Haida – Riveted

Kasaan | The Re-Dedication of Naay I’waans (the Chief Son-I-Hat Whale House)

Laura Domela — Mon, 05 Sep 2016 06:50:47 +0000

Oral history indicates the Haida people have inhabited Haida Gwaii for over 17,000 years. Archeological findings have established habitation on the islands as far back as 13,700 years. Regardless of which number is correct, that’s over 100 centuries of cultural history, dating back beyond 10,000 BC. So when the Haida invite you over to share some of their traditions, it packs quite a bit more weight than a “tradition” like watching football on television at Thanksgiving.

The Haida arrived in Southeast Alaska around 200 years ago from Haida Gwaii. The first clan leader to arrive took the name Son-I-Hat. Son-I-Hat’s household settled at the Old Kasaan village (Gasa’aan) site as early as the 1700s. After the first Son-I-Hat passed on, his nephew (born in 1829) took and carried on the Son-I-Hat name. The village grew to include up to 500 people living in 18 lodges with up to 60 totem poles. In 1862, a smallpox epidemic killed almost ninety percent of the population in Old Kasaan. Son-I-Hat moved his remaining family to a new site (about 10 miles to the north) to a new house he built in 1880. The new house Naay I’waans, was nicknamed the “Whale House.”

By October 2011, the Whale House had fallen into disrepair and a plan was made for its restoration. A team of four carver/craftsmen was tasked with rebuilding the Whale House using traditional methods and with as much of the original components and material as possible. Five years later, the work was complete, and yesterday the village of Kasaan (population normally around 50 people) was packed with hundreds of visitors celebrating the re-dedication of the only remaining Haida longhouse in the United States.

Last summer when we visited Kasaan for the first time, we met several of the carvers on the project. They invited us to come back a year later for the celebration and re-dedication, and so we did!

To start things off, people gathered on the beach in front of the Whale House to greet the canoes from other tribes and clans as they arrived.

Kids playing in the water while the canoes came in. (I heard some people a little unhappy that the kids were ruining every photo, but I disagree.)

This kid got right in on the action of greeting the first canoe to land (from Klawock):

Chief John McAllister warmly greeted every canoe and gave permission to come ashore:

This canoe was designed by Marvin Oliver (Quinault/Isleta Pueblo), and the canoe was paddled over 30 miles to Kasaan from Ketchikan the day before. They are Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian (with friends of Salish, Quinault, and Chinook heritage):

Carver, Harley Bell-Holter bringing in the canoe from Ketchikan:

Announcing arrival and asking for permission to come ashore:

We were standing next to this kid’s mom, and I believe she said the piece he’s wearing was carved by his grandfather and indicated it was very precious to her…she was freaking out a little bit every time he leaned over the side of the boat with it (which I get! look how cool it is!)

After the canoes had landed successfully, everyone made their way up the beach to the Whale House for the re-dedication.

First, there was dancing and singing…the dancers/singers danced and sang, circling the Whale House and then filed inside, filling it with the good spirit. When they were finished, the speeches and dedications and thank yous began (much of it in the Haida language, which in itself is incredible since there are only a couple dozen people who still speak Haida, and most of them are over 70).

Julia Coburn, the eldest Haida matriarch, spoke early on, flanked by her daughter Jeanie and her grandson Lee.

The carvers, L to R: Harley Bell-Holter, Stormy Hamar, his son Eric Hamar, and Justin Henricks.

And speaking of carving, would you take a look at this adze work!

Each of the carvers spoke about the effect this project had on them, and it was….you know what? There are just no words to describe how incredible this whole thing was. I’m trying, but the level of heartfelt communication coming from every person was something so special to witness. Harley talked about the longhouse being a beacon not just to Haida people, but to ALL people, and it really feels that way. The community is so friendly and welcoming, and the level of respect and honor for the Haida culture and tradition is impressive.

Stormy Hamar and his grandmother:

He said he was trying to be all cool and then his gram came up and made him get all teary and messed up his cool. It was pretty sweet.

I took quite a few detail shots of people and regalia during the in-between times.

Detail of Chief John McAllister’s head piece (while it was not on his head):

I couldn’t help this next shot. This little boy was grabbing hands of gravel and pouring them over his open sandals. Then, he’d go sit on a stump and remove his shoe, pour the sand and gravel out, put his shoe back on, and then do it again.

