The living landscapes of SG̱ang Gwaay: strengthening the land and people in a changing climate
Parks Canada's report on conservation from 2018 to 2023
- Conservation priority
- Indigenous leadership in conservation
- Location
- Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area Reserve, and Haida Heritage Site, co-managed by the Haida Nation and Canada through the Archipelago Management Board, British Columbia
When hurricane force winds blew down over a hundred trees in SG̱ang Gwaay in 2018, invaluable cultural materials and information on the island’s ecological history were revealed. The Haida Nation and Parks Canada embraced this opportunity to begin restoring the island’s eco-cultural system by applying a knowledge framework built on over 12,000 years of Haida resource use and management.
The Living Landscapes of SG̱ang Gwaay project supported the strengthening of the land and people in a changing climate, working toward the longer-term goal of restoring SG̱ang Gwaay’s once thriving eco-cultural landscape.
Project highlights
- Completed 3 years of research with Haida and external partners examining the ecological and cultural record
- Improved climate change resilience through windfall mitigation and blowdown cleanup
- Increased protection and promotion of culturally significant vegetation growth
The Haida village site of SG̱ang Gwaay Llnagaay in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area Reserve, and Haida Heritage Site. Photo: Brady Yu/Parks Canada
Context
Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area Reserve, and Haida Heritage Site is cooperatively managed by the Haida Nation and Parks Canada through the Archipelago Management Board which is made up of equal representation of both parties. SG̱ang Gwaay is a larger island surrounded by 27 small islets, located in the exposed southwest corner of Gwaii Haanas.
The Haida village site of SG̱ang Gwaay Llnagaay, designated a Haida Heritage Site and UNESCO World Heritage Site, is found in a sheltered bay on the east side of the island and is significant to the Haida as the remains of many ancestors and their spirits reside there. The village, which now consists of upright and fallen mortuary, frontal, and memorial poles, house pits, and standing posts and beams of longhouses, was occupied until the 19th century when the Haida population was decimated by epidemics. The Haida Gwaii Watchmen still occupy and care for this village from spring to autumn. They protect sensitive areas of high cultural significance and educate visitors about Haida history.
The 2018 storm event
The damage caused by the 2018 storm yielding hurricane force winds had a large impact on the cultural and natural features of SG̱ang Gwaay Llnagaay. The uprooting of massive trees exposed the ecological history of the island and disrupted ancient floorboards of longhouses, unearthing thousands of cultural belongings, including mammal bone tools, trade beads, and seed banks.
Working together
With permission from the Haida Hereditary Chiefs Council, the Archipelago Management Board approved the excavation and mapping of the disturbed areas on site. Since 2019, the Haida Gwaii Museum and the Haida Gwaii Watchmen have guided Parks Canada archaeologists with traditional knowledge to collaboratively undertake field work.
Outcomes
As of 2023, the cultural materials uncovered at the site are being processed and analyzed at the Haida Gwaii Museum, the rightful home for Haida cultural belongings.
Linked to the archaeological data is ecological baseline data. Analysis of the unearthed seed banks has begun to identify seed concentrations and the plant material. Ecological history uncovered by the upended trees will inform strategies for future habitat restoration, such as replanting of culturally significant trees and shrubs which have been diminished by the over-browsing by invasive K’aad (Sitka Black-tailed Deer), and for reducing the future effects of climate change in Gwaii Haanas by strengthening the forest understory.
The project team collaborated with the Haida owned forestry corporation Taan Forest, who provided guidance on protecting the area’s Ts'uu (Western Red Cedar) and their future seedlings. At the village site, 25 Ts'uu seedlings were protected, 24 K'ay (Pacific Crab Apple) seedlings were planted, and cuttings rooted for 4 Black Twinberry, 4 Yaanang xilG̱a (Trailing Black Currant), and 4 Jiitl’l (Red Elderberry). 8 invasive K’aad were removed from SG̱ang Gwaay to further protect and promote culturally significant vegetation growth on the island.
By working with Laskeek Bay Conservation Society, the project also mapped S̲Gin X̲aana (Ancient Murrelet) colonies close to the village site, and developed mitigative measures for working near this species of Special Concern. The protection of this species also included implementing active education and biosecurity measures to maintain zero presence of invasive Kaagan (rat) on SG̱ang Gwaay.
“The vision is to restore SG̱ang Gwaay in a way that is guided by Haida law, and in a way that enhances continued cultural use of the village.”—Camille Collinson, CoRe Project Manager, Parks Canada
Video
Watch the how the Haida Nation and Parks Canada are delving deep into the history of SG̱ang Gwaay through the Living Landscapes project: Strengthening the Land and People in a Changing Climate.
