Major logging on Haida Gwaii ground to a halt on March 22, 2005. Checkpoints were raised as islanders stopped the traffi c. What happened? What did it take to push the people of Haida Gwaii over the edge? This is not really like us. We’re generally pretty laid back up here, content to live our lives and enjoy this amazing place.
Well, it takes years and years, decades really, filled with legal challenges, broken promises, political whitewashes and dubious delaying tactics to get Haida and other Islanders alike, to come together and say loudly — “Enough is enough!” To stand up and say again to the provincial government and industry that this is no way to treat the land or the people of these Islands.This is no way to treat the future of these Islands, compromise and ‘negotiations’ have gone on too long. We are losing the opportunity for a sustainable way of living with the land and ocean.
Since Lyell Island days the people of these Islands have tried to work with the province and industry to change the way business is done. It fi nally came down to looking around at what was left and not seeing a future for the people. These Islands have given so much.
There were a number of flashpoints which initiated the action. First of all, it was brought on by a notion of the Council of Haida Nation (CHN) that the Crown finally act with honour. The Supreme Court of Canada, in a landmark decision, had ruled in 2004, that the Haida, and First Nations in general, had to be consulted and accommodated when actions were taken which affected the land they claimed, even before those claims had been established. The government of BC, in response, changed the law, removing itself from the process especially with tenure changes. So when Brascan offered to buy Weyerhaeuser’s BC assets, including forested lands on Haida Gwaii (TFL 39, Block 6), the province stated it no longer had a say in the matter. The Haida Nation disagreed, as had the Supreme Court which explicitly stated that the province had a duty to consult on decisions affecting the TFL.
Another reason for the protest was the fact that the CHN and Island communities objected to the fact, that, even though there was a Land Use Planning process underway which identifi ed areas on Haida Gwaii in need of protection, some of these areas were receiving fi nal approval for logging by the provincial government, while the planning table was still underway.
There were a myriad of other issues, years of frustration and broken promises, but above all, the action was about local control. The hand-painted signs by the checkpoints really said it all: enough is enough. It was time to get off our collective butts and take back our livelihood. No more indiscriminate razing of old growth forests with harvesting at levels way beyond what could ever be sustainable. No more destruction of sacred sites and treasured resources. No more shipping of six billion dollars worth of logs off island, with few local benefi ts beyond some jobs and a crumbling infrastructure.
Islanders were making a stand. They wanted to live here, raise their kids and make a decent living, blessed with a strong sense of community and a powerful connection to the land. And a stand they made. The action was named Gwaii Sgaanawaay Siigaa Iijaa which means Islands Spirit Rising in Haida.
And rise it did. Checkpoints went up at the Yakoun River outside of Port Clements, impeding traffi c on the logging mainline and near the Honna in Queen Charlotte on the main road out to the back country. The checkpoints prevented Weyerhaeuser workers and Ministry of Forests employees from getting to work. Individuals came forward, supplies miraculously appeared and people pitched in. Islanders took their shifts at the checkpoints which had people at them 24 hours a day, brought supplies and vast quantities of food, visited and provided moral support. Buildings were erected with a cookhouse/ bunkhouse at the Yakoun and a smaller overnight cabin at the Honna. Firewood was cut, food prepared, masks carved, the camp cleaned and traffi c checked.
But mostly we sat. And sat. Waiting for a resolution. There’s nothing like sitting around a campfi re in the middle of the night during a howling southeast wind to build a sense of community. It must be something about shared misery. Spring storms had their way with the protesters, people got tired, there may have been doubts, but a negative word was never heard. Nobody ever questioned the purpose. There was a lot of conversation and soul searching about the stand we were taking. People dug deep. For everyone it was a little different but we all agreed as Haida Gwaiians, that what was happening in the forests should no longer be allowed. A government and a logging industry only interested in short term profit should not be allowed any more to undermine the future of a place where people have lived for over 10,000 years. That’s not radical thought, that’s defending a way of life and respecting the land.
Through this action we’ve discovered that what binds us, the desire for a sustainable future for Haida Gwaii, is much stronger than what separates us. This community is made up of Haida and other Islanders, newcomers and longtime residents, North-enders and South-enders, hippies and loggers. Sure we have our arguments, some juicy ones at that. But, even previous to this collective action, communities came together to sign a protocol agreement with the CHN. The protocol acknowledged that “Island Community” is compatible with Haida Aboriginal Title and that we are in this all together.
After fi ve weeks of checkpoints, the powers that were, realized that Haida Gwaii was serious. That there was no turning back. That issues that have been brewing, fermenting, festering for so many years, had to be resolved. And so it was. After a week of high level negotiations in Vancouver, a tentative deal has been struck — there is still some crossing of t’s and dotting of i’s but people are hopeful. It looks like the province has made a shift and is telling industry that things are going to change. Large areas of Haida Gwaii, areas of importance to the Haida, archaeological sites, monumental cedar stands, will be protected. The Annual Allowable Cut will be reduced to a sustainable level. Community views and perspectives will take precedence over those of the province and the government at the Land Use Planning table and Islanders will fi nally get a say, an active voice, in decisions that affect the future of Haida Gwaii.
Today, April 27, 2005, the checkpoints are still in place. Everybody is allowed free passage, but there are still people in the camps, the checkpoints are not gone. They can be resurrected at the drop of a cedar hat just in case industry gets pushy, or government loses its resolve.
The action did have its cost. Some people lost their jobs, bank payments were missed and not everyone agreed. But it had to be, and it had to be now. Now, there is still hope. Now, there are still forest stands, and a future, to argue about. Tomorrow might have been too late — it’s tough to save the heartland after the guts have been ripped out.
Islanders will have the opportunity to take heart, take control and take care. The chance to design a future that maintains land, maintains culture while providing for a sustainable economy, is almost in our hands. It’s going to be diffi cult to fi gure out a way to change to a sustainable economy and there will be many sacrifi ces fi guring out how to do more with less. But we have made the opportunity collectively. And we’re taking it.
So, in the end, what does it take to make a change? It takes patience. It takes commitment, cooperation and courage. It takes gumption and the resolve to make these changes stick. It takes communities, native and non-native alike, working together towards a common goal. On Haida Gwaii, it takes an Island.
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