Cutblocks and Boating

Alooo alooooo,



So the rest of the class has shipped off to Prince Rupert for the All Native Basketball tournament- a weekend of basketball, debauchery and lack of sleep no doubt. Last minute I decided to stay here, part because I've got a cold, part because I didn't want to go back to the city and mostly because I was excited to explore the island alone for a bit. It was definitely the best decision.

Last Wednesday I was lucky enough to skip class to go out with two foresters from the Ministry of Forests to look at culturally modified trees (CMTs) in a cutblock from 2003. I went out with Sean an RPF, Percy a forester from the Council of the Haida Nation, Emily a local from my class and myself to look at the amount of blowdown (wind blown and downed trees) in reserve polygons and zones around CMT's. I got picked up at 7 am, took the ferry across to Moresby Island and then drove almost an hour back logging roads to our cutblocks. We spent the day walking around the cutblocks documenting the effectiveness of the reserve zones left around the CMT's, it was wicked. It was my first time in cork boots, trying to jump and keep up with the foresters who are skilled at jumping through slash and dancing across logs piles 2 meters high (that are very slippery to boot). Anyways it was a wicked day and I learned a whole bunch.

We are finished our second class First nations and Forestry which was wicked. And now it is reading break .... yeeeeeeee boy. Thursday night I hung out with a local from the program who has a cedar walled, fire heated hot tub in his back yard where we enjoyed the stars. I think you'll enjoy this dad: That takes me to Friday where I tied up the final assignment blah blah blah, went down to the docks with my buddy Kris where we met his friend and ran out with him to pull up his crab traps. The sun was setting, the water was flat as glass and it was a beautiful sunny February day. We got 8 keepers, massive dungeness crab and headed back in. Lawrence said I could keep the crab so Kris and I had a feast, and then I spent the evening cleaning, boiling and freezing the rest of the crab. I'm baking some bread for Lawrence right now to say thanks for the crab. It is my first fresh crab of 2010 and oh man it is amazing.
Today Kris came by around lunch time with his buddy Steve and his zodiac trailer outside ready to go. We spent a beautiful day on the water it was sooo sunny and amazing out. We went really far exploring the inlets of Skidegate Narrows, and an old Haida village site/ grave. I had them over for dinner tonight to repay the favour with crab, couscous and beer... it was a great feast. Tomorrow we are planning on getting up pretty early, ferrying over to Sandspit (Moresby Island) and taking Steve's zodiac down to Skedans which is an ancient Haida village site which has many old standing totem poles- it is a very spiritual place for the Haida that is extremely difficult to access. I can't believe I'm getting the opportunity to trail along on these adventures. It was definitely the best decision to not go to Prince Rupert... next week we are planning a trip to Rennell Sound on the West Coast for hiking, camping and kayaking followed by a trip later in the week to explore the north east tip of Graham Island near North Beach. Ahhh life is beautiful here... no one is rich in monetary terms but rich in story, knowledge and character.


I love you all, hope everyone is great. I wrote an article for the local paper this week, so I'll send a copy down to Ma and Pa hahaha. Everyone reads this newspaper in town so it is kinda interesting. Nyways, I hope these pictures are encouraging you guys to come up here soon! Enjoy the Olympic bonanza!!!

Malaysia

This is the easiest way for me to communicate with you guys.

I got an e-mail today letting me know that I got accepted to go on exchange to Malaysia from December- May of 2010-2011! I am very excited for it... I have been talking/thinking about this since my first semester at UBC.

Anyways...

Love you guys!

So the last blog didn't work out so well because I wrote two long blog entries and then they somehow disappeared into the internet somewhere, never to be found again.

Anyways, this site seems a little bit more reliable, but then again you never know.


