Elders Rita Louie, Bertha Louie, Erma Bourquin, Jim Bourquin & Wayne Dennis from Iskut traveled from the headwaters of the Skeena River 500 kms down to the estuary and across to Haida Gwaii for a series of screenings. The Klabona Keepers were warmly received with local meals at Roberta Olsen’s in Skidegate and Leslie Brown’s in Masset. Both dinners included songs, dancing and Haida Storytelling. The elders from Iskut were extremely inspired by the cultural revitalization happenings on Haida Gwaii and were moved to tears watching Haida youth dance and share their Haida names.
Three screenings happened during their stay. The first was at the high school in Daajing Giids. Klabona Keeper Rita Louie, the filmmaker Tamo Campos and Julia Weder from the Haida Gwaii Media Collective made presentations with the film. After their speeches several youth and teachers came up to the speakers and thanked them for the work. We later learnt that word was spreading quickly as youth who saw the film had been messaging their families to come out to the screening later that day.
Before the evening screening the elders traveled to SHIP (Skidegate Haida Immersion Program) to have a local dish of halibut of Jum (Soup!) The elders played Haida Bingo with the language keepers and many laughs were shared.In the evening the The Haida Heritage Centre at Ḵay 'Llnagaay screened the film with roughly 105 people showing up. The venue was gorgeous and the film started after beautiful openings from Chief Gaahlaay and Dr. GwaaG̱anad, Diane Brown, After the screenings elders from Iskut told their story and Chief Gidansda Guujaaw came on stage to hug the elders and spoke about how the film really captured what the fight is all about. He thanked the elders for being heroes that weren’t just fighting companies but fighting a system that feeds on greed and scarcity. Before the screening ended the Iskut community raffled off several homemade moose carved necklaces from Huey Carlick and traditional teas made by Rita Louie. Before leaving Skidgegate Dr. GwaaG̱anad gifted the elders with huge bags of seafood for their trip north.
The elders traveled to Masset where another screening was held at Christian and Candace’s longhouse. The discussion was beautiful with stories being shared that mixed both humor, heartbreak and inspiration. Elders from Haida Gwaii shared about the inspiration they felt and the similarities between the struggles on the island around clear-cut logging and fishing lodges. A long time land defender who rarely speaks up at meetings got up and shared a few words and you could tell how meaningful it was to the crowd. There were around 100 people at the screening. Old Masset Village Council offered a gift to the elders and shared beautiful words of solidarity for future allyship and support when needed. On the ride home back that evening the Northern lights danced in the sky. The elders reminded us that it was their ancestors happy for the good work that was being done on the island.
