Gwaii Haanas Case Study: Indigenous Sovereignty and Environmental Justice
This case study was written for my class Environmental Justice at Naropa University.
Haida Gwaii is an archipelago of ancient temperate rainforests situated 100 kilometers off the main coast of northern British Columbia. To some, Haida Gwaii is known as The Galapagos of the North, due to a warm ocean current that swirls north from the equator which turns a climate that should be barely habitable into one which supports one of the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world (Doyle, 2017). The significance of this archipelago stems not only from its breathtaking beauty and biological diversity but also from its victory of gaining Indigenous sovereignty.
The Haida were propelled to regain control over their land during an explosion of logging in the 1940s due to demand for wood in WWII (Corbin, n.d.). Over the last 100 years, the Haida have seen such severe clear-cutting of the red cedar trees that have caused extensive damage to both terrestrial and riverine ecosystems on Haida Gwaii that they feared their lands may never recover (Corbin, n.d.). A local environmental organization named the Gowaiga Institute estimates that 103 million cubic meters and 15 billion Canadian dollars have been logged. If all that wood were turned into telephone poles, it would circle the earth 24 times (Corbin, n.d.).
Upon understanding the consequences of the industrial land rape that was being practiced in Haida Gwaii, the Haida Nation began a series of wise and well-timed actions that lead them to regain control over their land. “By creatively using the courts, human blockades, public testimony, and the news media, and by applying each tactic at precisely the right time, the Haida won the support of enough Canadian citizens, government officials, and judges to triumph” (Dowie & White, 2017). Through the Haida’s careful strategies they were able to activate the creation of Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, Marine Conservation Area, and Haida Heritage Site and negotiate joint management. They have also gained control over the on-island industries through a consultation process which makes it illegal to lease land for industrial activities without Haida consent. The Haida established the Strategic Land Use Agreement that has been signed by the federal government which subjects half of the archipelago to ecosystem-based management by the Haida government. Most recently the archipelago has been renamed from The Queen Charlotte Islands to Haida Gwaii by the Haida Gwaii Reconciliation Act as part of the agreement between the Haida people and the province of British Columbia (Revolvy. n.d.). This naming of the archipelago after a European Queen and its subsequent renaming to its ancestral name is symbolic of the loss of control and struggle of the Haida people to regain their identity and their land.
This case study will briefly cover the historical demise of the Haida Nation and their subsequent struggle for recognition and their right to self-determination. Personal interactions with the Haida people from working in Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area, and the Haida Heritage Site for the past two summer seasons will provide some insights in addition to authoritative texts on the subject.
This archipelago has been the ancestral home of Haida people for at least 13,000 years. The historical timeline of their occupation has been disputed among historians, anthropologists, and the Haida, but this time-frame has been generally acknowledged (Doyle, November 17, 2017). For most of this period the Haida people lived a semi-nomadic life that revolved around the natural environment.
Most historical accounts cite Juan Perez’s visit in 1774 as the first European contact with Haida Gwaii. The Haida population at this time is generally thought to have been between 10,000 to 12,000, yet Haida historians cite a much larger number, ranging from 30,000 to 40,000 (Haida Nation, March, 2009). Nevertheless, by 1904 the Haida population had been reduced to a mere 587 people as a consequence of a smallpox epidemic introduced to the Haida nation by Europeans (Haida Nation, March, 2009).
The smallpox epidemic decimated entire Haida villages and eventually, all of the Haida in the southern half of the archipelago moved to Skidegate and all of the Haida in the northern half congregated in Masset (Haida Nation, March, 2009). These communities became the first two reserves on Haida Gwaii and are still the two main reserves on Haida Gwaii today. As the Haida’s settled in Masset and Skidegate the archipelago became increasingly accessible to industrial developments for resource extraction (Action Canada).
Clam and fish canneries, abalone drying stations, whaling stations, mine sites, sawmills, and logging camps sprung up throughout Haida Gwaii (Lee, September, 2012). Exploitation of the land and surrounding marine resources grew at a rapid rate. For example, hundreds of thousands of salmon were canned and over 8,000 whales were caught for the purposes of oil (Action Canada).
In the 1850s the archipelago’s dense old growth cedar, Sitka spruce, and hemlock began to attract logging companies (Dowie & White, 2017). These logging companies and their government sponsors ignored the Haida and began “one of the Pacific Coast’s most monstrous land rapes” (Lee, September, 2012). The Haida received only a few jobs and hardly any revenue, yet felt effects of cultural devastation from the logging industry (Lee, September, 2012). “By the 1800s government policies began limiting Haida fishing to subsistence and by the turn of the century, additional restrictions extended to salmon, timber, minerals and land use of off-reserve sites” (Ingram, 1995, p.80). To secure their control over these resources in 1853 and without Haida consent, the British claimed sovereignty over Haida Gwaii (Lee, September, 2012).
