within the next fifteen years, vanish beneath the surface of new forest growth. Although these totem poles are now protected by laws which state that, traditionally, the Haida intended for the Totem poles to disappear into the earth from which they came, many poles have been forcibly taken and preserved in museums. Seeing a beautifully preserved Totem Pole in a museum has it's merits, but seeing them in context, sitting amongst the forest, bathed in history, is magic.
Canon 100D, Helios 44-2
The rest of our group, clad in their long green coats and red life jackets, as we arrive on the shores of Cumshewa.
An ancient totem has fallen to the ground and is being reclaimed by a soft bed of moss, Skedans.
Haida Watchmen who live at the edge of the world and guard their ancient villages.
Our Zodiac through a misty fog, sits on the still water .
A young tree has grown through an ancient totem, Cumshewa.
The mist as it rises over the coastal mountains.