Kung K_ayangas Marlene Liddle walks through a forest on Haida Gwaii, her feet sinking softly into the moss. She stops at a towering cedar, looks up, then wraps her arms around the trunk.
“This is for thanking our sister cedar for giving us a piece of her clothing to make our creations out of a piece of hers,” she says, before carefully removing a strip of bark to weave into a hat.
Liddle, stewardship director for the Council of the Haida Nation, says working with the governments of B.C. and Canada through a series of agreements is supporting the Nation in managing their lands from a Haida worldview.
One of those agreements is the historic Gaayhllxid • Gíhlagalgang “Rising Tide” Haida Title Lands Agreement, signed by the Haida Nation and the Province in April 2024. This first-of-its-kind agreement recognizes Haida Aboriginal title across terrestrial Haida Gwaii and sets out a phased approach to align Haida and provincial laws while maintaining stability for residents and communities.
“It’s life changing for us,” Liddle says. “We want to keep our culture alive as much as possible. Rising Tide allows us to do that because we can bring back some of our own Haida laws.
or me as a citizen, the Gaayhllxid • Gíhlagalgang agreement is something I’ve waited for all my life. It gives recognition that we were here prior to any contact and that we are still here.”
The Gaayhllxid • Gíhlagalgang “Rising Tide” agreement was followed by the Chiix̲uujin / Chaaw K̲aawgaa “Big Tide (Low Water)” Haida Title Lands Agreement, signed by the Haida Nation and the federal government in December 2024.Together, these agreements recognize Haida Aboriginal title in both provincial and federal law and set out a shared path for moving forward.
“It’s a big challenge to reconcile with our past, a very difficult past,” says Gaagwiis (Jason Alsop), president of the Council of the Haida Nation.
“Recognizing title, the rights, everything that comes with it allows us to start that healing journey and start that path to reconciling our laws, reconciling our society.”
“It gives recognition that we were here prior to any contact and that we are still here.”
The Haida Nation has always upheld their inherent title to Haida Gwaii, caring for the lands and waters in a reciprocal relationship. Implementation of the Gaayhllxid • Gíhlagalgang “Rising Tide” agreement marks another milestone in the Haida principle of Tll yahda • Tl yahda (Making it right) and significant revitalization of Haida stewardship and governance on Haida Gwaii, to the benefit of all beings that call the islands home.