Islands Coming Out of Concealment: Traveling to Haida Gwaii on the Northwest Coast of North America

ABSTRACT

Haida Gwaii is the most remote island archipelago of the Northwest Coast of North America. During the AD 1700s, the Kaigani Haida migrated from their homeland on Haida Gwaii north to the Prince of Wales Archipelago by canoeing across the open waters of Dixon Entrance. Since First Nations people have lived in this region for over 10,000 years, earlier seafarers made comparable journeys. This paper explores the logistics and oral history of late prehistoric crossings along with sea level history to better understand the conditions faced by early mariners. Initial settlement dates to the late Pleistocene, when Haida Gwaii was connected to the mainland. After the Younger Dryas, water crossings may have been less constrained seasonally. Available evidence suggests that the middle Holocene was a period of relative isolation, but by 3000 years ago, redcedar was established on the islands, making possible the construction of large dugout canoes. This gave rise to the distinctive ocean-going societies documented historically.

Keywords:

• seafaring
• Kaigani Haida
• coastal migration
• oral history
• Canada

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful to the Canadian Embassy which provided a Canadian Studies Faculty Research Grant that made possible my visit to Haida Gwaii in May, 2006; the efforts of Daniel Abele, Kevin Cook, and Tara Azimiat at the Embassy are much appreciated. I also thank colleagues Susan Hardwick (Geography, University of Oregon) and George Nicholas (Archaeology, Simon Fraser University) who took time out of their busy schedules to support my application. Marianne Boelscher Ignace generously provided useful information in planning the trip. I am indebted to Nathalie MacFarlane of the Haida Heritage Centre at Qay’llnagaay who made it possible for me to listen to oral history tapes, despite the museum being under reconstruction. I also thank Andy Wilson for his hospitality, for showing me the Lootaas, and giving me a tour of Skidegate Inlet. Pat Bartlein (Geography, University of Oregon) was generous with his time and knowledge allowing me to think about the implications of global climate models for reconstructing marine conditions in the past. I appreciate the efforts of Scott Fitzpatrick in organizing the Society for American Archaeology symposium “Islands Worlds Apart: Interactions and Remoteness on Seas and Oceans” in Austin, Texas, where a shorter version this paper was presented. The commentary of discussant Cyprian Broodbank, the multiple insights of Quentin Mackie and Daryl Fedje, and the comments of reviewers Alan McMillan, Roy Carlson, and an anonymous reviewer were especially useful in revising this paper for publication. Daryl also granted permission for use of Figure 2. Finally, I appreciate Jon Erlandson sharing some key references and providing all manner of support.

Notes

1. These are still faster speeds than those estimated by Ames (2002:30), the fastest of which with favorable winds was 3.5 knots/hour.

2. Since western redcedar (Thuja plicata) pollen is indistinguishable from that of yellow cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis), the relative abundance of these species is indeterminable (Lacourse and Mathewes 2005:56). How abundant redcedar needed to be before the Haida and their ancestors grew to depend on it is also unclear. Large, tall, solid, straight-grained redcedar preferred for large canoes was relatively rare (Arima 2002:101; Brown 2002:79).

3. Haida families and clans are organized into two moieties, Raven and Eagle.

4. Swanton does not specify the type of cod; it could be a true cod, such as the Pacific cod, Gadus macrocephalus, or “rock cod,” which is actually rockfish of the genus Sebastes. Swanton (1905a:88) does state that Sa’wa was “very fond of dried cod-fish,” and this dish was typically made with Pacific cod.

5. As Daryl Fedje (personal communication 2007) points out, however, of the more than 100,000 lithic tools and debitage recovered from early sites on Haida Gwaii, no obsidian has been found.

6. The oldest direct evidence of dugout canoe technology from anywhere in the world derives from the Late Mesolithic sites of Lystrup Enge and Tybrid Vig in Denmark, dated to 6600–5000 BP (Anderson 1995).

7. Lacourse and Mathewes (2005) summarized pollen evidence for Haida Gwaii. Willow, lodgepole pine, and spruce are known from ∼12,000 BP, with spruce, alder, and mountain hemlock more dominant by 11,000 BP.

8. Brown (2002:91) suggests that the spruce canoe, with its simple design in which bow and stern are similar in shape, is probably one of the oldest canoe types in the region.

9. Guares are immersed steering foils used as steering aids on sailing rafts in Peru, as witnessed by the Spanish in the 1730s. Wooden guares (2 m long) have been found in the archaeological site of Ica, dating to 200 BC (McGrail 2001:402).

10. Arima (1983:36) suggests the “skeg-like cutwaters at the ends of the bottom” of the canoe, enabled Nuuchahnulth sailers to tack with the wind.