Lots of great and different things happen every day that it is hard to remember what to share. But there are a few highlights that I can definitely remember in the past two weeks.
One post I wrote about was the gumboot ball in Tlell, the sleepy/hippie town on the east coast. The dance was awesome, with the whole community shaking it down in their gum boots. We camped on the beach across the street from the barn where the dance was held. I had a great time and I really started to love the people here.
We finished our first course which was Politics of forest management with a mockumentary style film made by our class about colonialism and Canadian nationality. It was pretty funny and we had a screening/potluck to boot.
Last Monday we went out on the Bill Reid canoe called the Loot'as or "wave eater" which weighs 1500 pounds, is 15.2 meters long and carved from a monumental red cedar. There are four cedar canoes currently in the carving shed beside the Haida Heritage Center and one totem pole that is being worked on. We rolled the canoe down on massive fishing floats and then paddled to Skidegate. Paddling a massive canoe with around 15 people really defines what role each person has within the crew. We paddled with eagles flying above us and Haida people waving from the shore. Being out on the water is so peaceful to me.
This has been the least stressful semester of school since I can remember. Although that I love learning, I don't feel that it needs to be as disheartening and defeating as it seems to be in big institutions like UBC. If I could have done all my classes here, I definitely would have opted to do so. For example, we are currently in the second week of our class First Nations and Forestry where we have been hired as Land Use Managers for an imaginary First Nations. We are working as a class to write our own Land Use Plan, as well as with nightly readings are discussing the major topics that define Aboriginal Forestry today. Last week we were learning about CMTs or culturally modified trees, which have great spiritual and cultural significance both in the past and present of the Haida nation. Trees are used in many ways by First Nations in terms of production, management and harvesting but not in the western views of these words. For example, red cedar is stripped off in long strips on the south side of the tree starting in the spring when the sap begins to run. Once stripped the inner layer is separated from the outer bark and is boiled. This is then used for weaving of baskets, hats, rugs, etc. Yesterday we were blessed to have a local weaver come into the class and share her knowledge with us. She has now become world famous for her weaving and we made irises and roses from red cedar strips with her. After class we went back to her home where she showed us hats that she has made out of spruce roots and a berry picking basket from her grandma that is over 100 years old with the stains of berries still on it. The weaving was so tight, with such perfectly straight lines that it was watertight. It was really remarkable.

Another reason why I love school here is that on Thursday of last week we went out into the field up near Port Clements to view some CMT's. We went down logging roads and near a cutblock was a fine selection of CMTs. There was a red cedar canoe that was partially finished and was approximately from the 1880's. Today we were explained to by a local Haida expert on CMT's known as Captain Gold that they would lay out spruce saplings and smaller poles along where they were to fell the tree and then carve it to a point where it could be moved down streams back to the village where it would finished. CMTs are very significant for First Nations especially those bands that are currently in court fighting for land title with the provincial government. The government asserts that the First Nations must prove that they lived before 1846 on the lands, had active management and use of the lands that were integral to their culture, as well as other things. CMTs can be cored and using dendrochronology (the study of tree rings), the date of the CMTs can prove the use of the tree for cedar stripping, or test sites or canoes etc.


Today we just found out that beginning in March after class we will be starting to make bentwood boxed which is a single plank of wood with four width-wise notches in it, that is steamed for 25 minutes and then bent, clamped and glued into a perfect box with no nails. I cannot wait! We saw it happen today and it looks amazing.
This is already becoming a ridiculously long post... so i'll resort to pictures in stead of long descriptions. Another reason I love it here is that I get to be a kid... Our buddy Kris hooked us up by showing us this place where a local faller and tree climber by profession has created a tree house and several massive seine fishing nets that are strung up in the canopy. There are several levels of these nets and it is pretty crazy. It is pretty fun to jump out onto these nets in the middle of the trees up in the air 3 stories.

And finally, last Sunday so i guess Feb 08 we went up to Tow Hill Road in North Beach. It is the most North-eastern tip of the islands and it was so beautiful. I collected a few choice shells and had a good run around in the woods. After we went to the Sangan river and a few of us crossed a slippery tree bridge to get to a path of old-growth cedar and hemlock. It was absolutely beautiful and I love running up and over and around the woods here...it is just slash, decomposition, moss, dead trees, live trees, mushrooms, salal everywhere. I'll put some pics down here from North Beach.

trees, etc.

been keeping busy up here... i think i could see myself staying here for a very long time. It feels like home.

