haidalaas-blog

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Notice: New haidanation.ca website Hi everyone, If you are currently a follower of the CHN blog please head over to haidanation.ca and find all new stories and news there. We will no longer be posting stories on this platform.

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IINANG (Herring) UPDATE 4

IINANG (Herring) UPDATE 4

FV Queens Reach finished iinang soundings departed Haida Gwaii waters April 2, leaving reconnaissance crews aboard the Haida Guardian anchored at K’iid Xyangs K’iidaay (Dolomite Narrows) and dive crews aboard Haida Spirit at Daajing Giids (Queen Charlotte City). Haida Fisheries will conduct further surveys once iinang finish spawning. Crews travelling along Duu Guusd (the west coast of Haida…

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IINANG (Herring): UPDATE 2

IINANG (Herring): UPDATE 2

Photo: Henry Zbyszynski Haida Fisheries officers aboard the Haida Guardian joined the fishing vessel Queens Reach last week passing through Daa’ulgaay Skidegate Narrows to Duu Guusd the West Coast of Haida Gwaii. The crew measured iinang herring numbers at Kayy Kaahlii Port Louis and Ahluu Kaahlii Port Chanal and is completing tests at Chaahl’uu Kaahlii Rennel Sound. So far crews detected an…

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Salmon Trail leads to Basketball Court

Salmon Trail leads to Basketball Court

by Rhonda McIsaac — “Welcome to our Salmon trail. Welcome to our trails across this land, to our place,” sang the High Water Singers, welcoming 61 teams to the annual 17-and-under Junior All Native Basketball Tournament in Kelowna, Sunday night. The emcee welcomed the standing room only crowd and greeted each team as they entered for the opening ceremony. Over 850 athletes from across BC are…

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by Rhonda Lee McIsaac —

The countdown is on in Gaaw. For the next 100 days, carvers working on the Totem in the Forest project will be working from sun up ‘til sundown��� and probably under flood lights at night – to shape and shave their way into the heart of a SGaahlan cedar. Kilthguulans Christian White and his apprentices and journeyman have been busy in his carving shed getting ready for June 21, when this new pole will be raised at Hl’yaalang near Taaw sdalee.

“The group has been getting the log ready,” says Kilthguulans. “The first while, we had to take the sGaahlan k’al cedar bark off, and then get the log into the shed, and then draw and transfer the design onto the pole.” With winter’s grasp waning to spring and two weeks of full-on carving, the towering round of SGaahlan is taking on new form with every chip that flies off.

Kilthguulans has set up his young carvers working on different sections of the pole. Looking down its length, they are thoroughly engaged with tools in hand and easily talking to each other. “They are set to work on all stages of the pole,” says Kilthguulans, standing tall in his overalls and wool toque. The shed has no heat and has been this way since his father built it in the 1980’s. “It’s getting warmer in here and that’s good,” Kilthguulans says, noting that the temperature also keeps the cedar pole at a relatively constant temperature.

The design transferred on to the pole guides their work. Various depths are honed out with straight knife slices, each mallet tap and every gouge, and with each passing day the students become more familiar with their tools. White talks to them while they work; from correcting how they hold a tool to the history of carving on Haida Gwaii.

The importance of sharpening their tools becomes evident with every smooth curl that is shaved off the cedar. “The tools have to become an extension of their bodies,” Kilthguulans says while inspecting the areas students have been working on this morning. Each push and pull is not the same for each area, he says, watching over his learners and their efforts.

“I’m trying to get them to work all stages; getting practice on their tools while taking down the design to the right depth,” Kilthguulans explains.  He says he will often come out after they have gone home to continue shaping the piece. It is this constant chipping, scraping and smoothing that will bring out the design that we will be revealed in June.

“The tools they learn how to use here will be with them for the rest of their lives. It will carry them on,” says Kilthguulans. And so, for the next 100 days they will continue to learn with each push and pull on their tools of the trade.

The next 100 days by Rhonda Lee McIsaac — The countdown is on in Gaaw. For the next 100 days, carvers working on the Totem in the Forest project will be working from sun up ‘til sundown– and probably under flood lights at night – to shape and shave their way into the heart of a SGaahlan…

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IINANG (Herring): UPDATE 1

IINANG (Herring): UPDATE 1

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Staff from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is looking at iinang herring health around Haida Gwaii again this year. DFO chartered FV Queens Reach to conduct the tests over 25 survey days. The seiner left Port Hardy the morning of March 8 and arrived at GawGajaang Louscoone Inlet March 9. Three test fisheries at GawGajaang and around Xaagyah Gwaay.yaay Bolkus Island…

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Women's Day

Women’s Day

This Women’s Day, the Haida Nation would like to honour the supernatural mothers of our Nation – Jiila Kuns, SG̲uuluu Jaad and K̲alga Jaad, who were on Haida Gwaii tens of thousands of years ago. Hundreds of clans descended from these three women. The resilience of the supernatural mothers ushered our families through time establishing the Haida Nation on these shining Islands. We owe everything…

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Gitlaxdax singing at Hobiiyee in Gitwinksihlkw.

