Queen Charlotte City and the Haida Heritage Centre

Driving off the ferry I made my way to Queen Charlotte City, I had not made any lodging arrangements before hand and was a little leery if I would find a place to stay that night. I decided to check the place out first, I drove down the main streets and had a good look at the establishments, I then drove out to the far end of town, turned around and decided I better find a place to stay.

A kind local on the ferry wearing a cowboy hat advised me that his sister stayed at a great place called “Molly's?”. When I went through town I did not see a Molly's anywhere, but I did see a Gracie's and I assume this was the place he was referring to. I had read some reviews online and Gracie's Hotel had come highly recommended, I was also considering Premier Creek as well but I had to listen to the cowboy.

When I pulled up to Gracie's it looked kind of dark inside and I did not see a vacancy sign, but I decided to go knock on her door anyways, and I'm glad I did. Gracie herself answered the door and I asked if she had a room available, she said she had one left and what a room it was! A spectacular view of the harbour and in immaculate condition, and all she wanted was $70.00 for the night. I have noticed that the price for accommodations in the Queen Charlotte Islands has been at least %30 less than other comparable places I have stayed at, but for some reason Haida Gwaii has been a great bargain as far as lodging is concerned, I was pleasantly surprised.

After one of the best nights sleep I have ever had I went downstairs to check out and chat with Gracie for a bit. I received an email the night before from the Moresby Island Explorers, they said they might be cancelling our trip to Gwaii Haanas because I was the only one signed up for it and they needed a minimum of four people to go. Gracie encouraged me to try to find another way to go since I came all this way and Gwaii Haanas was one of my main reasons for coming here. She suggested that I should go across the street to the Inland Air office and see if I could charter a plane there. After taking Gracie's picture with her establishment I strolled down to the float plane dock to see what options they could provide me with.

The sea plane dock only had a small office with a desk and a few chairs, their main office is out of Prince Rupert and they just have a satellite office in Queen Charlotte City. In the office waiting were three ladies waiting for the fog to lift so they could have their trip to Ninstints, and the office attendant or pilot, I could not tell which he was, probably both. He advised me that I could leave today with the ladies, unfortunately I had other reservations and was not available for a spur of the moment adventure. One of the ladies waiting in the office was Mrs. Hart, the wife of the famed artist Jim Hart, her and her friend gave me some great advice on what to see around the islands and when to see it.

I gave my email address to the pilot and gave him the dates I was available, I was thinking some other people might be interested at that time to go to Ninstints as well and we could share a flight. He said if something came up he would give me a few days notice and we could do the trip, weather permitting. The second part of this conversation was the weather, those ladies waiting in the office were actually supposed to have left hours ago, but because of the low fog they were delayed until it lifted. The tour group expeditions are really delayed for two reasons. The first is you need to have the minimum number of people to make the trip feasible for them and then to have good weather conditions to actually go on the tour. During the summer months this is less of an issue, but in the shoulder month of September this can be more of an issue.

I was intending on going on a hike that day up to Sleeping Beauty Trail, but was foggy and rainy that day and one of the primary reasons for hiking the Sleeping Beauty is the view on the top. They say on a clear day you can see all the way across Graham Island to Tow Hill in Naikoon park. The hike up the Sleeping Beauty can be as much as a 5 hour trip and is rated difficult, if I was going to hike it, it would be on a nice clear day. I decided instead to head over to the Haida Heritage Centre museum.

Haida Heritage Centre

The Haida Heritage Centre is of a traditionally inspired architectural design based around 5 longhouses, apparently it was built around an ancient burial ground as well. You have to park in the parking lot at the top of the road and then walk down to the museum. Unfortunately the museum does not allow any photography in the main part of their complex, I would have loved to share some photographs with you, but in this instance words will have to suffice.

In the entrance there is a cordoned off display of a Haida woman weaving a raven blanket by hand, everything is done by scratch including the spinning of the thread. Apparently this raven blanket is such and undertaking of time and energy that it has not been attempted in her generation.

The Haida Heritage Centre museum focuses in great detail the history of the Haida people including an extensive time line based around first contact with Europeans. There are several displays featuring traditional Haida clothing and some even have contemporary influences that has resulted in some very innovative designs. It is like nothing you have ever seen on the fashion runways but could definitely qualify in a league of their own.

