Resurgence and Resilience

Through all that has been done to assimilate our people, we have remained deeply rooted to the lands and waters of Haida Gwaii. The strength of our ancestors has guided us to care for our Territories and has kept our people and ways of life breathing.

Watchmen Program

The Haida Gwaii Watchmen formed in 1981 to protect and care for the sensitive and important Haida village sites located around the Islands. With increasing visitor numbers to Haida Gwaii, the role these Watchmen play is imperative in keeping our villages safe and undisturbed. There are still hundreds of village sites around Haida Gwaii, and it’s important to be careful in all areas during your travels. Nearly every stretch of beach could be an ancient village site where human remains and their personal belongings could lie. Our Haida Ways of Being include respecting ancestral remains and letting everything return to the Earth.

Athlii Gwaay Lyell Island

In November of 1985, our nation took a stand to reject the relentless industrial logging practices in the Haida Heritage site of Gwaii Haanas Islands of Beauty. Haida Law was upheld to protect the integrity of our lands and waters at Athlii Gwaay. Seventy-two people were arrested, of those sixty-six were citizens of the Haida Nation, the other six were Indigenous and Canadian allies who were invited to stand on the line with our people. The court hearings and efforts collectively resulted in a halt to logging in Gwaii Haanas. Through the creation of the Gwaii Haanas Agreement, we “agreed to disagree” with the government of Canada about who owns the land, but both decided that Gwaii Haanas would be protected for future generations.