Rhonda Lee McIsaac —

The Nass Valley has been the home of the Nisg­a’a for thousands of years. After a massive volcanic eruption in the 1700’s buried the upper Nass Valley the villages and landscape were forever altered by the lava flows. The salamanders which lived in the lakes and ponds and swamps were also destroyed. Gitwinksihlkw means People of the Lizard and this name honours those who live in this area.

Gitwinksihlkw is located on the Nass River. The lava flow created a new riverbed for the Nass River which is closer to the northwest side of the valley. A canyon was created by the lava flow and became a new home for the Nisga’a people who chose to stay in Gitwinksihlkw (Canyon City) while others moved further down the Nass to Gingolx. Gitwinksihlkw remains culturally strong even through the floods, fires and outside forces.

The Creator placed the Nisga’a in this valley with helpers and gifts to show them how to live a good life. One of the many gifts was the ability to study the heavens and the people who could do this were known as the halayt.

The halayt are astronomers, prophets and weathermen, and are originally from Gitwinksihlkw. They can read when the salmon and oolichan are coming, when animals are moving and the changes in weather, when these phenomena occur. They can also tell when births and deaths occur. Counting the moons up to the Hobiyee moon has been done for thousands of years in the valley.

The winter solstice moon is called Luut’aa. Luu translates to ‘in’ and t’aa for ‘sit’ and marks the time when the sun sits in one place. This is the beginning of hobiyee moon time.

The next moon is called K’aliiyee. K’alii translates to ‘going up river’ or ‘going north’ and yee translates to ‘for a walk’; this is the time when the sun begins to walk up the river and is the moon the halayt watch for in anticipation of the Buxwlaks moon.

Buxwlaks refers to the moon time when the conifer needles are blowing around. Buxw is ‘blowing around’ and laks is ‘coniferous needles’. It is during the Buxwlaks moon that the halayt are more vigilant in their observations of the moon. They are on the lookout for the hobiyee moon. It was the quarter moon with a star above the bowl of the moon. When this happens during the Buxwlaks, the halayt shout “Hoobix Eee” to the men in the village. The greeting has been shortened to hobiyee today.

The hobiyee moon is a time of celebration and signifies the beginning of a bountiful year of oolichans, salmon, berries and moose. Last year, the hobiyee moon had two stars above it and it was the shortest oolichan season because the pits were filled so quickly.

Due to the Crown’s historical ban of large gatherings on reserves this practice went underground but in 1992, Sim’oogit Hymaas Chester Moore, a Raven chief, brought forward this important practice inviting neighbouring villages to join in on the celebrations.

Over years the celebrations grew and Sim’oogit Baxk’ap suggested that other villages host the celebration. With his families help, he created a moon sculpture which was passed to the next village who would host the celebration the following year. Greenville will be hosting next year.

The original celebration began in Gitwinsihlkw many, many years ago and the elders deeply acknowledge this important history in the Nisga’a valley.

Star above the bowl of the moon Rhonda Lee McIsaac — The Nass Valley has been the home of the Nisg­a’a for thousands of years.

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A Walk Acknowledged

Cheryl Casimer (FNS Political Executive), Kura, Brett Merchant and Robert Phillips (FNS Political Executive) at the First Nations Summit (photo provided by FNS) Rhonda Lee McIsaac — Kura sniffed at the letter held by her human, Brett Merchant. It was an official letter from the First Nations Summit Political Executive inviting both of them for lunch to acknowledge their successful walk in honour…

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Fred Hamilton Sr. celebrating his 96th birthday surrounded by family. He attributes his long life to ‘eating natural foods and living off the land. Having an up beat attitude and making friends’ (photo provided by the Hamilton family) Skwa’al Frederick Hamilton Sr. celebrated his 96th birthday on February 2, 2017.  He belongs to the Gaw k’iiwii Those born at Masset Inlet people of the Raven clan.…

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Xaay Daga Dlaang Society - New Health Governance model adopted

Xaay Daga Dlaang Society – New Health Governance model adopted

By Rhonda Lee McIsaac — HlGaagilda Skidegate adopted a new Haida health governance model for the Xaay Daga Dlaang Society this past month and only a year since the Kaa Dllxaaws Naay Skidegate Band Council agreed to re-organize so that the Health Centre could become an independent entity. “It’s all come down to this one engagement session where the community gets to vote on what they’ve worked on…

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Use the gifts the Creator gave you!