Thursday night we went up to Port Clements to a town meeting about land use planning and a new ecosystem-based management system they are attempting to implement on the islands. Port is an old logging town and there were a lot of angry loggers and foresters concerned about their livelihood- it gave a good perspective and face to a lot of forestry issues in BC.

Saturday was a trip to the thrift store where I found a score- a pair of Viking waterproof logging caulk boots (an industry standard) that were a men's size 7, so with a pair of insoles fit a women size 9 pretty perfectly. She sold them to me for $2 and they look like they've never been worn.
After that great score we went over for a walk around in the woods.

Today a guy in his program set up a drive for us with his dad to see some old growth Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis). We ventured off the trail quite a bit, past some old cut blocks and new cut blocks, following the Yakoun river the whole way. We ended up at a bohemith- my best guess is around 1100 years, but it is hard to say. The only reason this would have been left is because it had defects and therefore was undesirable for market.

school and canoe trips

my classroom and the Haida Heritage museum view from the canoe

The first day of school started yesterday and am very pleased with it so far. There is nine of us in the program with three locals which really adds the local knowledge and spice to the conversation. We kicked off the program with a guest speaker: Diane Brown who is a matriarch of the Haida Nation and although a grandmother she is the youngest fluent speaker of the Haida language. She told her first hand account of the important resistance and protest that resulted years later in the creation of Gwaii Haanas National Marine Park and Haida Heritage Site. In 1985 for about three months that Haida Nation banded together and set up a camp on Lyell Island in Gwaii Haanas where they woke up every day early to stop the logging trucks from logging the area. Diane spoke of four elders from Skidegate joining the resistance on the front lines, despite their old age and poor health they woke up early in the morning and walked the steep and muddy logging road to make it to the front lines. It was decided that the elders would be the first to be arrested and along with these elders there were escorts and the Chief arrested- Diane herself was arrested and brought to Vancouver to stand trial. The Haida eventually won the struggle and all logging was stopped and the area eventually turned into a protected area reserve. It was an amazing first hand account that could never be recreated in any book or second hand perspective.

recently carved paddles

Today after class we were invited to go out on the Dragon boats that are at the Haida Heritage museum where we go to school. We first went to the carving shed where we saw many completed Haida cedar canoes and different paddles lined up against the wall.

We went out with some other students currently studying at the center and canoed past the village of Skidegate where there were two eagles watching us from Bill Reid's symbolic pole raised quite a few years ago now, but it was the first pole raised in many many years. Within that building some local elders were watching and waved as we saluted them with our paddles.

dragonboat canoes around the bay

Today was a rainy and windy ride up the east coast of Graham Island. We drove from Queen Charlotte up through the coastal communities of Tlell, Port Clements and finally to Masset and Old Masset. It is about an hour and a half, more like two hours and we had very high winds that were pushing the car on the road quite extensively. We picked up the remaining member of the crew, my new roommate Liz- a forestry student from Lakehead University in Ontario. We're very similar in our passions, ideas about forestry and I think it will be a very harmonious roommate situation. Our program director's partner Tyler was our tour guide for the day and informed us about the history of the islands, the major forestry companies, the best place to camp, where to surf, etc. When driving through the Old Masset reservation was able to point out the new longhouses being built, when certain poles were erected, where the Chief lives, where the Council meets... there was no better way to drive through town.
Tonight was a treat to say the least. We had our formal welcoming dinner with all the board of directors for the program as well as us students. The experience was overwhelming but in a very positive and humbly way. I felt very welcomed and was excited to be in a room with such shakers and movers in terms of Forestry on Haida Gwaii. For example the district manager of Haida Gwaii for the Ministry of Forests was our host with his wife and they were extremely warm. To be welcomed into the home of and have him genuinely care and express interest in us students was outstanding and an experience that can never be recreated. He will be talking to the class on Wednesday as a guest lecturer and I'm very excited to hear his opinions on the future of forestry in BC and on the islands specifically. Another member of the board is Keith Moore who runs a private environmental forestry consulting company in Queen Charlotte and is an RPF who has been a resident of the islands for many many years. Although I did not spend much time talking personally with them I am very excited for future interactions that we will no doubt have. There were many board members there with extensive and impressive careers and lives and it felt so nice to think that they had dedicated so much time to make this program happen. I think any forestry student at UBC would kill for the opporunitity to spend one-on-one time with the district manager and the president of a successful forestry consulting firm. I feel very blessed.
Another two highlight members that stood out for me were the major of Queen Charlotte, who not only came and spent the night getting to know us but baked a cheesecake for desert. I've never bet the Mayor of any place I've ever lived, let alone the third night I'm in town!