Artworks and craftsmanship are also prominently displayed. Intricately weaved baskets and hats from cedar strands, intricately designed argillite carvings (argillite is only found on Haida Gwaii and is reserved solely for the use of the Haida peoples), hand crafted and painted cedar boxes, paddles, long boats and towering totem poles. It seems totem pole carving was a bit of a lost art after the ravages of small pox decimated the Haida nation in almost its entirety. It was in the 1960's that the art of totem pole carving was rediscovered and is now considered a cherished cultural art form.

In the 1800's there was a smallpox epidemic that ravaged the Haida population killing up to %90 of the population. There was estimated to be only around a 350 survivors left after the epidemic, most of the wisdom and culture was feared to have died of with them and thus gone forever. Today the Haida community is strong in numbers and proud of there estimated 10,000 year history on Haida Gwaii, as a community their future looks promising and their culture will live on.

The rest of the museum is devoted to the wildlife and geology of Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), there is a fantastic display of preserved birds that has just about every bird that inhabits Haida Gwaii. The geological section deals with Haida Gwaii's position on the planet and how it managed to escape the last ice age. Because the islands did, for the most part, it missed the ice age and a lot of unique plants and animals can be found here and no where else on Earth.

The rest of the museum is devoted to Bill Reid teaching centre (a famous expounder and revitalizer of Haida culture and art), a performance house with dug in seating, a canoe carving house and a cafeteria with decent and reasonably priced food.

Most of the Haida Heritage Centre is brand new and quite modern. This museum is a must when visiting Haida Gwaii, especially if you are interested in the culture that did and still exists here.

Further up the road is a marked place where you can find Balance Rock. This rock seems to be positioned precariously and is a point of interest to anyone visiting the Queen Charlotte Islands. This rock seems to be pretty solidly placed there despite how it looks. One bored local decided to try to move the rock a number of different ways including a team of horses, he stopped short of dynamite due to safety issues and his eventual better judgement. Take a moment to visit this quirk of nature.

Balanca Rock

St. Mary's Spring

Further up a head is another curiosity, this time it is man made. St. Mary Spring, Those who drink its pure water will find themselves back again on Haida Gwaii. Noticing the “untreated water” sign conveniently placed near the spring I opted for just a taste. It tasted anything but pure, it actually tasted more like the Haida tea that pours down the rivers and streams into the ocean.

Haida tea is the nickname given to the very murky, dark water that pours down from the rivers and streams. The reason for the colour is the amount of nutrient content contained in the water is very high. Its good for the fish, not so good for humans.

The Cabin

Later that afternoon, after about a 2 hour drive from Skidegate to Masset, I arrived at Rapid Ritchie's beach cabins where I was warmly met by Toni the proprietor. She took me up and showed me the beach cabin and how everything worked, the name of this particular cabin is the “Hilten”. It was a rainy day when I arrived and the cabin felt a bit damp, so one of the first things I did once I got settled was to build a fire and warm the place up, I had a wood shed full of wood and got busy with it ASAP.

I just want to take a moment here and provide commentary on what to expect as for the quality of motels, hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, guest houses, etc. in this part of the world. The northern coast of British Columbia is one of the dampest and wettest regions in the world, you cannot stop the dampness from getting into everything. Before taking my trip I read several accommodation reviews and anything negative said about every place was that their room was damp and had a musty odour. Unfortunately you are going to be hard pressed to get away from those two things, that is just a reality of north coast life. Now that you know what to expect, I would hope that you would instead judge your lodging by the quality of service from your host and the tidiness of their establishment.

Before I actually got busy making a fire I headed back to Masset and went shopping for provisions at the local CO-OP grocery store. I must admit I knew prices were going to be a little more on Haida Gwaii, and I would have to say I was correct in thinking that and maybe a little surprised at the price of somethings, especially produce. I later found out that there is a place called Fields (a national Canadian Company) that has a wide selection of dry goods as well as other household items and clothes for very reasonable prices. My recommendation for saving a few dollars would be to go to Fields first and get your dry goods, then head over to the CO-OP for meat, dairy, tofu and veggies.

The first night away in an isolated cabin is always the best, a roaring fire, glass of wine and the sounds of the forest takes you out of your usual comfort zone and puts you into a more comfortable, cozy place. The sounds of the wind and gently falling rain wisped me away to sleep and it wasn't till the brilliance of daylight till I opened my eyes again.

Here is a larger picture of the night sky.

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