The re-dedication ended and everyone made their way back via the trail to the village center for food, more singing and dancing performances, gift-giving, and socializing. The canoes, leaving the shore:

There was a large variety of wonderful food: salmon, halibut, spot prawns, crab, corned venison and cabbage, deer ribs (bbq style), deer stew, and many side dishes including salads, sea asparagus, pastas, fry bread, fresh fruit, and many, many cakes. The Totem Trail Cafe cooks were killing it…it was a potluck though, so I don’t know which things they did and which things people brought (I know we brought a big lemon/caper/pasta salad with shaved brussels sprouts, but that’s all I know.)

Gifts (such as gorgeous, hand-carved war helmets, masks, drums, and other amazing pieces of art) were presented to those who had a key part in enabling this restoration. The potlatch and gift-giving tradition is integral and central to this culture. Interesting side note: Potlatches went through “a history of rigorous ban by both the Canadian and United States federal governments.” The generous, gift-giving economy centered around potlatches was seen as “wasteful, unproductive, and contrary to ‘civilized values’ of accumulation.” (Wikipedia) WTF?

Okay, and now more singing and dancing!

The Carver’s Dance:

And I tried, but I do not remember which dance groups were from which places (and they were not listed in the nice program that was handed out, dangit). They were all wonderful:

That’s carver Justin Henricks there, next to the man holding the carved orca rattle that was AMAZING. He was behind us in the food line (his little son was playing with the rattle), and he told us it was very old and had been in his family for a couple generations.

I mean seriously (I zoomed in), how great is this??

Here’s a short compilation video of footage that Kevin took, to give you some sound and movement to go with the still photos:

As the festivities wound down (some time after 7pm), we made our way along the shoreline trail back to Airship.

It was a beautiful evening, and a beautiful day (in all ways).

We hung out on the boat and talked about the day, and then a little bit later we heard some drumming and singing. I opened the door and listened. On the shore, a group of people was playing drums and singing around a couple of bonfires. The sound carrying across the water, combined with the clear, starry sky, after such an amazing day…we grabbed our chairs and some blankets and sat up on the top deck, thinking it just couldn’t get any better. And it couldn’t have, but then it did.

Háw’aa.

Kasaan | Canoe Landing

Laura Domela — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 18:36:53 +0000

Today we awoke to drumming and singing on the dock as the first canoe arrived from Klawock. We watched the greeting but didn’t take photos, since it felt like we were a little late to the party.

Another canoe was paddling all the way from Ketchikan (a 30+ mile paddle). They left at 8am and were expected into Kasaan around 6:30pm.

Just as we were leaving to walk into town and back out the Whale House, another canoe arrived by trailer. We asked if they needed help launching it, and they accepted our offer. We helped bail rainwater, launch the canoe, and then helped paddle it over to the dock. This canoe (30 feet or so) was a bit more stable than the single canoe we tried out yesterday.

Paddles:

Michael Chilton, relaxing after the launch:

Everyone is very excited about tomorrow’s celebration. Out at the beginning of the Totem Trail, two new plaques were installed to commemorate the original restoration and the second restoration, and to honor the carvers and contributors to the project.

More boats arrived at the docks in the afternoon…Provider (a boat we knew from Meyers Chuck), a large sailboat (I don’t remember its name) from Sweden (they’d come from Japan, then Russia, then the Aleutian Islands, and now Kasaan!), and a few other boats from Ketchikan (with a few Haida from Haida Gwaii aboard).

We were out exploring in the dinghy when we caught a far off glimpse of the canoe and its pilot boat, so we headed back to the dock to be part of the greeting.

Long house and totem pole (original front house pole brought from Old Kasaan), taken from the dinghy:

Chief John, waiting with his regalia:

The canoe and its tired paddlers, from Ketchikan:

They’re greeted by welcome songs by the Kasaan Haida, and welcomed to come ashore by the chief.

More singing and celebrating their arrival. That’s Harley Bell-Holter in the center, apprentice carver on the project:

This is Freddy in the mask:

We’re excited for tomorrow’s celebration, and feeling so fortunate to be here for such an event.

We’re Back in Kasaan

Laura Domela — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 02:20:05 +0000

We left Ketchikan this morning after breakfast and headed across Clarence Strait to the village of Kasaan. Shortly after leaving Thomas Basin, we saw a very large humpback in Tongass Narrows, right in front of the airport (just past the airport ferry dock). Kind of weird to see one in that close and that shallow.

Clarence Strait was a little choppy on the beam, but still pleasant. We traded off manning/womanning the helm and got a lot of work done on our way across (30 miles or so to Kasaan from Ketchikan).

