The most isolated archipelago on the west coast of the Americas, inhabited for at least 10,500 years, Haida Gwaii has fascinated scientists, social scientists, historians, and inquisitive travellers for decades. This book brings together the results of extensive and varied field research by both federal agencies and independent researchers, and carefully integrates them with earlier archaeological, ethnohistorical, and paleoenvironmental work in the region. It imparts significant new information about the natural history of Haida Gwaii, also known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, and the adjacent areas of Hecate Strait. Chapters analyze new data on ice retreat, shoreline and sea level change, faunal communities, and culture history, providing a more comprehensive picture of the history of the islands from the late glacial through the prehistoric period, to the time of European contact, known to the Haida as the “time of the Iron People.”

Much of the archaeological work was conducted with the direct participation of members of the Haida Nation. As a complement to the scientific approach of the research, two chapters provide a Haida perspective, explaining the value of traditional oral records and recounting several oral histories, including that of Taadl, the loon, which takes us back to the beginning of time.

This volume is a veritable compendium of knowledge, out of which emerges the human and environmental history of Haida Gwaii and its dynamic landscape. Haida Gwaii will be of interest to scholars and students in archaeology and anthropology, and those with an interest in the environmental and cultural history of Haida Gwaii.

Daryl W. Fedje's profile page

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Daryl W. Fedje is an archaeologist with Parks Canada in Victoria, British Columbia. Rolf W. Mathewes is Professor of Biological Sciences at Simon Fraser University.