By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer
The Haida Nation has been fighting for self-determination for more than 100 years. Now, a recent agreement between the federal government and the Haida represents a step towards autonomy. On February 17, the two parties signed and celebrated an agreement that affirmed the Haida Nation’s Aboriginal title over Haida Gwaii, a collection of islands (archipelago) located off the coast of BC. “Aboriginal title is an inherent right, recognized in common law, that originates in Indigenous Peoples’ occupation, use, and control of ancestral lands prior to colonization,” according to the Canadian Encyclopedia. The Haida people have been the original inhabitants of the archipelago since time immemorial.
The agreement, formally titled “Chiix̲uujin / Chaaw K̲aawgaa ‘Big Tide (Low Water)’ Haida Title Lands Agreement,” is federal law which builds upon the provincial agreement “Gaayhllxid / Gíihlagalgang ‘Rising Tide’ Haida Title Lands Agreement,” signed in spring 2024. The Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office reported that they signal “a significant milestone in the journey to reconciliation.”
For many, this agreement only reiterates that which has always been: “The title doesn’t come from them. It doesn’t come from the Crown, doesn’t come from the court. It comes from our ancestry,” Haida Hereditary Chief Guujaaw told CBC.
“The title doesn’t come from them. It doesn’t come from the Crown, doesn’t come from the court. It comes from our ancestry.” — Guujaaw, Haida Hereditary Chief
The Haida have traditionally been canoe builders. In Haida forests, partly-built canoes can be found, abandoned due to a deadly smallpox epidemic in 1862. Carvers like Jaalen Edenshaw, the son of Chief Guujaw, have used these unfinished boats to learn the craft and continue the tradition. The canoes also aid in environmental protection, securing injunctions to stop logging in some old-growth forest areas. These forests, along with all of the islands’ “lands, beds of freshwater bodies, and foreshores to the low-tide mark” are now the legal right of the Haida Nation.
The agreement includes “a five-year transition period” where details regarding land owned by the federal government or “other parties” will be worked out. The First Nations Leadership Council in BC stated, “The agreement does not affect private property rights.”
In April of last year, Haida Nation President Gaagwiis Jason Alsop spoke to the Haida’s “inherent right and responsibility to care-take for Haida Gwaii and all the realms of interconnected existence within Haida culture: the supernatural beings, all the beings of the forest, all the beings of the sea, humans, and that we all are interconnected.” He also stated that the Nation would be in charge of Haida Gwaii’s economy, “taking a sustainable rather than exploitive approach to the land and the sea.”
“We can begin a new era of peaceful co-existence knowing that we can look after Haida Gwaii and ensure the well-being of all who call these shining islands home.” — Gaagwiis Jason Alsop, Haida Nation President
Alsop concluded his speech by addressing the lawmakers before him: “In the spirit of this truth and reconciliation and hope, be part of making things right in the province and in this country.”
At the recent signing ceremony, Alsop said, “The recognition of Haida title to Haida Gwaii by Canada acknowledges historic injustices and illustrates the transformative possibilities of working together for what is right.
“We can begin a new era of peaceful co-existence knowing that we can look after Haida Gwaii and ensure the well-being of all who call these shining islands home.”