“About 25 years later in 1876, the Indian Act was enacted, making all ‘Indians’ a ward of the state and deeming potlatch activities – important First Nations cultural, social, economic, and governance practices – illegal in 1884” (Lee, September, 2012).
The potlatch ban marked a fissure in Haida environmental governance systems that had evolved over many thousands of years (Lee, September, 2012). The government of British Columbia joined Canadian Confederation in 1871 and the government began to draw colonial property lines while never receiving consent from the Haida; the Haida never formally surrendered the archipelago (Lee, September, 2012). Eventually, government restrictions began to impede upon the Haida’s traditions. After almost a century of exploitation, the Haida began their difficult battle to regain sovereignty over their land, one that saw them fighting for their rights on the ground and in the courts.
In the late 1960s, three large companies obtained tree farm licenses for over 41 percent of the Haida Gwaii land area; timber cutting practices shifted from hand logging in small areas to increasingly larger clear cut areas (Ingram, 1995, p.80).
Throughout the 1970’s Haida began to move back to camps in the southern islands that had been abandoned during the smallpox epidemics. Their goal was to protect the lands from poaching of ancient totem poles and illegal logging practices (Aunty David, Personal Communication, July, 2018). In 1974 the “Council of the Haida Nation” was created as a governing body for the Haida (Dowie, August 17, 2017). This was the first act of the many strategic steps the Haida took in order to regain control over their lands. The Haida began a nationwide series of high-profile protests which attracted media coverage and national support from environmentalists and other Indigenous activists (Dowie, August 17, 2017).
In 1980 the Council of the Haida Nation drafted a constitution with the most notable order being “full independence, sovereignty, and self-sufficiency” (Dowie, August 17, 2017). The council submitted a land claim to the Canadian Government demanding aboriginal title over all of the Haida’s islands as well as a claim calling for a 50 percent reduction in logging; both of these claims were denied shortly after submission (Dowie, August 17, 2017). But this didn’t stop the Haida’s tenacious commitment to protecting their home. Over the next ten years negotiations, land use planning, court cases, and recognized protection for Burnaby Narrows, Hotsprings Island, Windy Bay, and the village site of SGang Gwaay led to the infamous Haida blockade of Lyell Island in 1985. Decades of destructive forestry culminated in the first widely publicized protest against logging in Haida Gwaii in the winter of 1985-86 (Corbin, n.d.). Haida elders, youth and a few invited supporters stood on the logging road and Haidas, elders first, were arrested for taking their stand (Lee, September, 2012).
During 1985 the Haida Nation independently designated the Gwaii Haanas land and marine area as a Haida Heritage Site (Lee, September, 2012). Subsequently, in 1987, under significant pressure from the Haida and their national and international supporters, the governments of Canada and British Columbia signed a memorandum of understanding that stopped logging in Gwaii Haanas, followed by the South Moresby Agreement (1988) that committed to protect Gwaii Haanas as a national park reserve (Lee, September, 2012).
The creation of Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve was the most expensive in the history of Canada as the federal government had to secure funding to compensate logging companies holding tenures within Gwaii Haanas (Lee, September, 2012). Gwaii Haanas is now a National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area, and Haida Heritage Site. The 1993 Haida-Canada joint management of Gwaii Haanas agreement became a milestone in First Nations history in Canada (Ingram, 1995, p.85). The Haida have provided an anti-colonial and sovereignist model for conservation in a large country with a federal system (Ingram, 1995, p.85).
In 2001, Haida Nation filed a Title and Rights case in the Court of Appeal of British Columbia. Years earlier, Haida elders helped to send a Haida woman named Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson, to law school; Williams-Davidson went on to pass the British Columbia bar and began to argue the Haida’s cases in court (Dowie, August 17, 2017). The provincial court found the Haida’s in favor, ordering both the provincial government and the timber industry to consult with and accommodate the Haida Nation (Dowie, August 17, 2017). The Haida Nation took groundbreaking strides when they began legal action in the Supreme Court of British Columbia during the March of 2002 (Dowie, August 17, 2017). The Haida claimed to seek sovereignty over the land, seabed, and surrounding seas of Haida Gwaii (Peterson, November 6, 2004). Haida Leader Guujaaw stated, "The Haida Nation É has no treaties and on that basis has challenged Canada's claims to Haida waters and the validity of all licenses issued by the Crown. The Haida Territorial waters include halfway to the mainland and Vancouver Island, all the way to Alaska (where Haidas also reside) and westward into the abyssal depths." (Peterson, 2004).
