Isakson FIne Art

Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site, Haida Gwaii

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This special Park comprises the southern half of the archipelago of Haida Gwaii, off the west coast of Canada. This landscape is so different from what I am used to - forests so tall and deep that I was inside of the landscape instead of on it. Matched in wonder are the old Haida villages. My reference points to Haida culture were from art by Bill Reid and Emily Carr, but I soon realized that their imagery was from the past. Firsthand experience emphasized change and the passage of time: the forest had been at work, old totems and buildings allowed to make their natural progression back to the earth. A dignified vigil is kept by the Haida watchmen and women who take turns staying at the sites supervising and sharing their cultural history with the visitors who come. At first I was quite suprprised and saddend that the villages were being "lost", but I came to respect this decision by a people who choose to focus on their living culture, new poles are being carved, new stories told.

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