the 2010 crew

Finally, the most exciting person tonight for me (even though everyone was absolutely amazing in their own rights) was Severn Cullis-Suzuki. I felt like I was chatting casually with one of my role models and idols. She has accomplished so much in her life and has been such a strong advocate for conservation since such a young age, I really feel like if I can accomplish even half of what she has done for this field than I will be proud. She finished a masters in ethnoecology and TEK (traditional ecological knowledge) which is a field I am so interested in and feel like I want to pursue more aggressively in terms of education and jobs in the future. I wanted to just pick her brain but I also felt a little overwhelmed by the amount of interesting people and fascinating, passionate intellectuals that it was difficult to be an aggressive talker. I'm really looking forward to other opportunities where I can speak with her...she is such a role model that it is crazy to think she is on the board of directors for the program I'm in. I think if i join the local conservation group I will be able to interact with her on a more comfortable basis. I guess for someone else it is the equivalent of meeting a celebrity, that is how I felt tonight and I know that none of these people would ever see it that way.

I am so excited for this program it is unreal. Classes start tomorrow and there will be a lot of reading to do but the weather isn't so hot right now so it is perfect time to cuddle up with our course packs and get acquainted with the history of Forestry on the islands. I have a feeling that this is going to be the most meaningful school experience to date... I think that I might just never leave.

front porch

This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. My new home for the next four months is located right on the waterfront in the village of Queen Charlotte. My front porch has views of calm Pacific Ocean, forested islands, the fisherman's wharf... and all of them are covered in a hovering mist with sunlight breaking through the clouds and highlighting certain parts for only minutes at a time. The air is a lot clearer up here and the mist seems to affect the people by slowing everything down to a much more agreeable pace.

My abode is quite warm, with a full kitchen bath room, sitting room, and my own room that has a queen size bed and all the amenities I could imagine. So far everyone else has chosen the individual rooms that have their own kitchen, so it will be one of the two ladies who haven't arrived yet that will be my new roommate. Everyone is from a different University across Canada and are quite passionate about conservation and current issues. There will not be a lack of conversation in the next few months.

my home

view out my porch

We have met many locals so far, and everyone seems to know about us and the reason why we are here. We are definitely "randoms" here, but it isn't a scornful stare saying "what are you doing in our quaint little town", everyone is very welcoming and has a couple minutes to stand around and chat. Our first local we met on the barge we took from Sandspit to Skidegate landing delightfully warned us how we are going to see some "real neat shit, eh" while up here, and so far we all have to agree wholeheartedly. Yesterday, the arrival of the ferry from Prince Rupert was a hot news and although it was expected the night before, it had arrived at 4:00 in the afternoon... although no one seemed to have any complaints.

view from my front door

I'm excited for tomorrow night where we're meeting all the board members for the program at a welcoming dinner in town. School starts Monday, with a very relaxed class schedule of 10-1:30, to give us extra time to catch up on the amount of reading that will be assigned. I think the first month will be following this schedule and no complaints here.

me enjoying a moment of solace

Cheers from Haida Gwaii