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August 16, 2012

Home Again

To those of you who were incredulous when we started talking about this journey: we did it! We’ve traveled 20,339 miles, including 2,260 miles driven on gravel or dirt roads, 2,120 by train, 410 by ocean-going car ferry, 400 miles by bush plane, 270 miles by raft or Zodiac and 205 miles hiking! We dipped our toes in the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, Lake Superior, Hudson Bay and the Arctic Ocean. We saw areas so remote that even most Canadians have never been there. 

We’ve seen mountains and wildlife beyond all expectations, talked with the most interesting assortment of people, learned a great deal about First Nations cultures and the history of exploration and resource extraction in the North. We’ve read and listened to a sample of the literature of each region.  We’ve stayed in lodges, bed & breakfasts, cabins, motels, tents—only once as many as three nights in the same place. And we’ve eaten a great deal of outstanding food. We’ve walked on sandy beaches, hiked through deep rain forests, climbed to incredible mountain vistas, rafted  through canyons, boated between rocky islands, flown over tundra lakes, lain down in alpine meadows.

And Steve and I celebrated our 35 years of marriage with this incredible adventure. Being together all the time, every day for three months, including 17,000 miles in the car, we didn’t run out of things to talk about. We’re stronger, better, closer for it. And I’m grateful for a husband who plans so thoroughly, shares so many interests, stands by me no matter what, and keeps my life so interesting. And we’re both grateful to God for looking after us as we explored His beautiful world.

Now it’s very good to be home, swapping stories with our wonderful daughter Angie and son-in-law Nick who took such good care of our place (and left it better organized than they found it.) Tomorrow Steve will speak at opening convocation to a fresh crop of Augie students and their parents. (He’s clean shaven again. What grows in Canada stays in Canada….)  

Thanks for coming along on the journey! Dare to do what you’ve never done before.

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August 16, 2012

One final exploration. After a 700-mile driving day and a night in Jasper, Alberta, we visited some of the highlights of the eastern side of Jasper National Park: Maligne Canyon, Maligne Lake and Meitte Hot Springs. The mountains and lakes here are so lovely. Way too many people, though. We intended to get back on the road sooner, but Steve admitted he was procrastinating. Because this truly was the end of our amazing summer sabbatical. And while three months is a really long time to be gone, staying no more than three nights in any one place, and while we were eager to see our family and to get back to our excellent life at Augustana College, we were still a little sad to see this journey come to an end.

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August 16, 2012

Our final hike on Haida Gwaii took us about six miles, out to the shore for a look at an old shipwreck. The Hecate Straight between here and the mainland is well known for fierce storms. We enjoyed one more tasty seafood meal at the Ocean View Restaurant in Queen Charlotte before boarding the 11 PM ferry to head east, the first leg of our journey home. .

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August 16, 2012

Back in Skidegate after our excursion, we visited the Haida museum and enjoyed tours of recently-carved crest poles and canoes, as well as collections of older artifacts. We really like Haida design.

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August 16, 2012
Notice the tree doing yoga. Here, a tree sprouted on the decaying corner pole of a longhouse. One root ran down an attached beam, drawing nutrients from the rotting cedar, until it reached the ground. The corner pole is completely gone now, and the beam now hangs from the leg of the tree. What’s this pose called?

Notice the tree doing yoga. Here, a tree sprouted on the decaying corner pole of a longhouse. One root ran down an attached beam, drawing nutrients from the rotting cedar, until it reached the ground. The corner pole is completely gone now, and the beam now hangs from the leg of the tree. What’s this pose called?

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August 16, 2012

The last village site we visited was called Tanu, set on a beautiful bay. Our Watchman, Helen, came to Haida culture by way of her partner, Shawn. She talked about the way the ancient poles were rotting just as the Haida intended them to: what came from nature should return to nature. She thought that if old poles were brought back here, they should be allowed to deteriorate as their creators intended. The point is not preserving the past, but learning from it and creating new works. The culture isn’t the artifacts but the people, new generations creating anew. And a new generation of artists is indeed creating outstanding carvings, poles, jewelry, masks and canoes, putting their own mark on ancient forms.

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August 16, 2012
Here’s our group, back at Float Camp, after our last dinner together. We so enjoyed our conversations.

Here’s our group, back at Float Camp, after our last dinner together. We so enjoyed our conversations.

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August 16, 2012
This is Lindsey, the mother of the two boys. Steve and I had a long conversation with her as we soaked in the hot water. We talked about the totem poles and other Haida artifacts that were removed to museums all over the world. She spoke of a grease bowl that an ancestor of hers carved, big enough to sit in. And the pride that came from just knowing that existed. Should these artifacts be returned to Haida Gwaii? Is the community prepared to preserve them? Lindsey believed that better connection to the culture would help combat the drug problem in Skidegate. She wanted Haida young people to be able to travel to these museums, to study and learn. As we spoke with Haida people, we could see the effort to reclaim their culture after the devastation of disease and intentional cultural genocide. In the larger society of the US and Canada, answering the question “Who am I?” has to do with finding your own individual identity and your own calling. Perhaps we’re free to do that because no one has quashed our national values and culture. For the Haida and other First Nations and Native American people, a sense of personal identity—and hope for the future— begins with recovering their identity as a culture.

This is Lindsey, the mother of the two boys. Steve and I had a long conversation with her as we soaked in the hot water. We talked about the totem poles and other Haida artifacts that were removed to museums all over the world. She spoke of a grease bowl that an ancestor of hers carved, big enough to sit in. And the pride that came from just knowing that existed. Should these artifacts be returned to Haida Gwaii? Is the community prepared to preserve them? Lindsey believed that better connection to the culture would help combat the drug problem in Skidegate. She wanted Haida young people to be able to travel to these museums, to study and learn.


As we spoke with Haida people, we could see the effort to reclaim their culture after the devastation of disease and intentional cultural genocide. In the larger society of the US and Canada, answering the question “Who am I?” has to do with finding your own individual identity and your own calling. Perhaps we’re free to do that because no one has quashed our national values and culture. For the Haida and other First Nations and Native American people, a sense of personal identity—and hope for the future— begins with recovering their identity as a culture.

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August 16, 2012

Here’s a real highlight: Hot Springs Island. There are three hot pools: a woodsy one, a pool at the edge of a cliff, overlooking the bay, and one built right beside the ocean. That cliffside pool looks like a luxurious infinity pool.  And feels like one, too. The boys were sons of one of the Haida Watchmen protecting and maintaining the site. And the boys were delightful, having the best summer vacation a 10-year-old could want: hot pools, fishing, boating, and guests to talk with every day. They challenged us to run out of the hot pool and dive into the ocean. And who’d want to chicken out on a challenge from a 10-year-old boy?

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August 16, 2012

This tree would have sprouted maybe 200 years ago on the stump of a fallen tree, and eventually sent its roots around it down to the ground. The first tree has completely rotted away. So the remaining tree stands on legs.