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.