Skuun gwaii, by James Dorsey

The poles are bleached almost white from the sun and their storied faces are mostly worn smooth by the relentless Pacific winds. Yet there is still much to be seen. Several of them are funeral poles that once held wooden boxes with the remains of Haida nobles. The early Haida buried their chiefs by compacting their bodies into a tiny wooden box that was placed at the top of a burial totem in front of the chief's lodge. The carvings on each totem tell the story of significant events in the man's life; there is nothing random in their design. Each rendered image, whether real or imagined, has a specific meaning: a wedding, a death, or a great battle, for example. The meanings of many carvings are known only to the people that are now long gone.

At the height of Haida culture, their villages, which always sat on the shoreline, were adorned with dozens of totems and large carved support poles for their longhouses Their canoes and paddles were carved and decorated, and they made functional clothing from the bark of cedar trees. These people spent their lives in and of nature, constantly surrounded by their art.

The various animal and otherworldly creatures that stare at us from these poles have been weathered to the point of making specific identification very difficult, but the erosion in no way diminishes their individual power. I can decipher a beaver; thunderbird and sea bear from their resemblance to other works I have seen, but that is all. To walk among the poles is to feel the presence of the people who carved and lived beside them. While they stand, this village still lives. They all face south to the sheltered cove that is the village entry. The view from a canoe on the water a century ago must have been impressive.

I am dwarfed by their sheer size and feel insignificant in their presence, for most are well over ten feet tall. I am in the presence of ancient giants.

Here in the silence of this burial ground one can feel the overwhelming history of these islands and their people. I have a sense that the poles will begin to speak at any moment or perhaps dance to tell us their secrets.

Many native people believe that a totem should stand in nature and slowly deteriorate until it returns to the land from whence it came. Others have tried to save these poles for posterity, and in 1995 a large-scale restoration project was undertaken with the consent of local Haida elders to prop up some of the poles in danger of falling. Some have been removed to museums. Originally there were 35 totems here, and now there are only 26.

The old Haida villages were always guarded from attack by a watchman. This was an honored position within the tribe, and the watchmen were distinguished by wearing a conical hat made from cedar bark. Many of their totems, including contemporary ones, are topped by carved watchmen who stand guard. Today, the Haida people have reinstated this program and each native site has a watchman on duty. Visitors must gain permission in advance before landing on any of these beaches.

In 1981 Ninstints was declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), guaranteeing its preservation for the immediate future. Unless these poles are removed, they will eventually be reclaimed by time and weather. For now, they are a magnificent testament to a vanishing culture.