Transcript
*sounds of waves hitting the beach* *Haida Singing throughout*
SG̱ang Gwaay is such a special place.
It's a beautiful showcase of the architecture and the art.
It's also a showcase of the stories too.
The poles which are still standing tell a great story of the people who lived here.
In 2018 there was quite a severe hurricane force event.
It broke the tops of a lot of these trees out and created a lot of tree throws.
All of these trees blew over behind the village and around the boardwalk and it caused quite a lot of devastation.
One of the most sacred sites that I know on Haida Gwaii had taken some damage.
Just to come out on the back beach and see that amount of trees down at once
it felt like I was in a total different place, it wasn't the same any more.
When I look around, like my feelings now, I feel sad for this site.
But you know in the face of tragedy you can sometimes work something out to you know make the best of the situation.
With those tree throws, although tragic, it presents an opportunity to understand
our people's way of life during a transitionary age.
Because these few trees have thrown up and lifted floor boards off the ground
and shown us a snapshot into that day to day life, they've allowed us to translate and communicate with our ancestors very clearly.
That was very exciting because you can sort of see the things that people were doing in their house back then.
It definitely gives us a chance to sort of explore SG̱ang Gwaay in a way that hasn't really been looked at in the past.
Before with the spiritual and the cultural sensitivity they haven't been able to do a really in-depth dig
so it's kind of a first… which is really exciting.
This is the first year of a three-year project so this year we focused on two priority locations that we identified in 2019
and these are House 3 and House 10. House 10 which is People Wish To Be There House is the one you see right behind me here.
It was a chief's house. It stood sort of in the middle of the village
right beside a little tiny creek that goes through the village onto the beach.
- And also since we found that clam with the pigment
I want to check every piece of clam. - Right!
This is a house where two tree throws basically peeled up the floor of the living floor of the house
and we're excavating to better understand what that house floor was like and what activities were going on inside that house.
So that tree has lifted up and lifted all the floorboards of that longhouse up.
It's like opening a trunk to a goodie box. You never know what you're going to find.
One of the things I've found super great about this project is that we're a team with diverse knowledge
and working with the Watchmen and Haida Gwaii Museum staff, I'm learning local perspectives
and so they've really helped inform our understanding of what these artifacts mean coming out of the ground.
In the Haida world having such like a …. This is the only site I've seen that's been using quartz like this.
There's amazing preservation here.
Usually things like wood and seeds and organic material that way don't usually preserve that well on the coast.
But at this house we're getting very good preservation.
It kind of just gives us an understanding about what was going on before people had to leave this village.
House 3 is Thunder Rolls Upon It House
and that's chief Nansdins' house.
House 3 is characterized by semi-subterranean structure
which has two platforms that have been excavated out into the floor of the house.
- These guys used to just walk right down. This wall would likely already have a 45-degree angle. - Well it was just like that one, it was just like the front
Through our excavations there we realized that the ground primarily is well draining old beach gravels.
So, a couple thousand years ago sea levels were a little bit higher in this area and it would've left a stranded beach.
- That was removed. - That was the argillite storage spot.
They are actually at the floorboards of the house now.
You could actually see floorboard planks and the strapping that held them together.
There's a couple artifacts that have come out of House 10 that we're pretty excited about.
Musket plates and stuff that have fallen in the cracks of the boards. Buttons, beads, everything you could think of.
I really love that. I really love seeing a button that I could have on my blanket coming out of a floorboard in a longhouse.
My mind flies directly to the potlatch that happened in that house where that person was dancing and the button came off
and I picture that and that feels so good. *Laughs* You know what I mean?! Yeah that feels really good.
It's so fun to see the continuity of culture.
- So that's the exact same spot.
The argillite pieces are quite exciting for me just due to that I'm a carver too and to see something, you know
makes you wonder who touched it last or who was the person to tuck it under the floorboards with his tools
obviously planned on coming back.
- Check out the other side! It's the face and probably the face of that original argillite carving.
- Oh my gosh!
- That's the matching section. - Yeah, Wow!
- It's so cool!
- Oh wow! That looks beautiful!
- It's a pretty good fit!
Human occupation on SG̱ang Gwaay dates back to 10,700 years
and in between then and the present there are a lot of time gaps in between so it would be really interesting to see
how we can fill in those gaps.
- Where to next?
- Halfway down this hill? - Sure.
I'm excited to move forward from this year having the group and build a more pointed timeline scientifically.
To match up with our very detailed timeline with oral history.
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