Use the gifts the Creator gave you!

  Sondra’s book release in June 2014.   by Rhonda Lee McIsaac — What is your Haida name? Gidal-kint-gwaan (Little Doll Looking Around). My birth name is Sondra S. Segundo. Where do you come from? I come from the village of Hydaburg Alaska. I am from the Double-Fin Killer Whale crest, Raven Clan, Brown Bear House. My family is from the Hydaburg Double-Fin crest, Raven clan. My great-grandmother is…

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‘The Beast’ is headed for the North American Indigenous Games

‘The Beast’ is headed for the North American Indigenous Games

Zoey the Beast Collinson smiles at the Skidegate Saints Jr. Girls practice.Photo: Natasha Collinson. The Collinson family are no strangers to the basketball court. Their athletic builds, high spirits and their keen interest make them quintessential sports enthusiasts. Natasha Collinson played basketball in her youth and is now coaching and assisting the Skidegate Saints Jr. Girls team in their…

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A six-person team went to work on the script for the upcoming feature-length movie that will be filmed entirely in Xaayda language.

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Emcees Heebz the Earthchild and The Northwest Kid sharing their message of empowerment and respect for your cultural identity with the audience at Hiit’agan iina Kuuya Naay (Skidegate Youth Centre). The Skidegate Youth Centre is a far cry from a festival stage with strobe lights and chest booming bass. But in the small building a video projector sits on a black milk crate atop a folding banquet…

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An artist’s interpretation of the Cassini spacecraft maneuvering close enough to graze Saturn’s rings.

By Graham Richard —

Twenty years ago a team of Earthlings launched the spacecraft Cassini to explore interplanetary space and learn more about our celestial cousins. The elephant-sized craft used home planet Earth and harbinger Venus as slingshots, plunging into their gravity and exiting again to fling itself on a seven-year voyage past Jupiter to Saturn.

The probe is equipped with a complex of robotic eyes and antennae, including a ‘plasma spectrometer’, and a ‘synthetic aperture radar mapper’. A long, yellow magnetometer sniffs out magnetic mysteries and a high-gain radio antenna dish acts as a giant ear to hear Cassini’s earth-bound pilots.

During its 12-year tenure circling Saturn the little, drifting elephant spied out some 20 targets at close-quarters. It has witnessed occult wonders like the hundred geysers that cast ammonium-laden water into space from the icy moon Enceladus, creating a massive and diffuse plume that hangs in a ring 238,000 km above the gas giant. Below this, the hydrogen planet’s more brilliant rings of water-ice fall eternally starting at a height of 139,500 km. These ‘falls’ are suspended between Saturn’s gravity and the resonant alignment of its 62 known moons.

In November 2016, Cassini began a series of plunges, grazing the outermost of Saturn’s rings. This thin strand of icebergs formed when Saturn’s moons Prometheus and Pandora collided. As Prometheus travels, it shepherds the peripheral ring of scattered ice into a delicate halo that encompasses the massive planet below. With each revolution the crater-strewn moon reclaims pieces as debris falls out of the ring and into its gravity.

In April 2017, Cassini will skip inward, swooping through the 2,400-kilometer gap between Saturn’s highest clouds and its innermost ring. Throughout 22 consecutive orbits it will uncover the first secrets of its mission, closely studying the silent rings above and the endless tempests below. On its twenty-third lap, having finally spent its fuel supply, the dutiful explorer will plunge into the Jovian giant’s frozen equator in September 2017. Winds reaching 1,800 kilometres per hour will tear the 20-year space craft to shreds. After tumbling 50,000 kilometres the celestial servant’s mangled appendages will fall into the storm-ridden glaciers of Saturn’s earth-sized core, never to rise again.

The spacecraft was named after French astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1652-1712) who discovered the gap in Saturn’s rings known as Cassini’s division.

Saturn’s northern hemisphere nears summer solstice. Cassini took the picture from high above the planet in April 2016.

Saturn’s water-ice moon Tethys features an impact crater that is 445 km wide.

Tendrils of water, ammonia, and organic compounds escape from the subterranean reservoirs of the moon Enceladus, forming a diffuse ring around Saturn.

Saturn’s moon Helene pictured from its leading hemisphere. Gullies and dust flows mark the 43km diameter rock as it traces its orbit around the gas giant 77396 km below.

Portrait of Jupiter from Cassini.

So fall Saturn’s falls By Graham Richard — Twenty years ago a team of Earthlings launched the spacecraft Cassini to explore interplanetary space and learn more about our celestial cousins.

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Tiffany Boyko slams the adze into the log to gain her first cedar chip as onlookers cheer her on.