There was plenty of room on the Kasaan float, though things will likely change the closer we get to the longhouse re-dedication and celebration on Saturday. We showered and then walked into the village to check out the carving shed and chat with the carvers a bit. They’re working on a HUGE new totem pole that will eventually stand just at the beginning of the Totem Trail that leads to the Chief Son-i-Hat Whale House. We stopped in the cafe to check out the menu…it looked good! We may go over for breakfast or lunch tomorrow. Anyway, then we continued on to the longhouse. The trail from the float takes you along the water’s edge on a boardwalk, and then it winds through the village. They’re either building a new section of boardwalk here or replacing an old section…I can’t remember if this section was here or not last year.

The carving shed, with the bottom of the new totem pole at the entrance:

Stormy Hamar (lead carver) walked us through the design and concept of this new totem pole (past, present, future) and it’s super cool. For one thing, it’s a new design, not a reproduction of another older totem pole…which is rare. Can’t wait to see it standing next summer!

The bridge that crosses over the stream, on the way to the longhouse:

Pretty cool to see the longhouse finished. Here’s what it looked like last year when we were here:

And here it is now (kinda dark in there with the main door closed):

And the exterior last year:

And today:

There are some great details too, like this copper on the edges of the beams:

Joinery:

Door knob:

No camping in the longhouse, folks:

The beach in front of the longhouse:

Note: It’s pretty fun looking at my post from last summer (on September 1, so one year ago tomorrow). I took many of the same photos, but it’s interesting to see the differences: the stream was steady and flowing last year; this year it’s very thin and dry under the bridge. I took some photos of the totems on the trail near the longhouse on our hike today, but I took some last year too and in last year’s post there’s quite a bit of information about them, so instead of reposting, I’ll just link to that post here!

Canoe, heading back to the carving shed after a water test:

Heading back toward Airship:

Quite a few people arrived today (with suitcases) via float planes…the village seems busy for sure, and that’ll just increase as we get closer to Saturday. I looked at the weather for Dixon this morning and it was calm calm calm today! (Wind variable, 5-15 knots, seas 1 metre). The Central Dixon Entrance buoy this afternoon was reporting waves of 1 foot, 8 seconds apart, and the Green Island light station said “seas: rippled.” So…I hope that lasts until after this weekend!! I’m glad we decided to come over for this though…I think it’s going to be pretty cool. (I need to find out if it’s cool or lame to go out in the dinghy and take photos of the canoes landing on the beach in front of the longhouse on Saturday morning, because that’d be fantastic!)

Another Visit to Ketchikan, AK

Laura Domela — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 21:56:49 +0000

Airship Goes to Alaska

Last night's sunset in Kasaan:

We left Kasaan early this morning and headed toward Ketchikan. The weather was beautiful.

As we got most of the way across Clarence Strait, we started seeing humpbacks in the distance, off to our right. Pretty soon I heard a very close blow, then another, and what do you know…there are two of them, fairly close to the boat (of course). I put us in neutral and we sat and watched as they paralleled us for a bit and then dove.

Approaching Ketchikan…would you look at this insane weather?!?!

Just put 'er there between those two behemoth cruise ships, thanks:

We're docked at the Casey Moran city dock, right in front of town. It's fun! There are of course a ton of people out because the weather is perfect (not to mention the three giant ships full of tourists), so there's quite a bit of pedestrian action on the boardwalk next to the boat. (It was fun when we came in to the transient dock…there was an older man and his wife standing up on the boardwalk watching me dock the boat, and I heard him say to his wife "She's doing a helluva job there!")

Here we are at the dock. The tide was lowish when we got in, but now that it's getting close to high tide we're almost eye level with the peds on the boardwalk:

We headed over to the Bar Harbor Restaurant for lunch. We both got some killer halibut fish tacos and a beer, and then went wandering around town.

We stopped in at Soho Coho to see if Ray was around (and to buy a few things), and then went into Parnassus Books (a great independent bookstore here in Ketchikan) for a couple more books. Loot, below:

The raven and the humpback are enamel zipper pulls by William Spear.

Another shot of the Chief Johnson totem pole, next door to the book store. The Chief Johnson totem pole is 55 ft. tall and carved out of one single western red cedar log. The original version stood from 1901 to 1982. This replacement was carved by Israel Shotridge, Tlingit carver and member of the Tongass Tribe, and erected in 1989.

Kevin has a conference call in the morning at 8am, then we have to run down to Frontier Shipping to pick up a package, and then our plan is to fuel up and head out to Foggy Bay tomorrow afternoon and then on to Prince Rupert on Friday morning. The weather window for Thursday and Friday to cross Dixon Entrance looks good, so I think we're gonna take advantage of that window and get that crossing behind us.

The cruise ships will all be gone by 6pm, which is good, because this one here would be blocking our sunset:

Here's today's route from Kasaan to Ketchikan, about 30 nautical miles: