The Sealaska Heritage Institute welcomed home a long-lost treasure this past December. Weavers, carvers, painters and the curious gathered at the clan house in the Walter Soboleff building in Juneau to witness the unveiling of a five-foot wide naaxiin Chilkat robe. The robe features a design that likely portrays Hiilang.nga thunderbird. This Read more…
By Graham — Work on United Pole at Gya K’id Naay Carving House at Kay Llnagaay is progressing faster than anticipated. “We should be finished in two and a half months,” speculated apprentice carver StllnGa Tyler York as he carefully evens out the cheek on one of the gyaagang’s monumental Read more…
A unique chiefly robe and a private ceremony made public, gave visitors and Islanders a glimpse into the intimate world of weavers. Artist Kujuuhl Evelyn Vanderhoop presented her most recent Naaxiin robe Friday, August 21 to an appreciative gathering at the Haida Gwaii Museum. With the robe hanging from the Read more…
Graham Richard — Dancing and singing recommenced in the afternoon on Tuesday, June 30, starting with a welcome by the Heiltsuk hereditary leaders. Then Heiltsuk children flooded the floor as they started the day. Their Haida visitors joined them in portraying the spirits and animals that inhabit Heiltsuk territory, forming Read more…
By Graham Richard. Photos by Tawla Jaad — Figures are beginning to take shape on the ‘United’ pole in Tluu Naay Canoe house, at Ḵay Llnagaay. Chip-by-chip, slender cedar slices fall away and collect in the newly created creases and corners of the growing design. The 54-foot pole is now laying face down Read more…
By Graham Richard — This June eighty Haida traversed an ancient trade route, retraced infinitely by coastal ancestors over thousands of years: the inside passage. The group was on their way to a peace treaty potlatch in Waglisla Bella Bella. From the decks of a ferry, they watched the dramatic, Read more…
By Tawla Jaad — Last Friday evening, Hltaaxuulang Guud Ad K’aaju was joined by Te Tini A Maui in a song and dance presentation as part of the second evening celebrating the annual Skidegate Days. Te Tini A Maui is a cultural group from New Zealand whose visit to Haida Read more…
By Tawla Jaad — The students of Gidgalang Kuuyas Naay welcomed the students of Sk’aadgaa Naay Elementary, Agnus L. Mathers Elementary and members of the community to witness the raising of two totem poles at the entrance of their school on June 12. The ceremony started with a powerful Gaagiixid dance Read more…
By Graham Richard — Locals welcomed a large logging truck carrying a 54-foot cedar log into the carving shed at the Haida Heritage Center Monday, May 25. The log was off-loaded and set on blocks. Now, carver Garner Moody will spend at least five months transforming the log into 45-foot-tall Read more…
Five years of effort came to fruition Saturday, March 7 with the presentation of Gwaai and Jaalen Edenshaw’s replica of a Haida artistic masterpiece known as “The Great Box”. With the aim of learning as much as possible about the original artist’s style and his use of formline, the two Read more…