![Juan Peréz Sound and the San Christoval Range. Looking west as we depart Hotsprings Island. Image is actually three separate photos stiched together in Adobe Photoshop. [35-70mm, F11, 1/160sec, Fuji Velvia]](./jpegs/bigimages/juanperez.L.JPG)
To do true justice for the Queen Charlotte Islands would take much more than the few thousands words I have written here. The place is filled with far too much history and culture. What I have written below, might give a bit of a flavor for the islands, but to get a better understanding of them, one certainly needs to read deeper. There are a number of books written about the Queen Charlotte Islands. If you are planning on visiting the islands, here are three books that I would recommend:
The Queen Charlottes are an archipelago of approximately 1,884 islands (150 significant
islands), 60 nautical miles off of northwestern British Columbia. Go to my Chartcharts
page if you aren't from the northwest and want to get an overview of where the islands are.
The islands were named
by Captain George Dixon (British Navy) in 1787. He named the islands after his ship,
the Queen Charlotte, which in turn, was named after the Queen of England. However, the
native people of the islands (the Haida), call the islands Haida Gwaii (“Homeland”).
For the most part, I refer to the islands and places by the names given to them by the
various 18th and 19th century European explorers. This is not out of disrespect to the
Haida, but rather out of convenience to me, as those are the names listed on today’s
charts.
The two main islands are Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south. Graham and Moresby are separated by the very narrow Skidegate Channel (pronounced “Skid-eh-Gate”). We spent most of our time exploring Moresby Island. The bottom half of Moresby Island is a Canadian National Park. The park is called South Moresby National Park. The Haida call the park Gwaii Haanas (“Place of Wonder”). More on Gwaii Haanas later.
According to what we were told, approximately 5,000 people now live on the Charlottes.
Approximately 2,000 of these are Haida. The non-Haida are persons who have migrated
to the islands in search of work, land or isolation. Most of the Haida live in the two
remaining active villages, Old Masset and Skidegate Reserve, although we were told many
Haida live off the islands. The Haida hail from two clans—the Eagles and the Ravens.
Each clan must choose a spouse from the other clan. Some of the Haida spend their
summers living in their ancient villages in Gwaii Haanas. These Haida are called
Haida Watchmen and are authorized to run South Moresby National Park along with
Parks Canada.
| Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | |
| Average Wind Velocity | 18 (34) | 20 (37) | 21 (39) | 22 (40) | 21 (38) |
| Highest Recorded Gust | 103 (191) | 98 (181) | 103 (191) | 102 (189) | 104 (193) |
Sandspit Airport | Cape Saint James | Seattle | |
| Average Rainfall | 54 (135) | 61 (154) | 38 (97) |
| Average Temperature | 47 (8.1) | 48 (8.7) | 51 (10.8) |
I have seen the Charlottes referred to as both the “Canadian Galápagos” and
the “Hawaii of Canada”. While I have not been to the real Galápagos, I have
read about them. I have been to Hawaii a couple times. If you are expecting the
Charlottes to be a warm tropical place, change your expectations. Based on my experience
and the facts above, the Charlottes are not generally warm and tropical. Rather they
are windy and wet. This is not to say that the islands aren’t beautiful and can’t
be tropical, but go prepared for cool and wet weather.
![Looking east towards Spit Point. Sandspit, Queen Charlotte Islands. [35-70mm, Unknown Exposure, Fuji Velvia]](./jpegs/bigimages/19_1128.L.JPG)
I took geology 101 in college, from an excellent professor named Stan Cherkinoff (I am
not sure on the spelling). I didn’t have high expectations for the class, but it turned
out to be one of my favorite undergraduate classes of all time. Since I did better that
average in that class, I feel qualified to write the following paragraphs.
On the east side of the Charlottes is Hecate Strait; a very large, shallow body of water. They say that a mere 10,000 years ago, Hecate Strait was actually dry land and tundra. Since the first sign of human life on the islands dates back to about the same time period, one could speculate that the original islanders just strolled on over from pre-historic Prince Rupert.