Coming out of a winter hibernation and enjoying the solitude and seafood along the beaches is a natural activity for grizzly bears and their cubs, and Old Massett Village Council and the Tluu Xaada Naay Society aim to bring back that world through carved figures on a monumental pole that will be raised at Taaw Hill.

In early December, between rain showers, Kilthguulans Christian White announced a new project to community members who gathered around a 52-foot cedar log. The rain-slick yellow cedar log lay on its side with its heartwood exposed in the back yard of  Tluu Xaada Naay.

“We were taught by our ancestors to clean the tree and that’s what we’ve been doing for the past two days. It rained and cleaned the tree,” announced Kilthguulans as the bark, phloem, cambium and xylem curling’s lay in the puddles beneath the tree. In the small crowd, also witnessing the event were seven students on hand to bless the tree and make their first cuts for the new Hliialang Llnaagee gin gyaa.ang kidaa Totem in the Forest project. 

“The project is a partnership with the Tluu Xaada Naay Society and the Old Massett Village Council. It also includes a sign project as well,” said Othgaljad Patricia Moore, Economic Development Planner for OMVC. “Half of the carvers are women, and the other are men,” said Othgaljad. “We have a great crew! It’s going to be a beauty!” The project is planning to raise the pole and sign on June 21, 2017.

The young carvers are between the ages of 19 to 29 and will be enrolled with North West Community College, attend class, and work with artist Kilthguulans and his son SGul Vernon White this winter. Carving apprentices are: Daisy White, Shaylana Brown, Jennica Bell, Tiffany Boyko, Jay Bellis, Captain Stewart-Burton, Shane Bell, and Paul Biron.

The original frontal pole design was created by a great uncle to Charles Edenshaw. The 52’ house frontal pole features a female grizzly bear with her two cubs on her body and at the bottom, a male grizzly which forms the door way through which people would enter the house. The original frontal pole was carved by Sqiltcange, who was from Chaatl. In 1911, Emily Carr saw a photograph of the pole and was inspired to create a studio oil painting based on the photo.

Carver, Kilthguulans says that the frontal pole identified as belonging to the House for a Large Crowd of People in McDonald’s Haida Monumental Art will be the main inspiration for the new pole.

“The original pole was maybe 40 feet but this one will be at least 50 feet,” he said. The carvings on the new pole will be inspired by the Grizzly bear hunter story and will also feature a raven and eagle story, and some watchmen. “It won’t be a replica,” he said, over the phone. “It is going to be a new interpretation.”

In a full circle: from monumental pole, to photograph, to painting, and back to a monumental pole, the cycle is complete. “We’re doing this for the community, for you,” said Kilthguulans, and added that the carving team would need support and nourishment from the community and they would welcome that kind of support!

“Gud san glans Robert Davidson and Chief 7idansuu Jim Hart provided support for this project. I’m so grateful to have their support,” acknowledging Glenys Snow Dymond; the proposal writer, “for being a very strong advocate for those with disabilities,” said Othgaljad. The project is supported by Old Massett Village Council, Tluu Xaada Naay Society, Skills Link, TriCorp, Vancouver Foundation, Canada and the BC Arts Council.

Dayaang (Donald Bell) accepts the first chip from the 52′ cedar pole that carver Christian White and 8 youth from Old Massett are set to work on for the next 6 months. “We’re doing it for you, the community” stated Christian White to the assembled witnesses.

The new apprentices studying under carver Christian White gather to bless the 52′ cedar log they will be working with for the next 31 weeks. From left to right: Shane Bell, Captain Stewart-Burton, Tiffany Boyko, Daisy White, Jennika Bell, Jay Bellis and Paul Biron. Missing from ceremony was Shaylana Brown.

Dayaang (Donald Bell).

Daisy White gleefully chips away at the cedar log during the first cut ceremony.

Totem in the Forest” first cut ceremony in G_aaw (Old Massett) is guided by carver Kilthguulans (Christian White).

Captain Stewart-Burton and Paul Biron Taking their first chip off the cedar log.

The frontal pole for the House for a Large Crowd of People at Hiellen. This totem pole has fascinated and inspired many already including Canadian painter Emily Carr with a oil painting entitled Totem and Forest. The pole was removed from Graham Island to Prince Rupert and then to the British Columbia Museum in 1965. It is now the inspiration for a new carving project in Old Massett which brings together history, culture, and art for 8 new young carvers. Photo credit: National Museums Canada as found in McDonald, G.F. Haida Monumental Art. Villages of the Queen Charlotte Islands. 1983. p.173)

Totem in the forest Coming out of a winter hibernation and enjoying the solitude and seafood along the beaches is a natural activity for grizzly bears and their cubs, and Old Massett Village Council and the Tluu Xaada Naay Society aim to bring back that world through carved figures on a monumental pole that will be raised at Taaw Hill.