The Legacy of Lyell Island (Gwaii Hanaas)

October 17, 2022 By: Isabelle La Roche

In 1985, Haida and Haida elders gathered at Athlii Gwaii (Lyell Island) to block the road in protest of logging. The efforts and campaign to halt logging and protest the South Moresby (now called Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site) had been in the works since the early 1970s. The protest at Lyell Island was a last-ditch effort to gain traction after years of land planning, negotiations, and court cases. Pictures of Haida elders in blankets and other regalia being arrested at the blockade for protecting their land raised awareness for this campaign across Canada (Vernon, 2010). This raised awareness was a result of the civil disobedience carried out by Haida elders and other Haidas. This act of civil disobedience shifted the tides of this ecological and cultural preservation campaign in favour of the Haidas. In this case, civil disobedience was the only way to positively bring about change and impact future environmental challenges faced by many Indigenous nations. 

In 1980, the Haida Nation launched a claim to declare the area a national park, but it was rejected. In 1984, the British Columbia Government formed a committee to review the situation. Upon review, it concluded that the 1000s of jobs lost due to a ban outweighed the importance of ecological preservation and protection of Haida ancestral lands (O’hara, 1985). This decision prompted the beginning of the blockades along the logging roads. This event set a powerful precedent for ecosystem protection of land and sea and Aboriginal rights. This event set the mould for how forest protection continued to play out in BC over the following decades (Pynn, 2010). This precedent resulted in a unanimous decision that in “accordance with the honour of the Crown, there is an obligation to consult Aboriginals, even when their aboriginal rights have yet to be proven.” This Haida case, which resulted in the duty and obligation by the Crown to consult Indigenous people on any land they lay claim on, has been the most frequently cited in cases regarding aboriginal rights (Supreme Court of Canada, 2004). This obligation to consult the original keepers of the land is long overdue. Indigenous people hold invaluable knowledge and understanding of the environment and should absolutely be a factor in policymaking and decisions that affect them and the environment in Canada. 

The issue regarding the protection of land and sea surrounding the islands of Haida Gwaii has been discussed recently as the LNG pipeline plans to traverse the Hecate strait, one of the roughest strait of waters in the world. The president of the Haida Nation is working with the federal government in order to ensure adequate protection of the oceans and find satisfactory solutions to mutual concerns such as waterway management, environmental stewardship, and emergency preparedness and response.  

Sometimes the world today feels like a very bleak place. Industries are allowed to operate with very few (or what seems to be) regulations and long-term environmental considerations. What is worse is that it sometimes feels incredibly hopeless, and I feel powerless in being able to create impactful long-term changes. It feels like policymakers are often acting in their own best interests, and the only way to get their attention these days is by forcing their hands. Civil disobedience plays a very large role in enacting change since it seems that halting production, industry, and profit is the only way people in power will potentially listen and hopefully act. 

 

Sources: 

Haida Nation, 2015 https://www.haidanation.ca/council-of-the-haida-nation-seeks-plan-to-protect-oceans/

O’hara, 1985 https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1985/12/9/the-battle-for-an-island-forest

Pynn, 2010 https://www.wildernesscommittee.org/news/lyell-island-25-years-later

Supreme Court of Canada, 2004 https://jurisprudence.reseaudialog.ca/en/case/haida-nation-v-british-columbia-minister-of-forests/?fbclid=IwAR0MkiitGVuXSGGf0ikAodhBr-IxJ-G-yiXCbXl6NaHkXubFaGRNsf-jGV0

Vernon, 2010 https://thetyee.ca/Life/2010/11/25/SayHawaa/#:~:text=At%20Athlii%20Gwaii%20(Lyell%20Island,a%20 line%20in%20the%20sand.