Things are quite different on the west side of the islands. The islands drop precipitously
off into the depths of the North Pacific. By the time you are 10 nautical miles
west of the islands, the water is over a mile deep (1,000 fathoms). There is virtually
no sign of the continental shelf on the west side of the Charlottes. In comparison,
the continental shelf extends for 50-70 nautical miles off the North Coast of
British Columbia, Vancouver Island, Washington and Oregon. The incredible drop-off,
west of the Charlottes, is most obvious when you look at the 3D relief-type map they
have in the visitor information center at Queen Charlotte City.
In addition, the islands are host to what is called the Queen Charlotte Fault.
This is Canada’s equivalent of the San Andreas Fault (a famous fault in
California). This fault marks the boundary between the Pacific and North American
plates. The fault runs north-south underwater along the west coast of the Queen
Charlotte Islands. Probably related to this, Canada’s largest historic
earthquake occurred in the Charlottes on August 22, 1949. The epicenter of
the magnitude 8.1 quake was on the West Coast of Graham Island.
![Old overgrown logging road on Thurston Island. [35-70mm, ~F22, 2 seconds, tripod, Fuji Velvia]](./jpegs/bigimages/34_1128.L.JPG)
For a place so isolated, the Charlottes have been a hotbed of political activity.
To sum up the nature of the political activity, I think I can safely use one word—
Logging. The forests on the Charlottes are (perhaps were) incredibly lush, old growth
forests. Commercial logging began in earnest some time in the 1900's and was focused
mostly on Graham Island. In 1974, logging companies started to move south and applied
for a permit to log Burnaby Island, deep in the virgin southern portion of the islands.
Amid controversy, the permit was denied and instead a permit was issued to log
Lyell Island. While Lyell was not as far south as Burnaby Island, it was still inside
of a recently proposed preserve referred to as the South Moresby Wilderness Proposal.
Permit in hand, loggers embarked on a high-speed campaign to free Lyell of all trees.
Things came to a head in 1985 when a combination of Haida and environmentalists
blockaded a logging road. Eventually 72 protestors were taken into custody during the
confrontation. However, in 1987, the skirmish ended (I think many would argue the
battle continues today) and the lower half of South Moresby (including Lyell Island,
and the other islands nearby) were declared a national park. The park is officially
called South Moresby National Park, or Gwaii Haanas by the Haida.
I can certainly see the arguments going both ways. On one hand, you have you have an
incredibly unique ecosystem and culture that dates back thousands and thousands of
years. Some things simply cannot be replaced. Who wants to fall a cedar that
is 1,200 years old? On the other hand, I, like most people, live in a wood house
and often buy timber to build things. Here is an extremely isolated set of islands,
which have never been seen, or will be seen, by 99.999999999% of the world’s
population. Why not log them and consider the aesthetic fact that most people will
probably be better off? It’s not like these are the Redwoods, easily accessible from
San Francisco; or Desolation Sound, easily accessible from Vancouver. Anyway, these
are tough decisions. Bottom line, having been to the Charlottes, I am glad they
have ceased logging in South Moresby.
![Looking south down South Moresby Island from Hecate Strait. Louise Island and Cumshewa Head in distance. [35-70mm, F5.6, 1/100sec, Fuji Velvia]](./jpegs/bigimages/22_1128.L.JPG)
The aforementioned blockade received international exposure. One has to attribute
much of this to the fact that by all accounts the Haida appear to be savvy politicians.
The Queen Charlottes are odd in the fact that they are almost a country within
a country. The Islands are officially part of Canada, however much of the islands
are “cooperatively managed” by representatives of the Haida Nation and the
Government of Canada. While in Washington State, we have relatively similar arrangements
with native tribes, never in my life have I felt such an independent presence as that
exercised by the Haida in the Charlottes. Good for them I figure, since their
culture on the islands extends far, far, before any European based explorer showed up.
The islands are a wild, isolated beautiful place. I feel fortunate to have been able to experience them with my own eyes rather than just read about them or seen pictures. I look forward to returning some day.
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Adventures in the Charlottes was written by Tim Whelan.
All pictures and text ©Tim Whelan 1998-1999.
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