Photo Gallery

View from the sandspit on Moresby Island over Shingle Bay to the coast of Skidegate, located on Graham Island. The Queen Charlotte range is visible in the background.

The natives of the Queen Charlotte Islands, on the other hand, have won their fight for survival. Daphne Yeltatzie, from the Haida community of Masset, maintains the tradition of hanging halibut fillets from a ceiling grate to dry.

This raven dance rattle, on which a kingfisher is pulling a man's tongue, was collected in 1878 on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Given the style of the rattle, however, it may have been made by the Tlingit and came into the possession of a Haida family through trade, an exchange of gifts on the occasion of a marriage or as spoils of war. (34 cm; MM)
MM = McCord Museum, McGill University, Montreal

Like the raven rattle mentioned earlier, this figurine was acquired on the Queen Charlotte Islands more than 100 years ago. Certain stylistic elements, however, indicate that it is of Heiltsuk origin. It is not known how the piece came into Haida possession. The figure might represent a mythical person riding on the water-blowing monster. It 'is likely that this is a curiosity made to be sold to white men. (41 cm; NMM)
NMM = National Museum of Man, Ottawa