In 2004, the Supreme Court of Canada concluded in Haida Nation v. British Columbia that the province had failed to meet its duties to consult and accommodate the Haida before it issued a timber license (Dowie, August 17, 2017). In a unanimous ruling, it was declared that the province must consult with the Haida before issuing tree farm licenses, as well as any extractive licenses (Dowie & White, 2017). “Put simply, Canada’s aboriginal peoples were here when Europeans came and were never conquered,” wrote Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin (Dowie & White, 2017). “Honourable negotiation implies a duty to consult with Aboriginal claimants and conclude an honorable agreement reflecting the claimants’ inherent rights … Where the government has knowledge of an asserted Aboriginal right or title, it must consult the Aboriginal peoples on how the exploitation of the land should proceed.” (Dowie & White, 2017). Terri-Lynn Williams was celebrated internationally, one First Nation chief commended her work and described the outcome as “a tremendous victory felt throughout the indigenous world.” (Dowie & White, 2017).
In 2007 the Government of British Columbia joined the Haida Nation in signing the Strategic Land Use Agreement, which subjected half of the archipelago to ecosystem-based management by the Haida government (Dowie, 2017).
The Haida’s fight for Indigenous Sovereignty is a perfect case study for Environmental Justice. A healthy relationship with the land, sea, and animals is the key that unlocks Haida culture and tradition; without a healthy environment, the Haida Nation was at risk of losing the roots that tie them to their ancestral traditions. It seemed that fighting for governance over the archipelago was the only way to ensure the preservation of Haida culture. The Haida were able to secure the status of Gwaii Haanas as a National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area, and Haida Heritage Site; Gwaii Haanas is the only place in Canada that is ecologically protected from the seabed to the tops of the forests. Logging has been severely reduced and is now controlled by Haida owned companies, exterior industries must consult and seek licenses from the Haida Nation and the archipelago's colonized name “Queen Charlotte Islands” was replaced with its original name “Haida Gwaii” (Dowie, August 17, 2017).
The Haida’s environmental guardianship has ensured that the path to their culture and traditions is not erased. Control of logging ensures that the archipelago's old growth forests remain standing and provide life for the ecosystems that live within them. It also ensures that Haida carvers will have resources to continue creating legacy poles. The joint governance of Gwaii Haanas ensures the preservation of a place that contains the most biomass diversity in the world (Doyle, November 1, 2017). Now that the Haida nation has secured environmental protection of their home they have been able to shift focus onto cultural preservation through language programs, youth camps, and repatriation of stolen artifacts that are scattered throughout museums around the world (Corbin, n.d.). The story of the Haida’s victory of gaining sovereignty offers practices that could guide indigenous peoples internationally on how to regain their sovereignty and halt destructive environmental methods (Dowie, August 17, 2017).
References
Aunty David. (July, 2018) Personal Communication
Corbin, A. (n.d.). Haida Gwaii – Canada. Retrieved from https://sacredland.org/haida-gwaii-canada/
Dowie, M. (2017, August 17). Wanna Save the Planet? Follow the Haida Nation's Example. Retrieved from https://www.thenation.com/article/wanna-save-the-planet-follow-the-haida-nations-examp le/
Dowie, M., & White, A. (2017). The Haida Gwaii lesson: A strategic playbook for indigenous sovereignty. San Francisco, CA: Inkshares. Doyle. (2017, November 01). How Haida Gwaii's Unique Geography Helped the Indigenous Struggle for Independence. Retrieved from https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/how-haida-gwaiis-unique-geography-helped-in digenous-struggle-independence.
Ingram, G. B. (1995). Conserving Habitat and Biological Diversity: A Study of Obstacles on Gwaii Haanas, British Columbia. Forest & Conservation History,39(2), 77-89. doi:10.2307/3983663
Lee, L. (2012, September). People, Land & Sea: Environmental Governance on Haida Gwaii. Retrieved from http://www.actioncanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Haida-Gwaii-Environmental-EN -Oct-2012.pdf
Peterson, K. (2004, November 6). The Struggle for Haida Gwaii. Retrieved from http://www.dominionpaper.ca/original_peoples/2004/11/06/the_strugg.html Revolvy. (n.d.).
Haida Gwaii. Retrieved from https://www.revolvy.com/page/Haida-Gwaii Haida Nation. (2009, March). Haida Laas Journal of the Haida Nation. Retreived from http://www.haidanation.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/jl_mar.09.pdf Aunty David, personal communication, july, 2018
