NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 617

HAIDA GWAII BEACHCOMBING
Beachcombing on the Haida Gwaii is popular year-round, but it's especially good
after heavy winter storms. You may find fishing floats from countries around the Pa-
cific (glass balls from Japan are especially prized), bottles, rope, driftwood, shells,
whale bones, semiprecious agate, or just about anything that floats. When I first vis-
ited the islands in the early 1990s, a container of Nike runners had broken apart
somewhere in the Pacific; they were being found scattered on beaches throughout the
Charlottes and as far south as the Oregon coast. Before that, an abandoned fishing
boat from Japan washed ashore and caused excitement; it's now on display in Prince
Rupert.
The first contact the Haida had with Europeans occurred in 1774, when Spanish explorer
Juan Perez landed on Haida Gwaii. At the turn of the 19th century, white settlers from the
mainland began moving over to Haida Gwaii to live along the low-lying east coast and
the protected shores of Masset Inlet. By the 1830s, the traditional lifestyle of the Haida
was coming to an end. The governments on the mainland prohibited the Haida from own-
ing slaves and throwing potlatches—an important social and economic part of their cul-
ture—and forced all Haida children to attend missionary schools. The Haida abandoned
their village sites and moved onto reserves at Skidegate and Masset on Graham Island.
For many years the Haida struggled alongside the Island Protection Society to preserve
their heritage. Their longtime efforts paid off in two major events: in 1981 the best-known
of the abandoned Haida villages, Ninstints, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site,
and in 1988 the southern section of the archipelago was proclaimed Gwaii Haanas Nation-
al Park Reserve.
GETTING THERE
Air
The main gateway is Sandspit, where the small air terminal holds car-rental agencies (book
ahead) and an information center, and across the road is the Sandspit Inn. Air Canada (888/
247-2262) flies daily between Vancouver and Sandspit. The Airporter bus meets all Sand-
spit flights and transports passengers to Queen Charlotte City for $18.