What a privilege to visit the artists and craftspeople of Haida Gwaii in Old Masset. Today we visited two master carvers, Jim Hart and Christian White. They were amazingly generous in opening their homes and workshops to our guests. Works in progress in various forms of media were all about the workshops, including woodcarvings, drawings, and argillite and bronze statuary. Pictures of the works will not be shown here, as the artists requested that we not post images of their work on social media. This is just one of a multitude of reasons to come to Haida Gwaii and see for yourself what centuries of carving artistry can produce.
5/7/2025
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National Geographic Sea Bird
Daajing Giids, Haida Gwaii, Hecate Strait
After an evening cruising from SG̱ang Gwaay, National Geographic Sea Bird made one last stop this morning in Daajing Giids to drop off our cultural interpreters, DeeDee Crosby and Grace Garvie. At dock, we had two unique opportunities. The first, our daily morning stretch class had the opportunity to meet on land, and second, we welcomed the incredible artisan, Aay Aay, aboard. We were familiar with Aay Aay, who we had met two days prior as an interpreter at the Haida Heritage Center. His specialty is a revival of traditional Haida weaving. During Aay Aay’s time on board, he shared with us his personal story about discovering and mastering his art with spruce root, cedar, and wool weaving. He taught us how to hand spin the warp threads that would be the beginnings of a wool piece. After an artistic morning, we embarked on our journey across Hecate Strait to reach our next destination along our expedition, Alaska. This evening, I write as we make our way into Dixon Entrance preparing to wake up to the scenery of the famed Misty Fjords in the morning.
