06/24/2022
Blessings on this celebration!
"Why is this photo so important? The people of Skidegate Village gathered for this photo (circa approx 1886-1890) by a missionary in order to commemorate the last time they would be allowed to wear their ceremonial regalia. After this, their cultural property was taken away. The Canadian government enacted a law which banned all Indigenous ceremonies--including the Potlatch--from 1885 to 1951.
"This photo hits extra hard because my 3x-great grandmother Jeannie and 2x Great grandmother Elizabeth are shown here (front row left, 2nd photo close up) The Haida are a Matrilineal society who pass names, titles, songs, dances and prerogatives through the mothers' line. These are the women whose lineage runs through my veins.
"Remarkably, Jeannie had been living down south around Tacoma Washington--like many Haidas had been known to do during that time. (Haidas were known to have recurrent seasonal villages as far south as the Puget Sound area). Jeannie's brother George Young paddled by canoe to bring her and her children back to Haida Gwaii because they were the last remaining lineage holders of our Clan. Had he not returned them home, our Clan would have been essentially forgotten.
"They arrived in Skidegate to a rapidly changing landscape (as you saw from one of our previous posts of all the totem poles in our village being cut down and hauled away in just over a decade). Here in this photo, my ancestors sit--marking the last occasion the village was allowed to publically don their cultural property. Because of Government imposed laws, Residential Schools, and Religion, the culture lay dormant within our clan from then... until now!
"On June 24, my brother Jesse and my daughter Marlo will be opening their art exhibit at the Haida Gwaii Museum. To celebrate this occasion, as well as to conduct my traditional marriage ceremony, our Clan will be feasting for the first time in written record (well over 150 years) on the following day, June 25th.
"For the Show Opening we are honored to share the evening with a cultural exchange between the Tluu Xaadaa Naay Cultural Group from Masset and the Kumugwe Dancers, a Kwakwa’kwakw cultural group from K'omoks."
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=344612914444020&set=a.320342160204429 From Native American No1 Store.
