Davidson Descendants

Sing.Gaay ‘laa, XaaydaGa laas isis. Gaagwiis han.nuu dii kiiGa ga Good day, my good people of Haida Gwaii, I’m Gaagwiis, President of the Haida Nation and I’d l...ike to take this time to once again speak to Haida citizens and citizens of Haida Gwaii, the businesses of Haida Gwaii, people of BC and the people of Canada. Haida Gwaii remains in a state of emergency under the jurisdiction and authority of the Haida Nation with the support of All-Islands’ leadership. At this time, we remain closed to non-resident, non-essential travel and we’ve remained steadfast in our approach to allow ourselves time to prepare the communities and the people of Haida Gwaii in the short-term and the long-term of the COVID-19 global health pandemic. It’s only been two weeks since BC moved into their Phase 3 of their Restart Plan and the approach of the Haida Nation and for Haida Gwaii remains the same. We are allowing time to observe and analyze what is happening in the rest of the province, the country and in North America as we assess what is the appropriate next step for Haida Gwaii. We ask that everybody continue to respect the current state of emergency measures in place, to stay on Haida Gwaii unless it’s absolutely essential to travel, to look to spend your money here on Haida Gwaii, and to explore your territory, your backyard, and to support our local businesses and to support our local communities. To those businesses that are concerned and pushing to open before the Haida Nation and Haida Gwaii is ready, we once again ask you to abide by our current state of emergency measures and to respect the authority and jurisdiction of the Haida Nation and the wishes of the people of Haida Gwaii. These are very challenging times, not just here on Haida Gwaii, but around the world. We are part of a global health pandemic and although we are safe right now, in terms of having no confirmed cases, that is because of the hard work and commitment and dedication of everyone to work together and that's what we are trying to maintain here. For those who are pushing against our jurisdiction, we are asking for the support of our friends, our neighbours and allies in supporting us in upholding the Haida Nation jurisdiction. Our people have been through a great deal in our history. We are resilient. We are strong and we will come through this. For Haida citizens and citizens of Haida Gwaii, it is time for us to continue to prepare ourselves for this new reality and to move from a place of fear and concern to a place of empowerment and preparedness. We do have an ability to take care of ourselves and we must do that together in supporting one another. To those who are pushing to open, again, all we are asking for is time, time to go through our process, time to prepare ourselves and time to emerge from this state of lockdown into slowly opening up our circles and our communities and time to prepare ourselves to welcome visitors and people back to Haida Gwaii in a good way, with good vibes and good times, but we are not there yet. So all we are asking for is your respect of that and that you can understand where we are coming from, that this is connected to our history and the historical traumas of colonization, of past epidemics and pandemics and we are working through this but we need your support. We are part of what’s happening globally, with a global shift in perspectives and understanding of oppression and racism and systematicic racism, and at times in this pandemic, we have seen this play out and we’re are asking those who are pushing to consider this and look at things from a longer-term perspective. People are tired, people are drained and we need this period of time to readjust and prepare and to maintain and to continue to build strong minds, bodies and communities to embrace this new reality, culturally, socially, and economically. Things are changing, there is a transformational shift happening globally and we’re asking those to stand with us through this transition and that we are truly all in this together. Haida people are the rightful heirs and owners of all of Haida Gwaii and the surrounding waters and airspace and as we move to this next phase in our pandemic response, and our people will be, and are, continuing to get out on the lands and waters to provide for themselves, their families, their clans, their communities for our food security, for our health and well-being and we ask that that is supported. So I just wanted to take this opportunity to address Haida citizens, Haida Gwaii citizens, businesses, people of BC and Canada, the governments of BC and Canada, to understand where we are coming from and to stand with us and support us as we all adjust to this new reality and that we all prepare ourselves for the future. We’ll continue to respectfully uphold our jurisdiction and once we again ask for the support and allyship of the people of Haida Gwaii, the leadership of Haida Gwaii, the businesses of Haida Gwaii and the citizens of British Columbia and Canada to support us and that we all continue to truly work together for the best interest of all. Haawa, take care.

@chn_haidanation is working with Haida Gwaii communities. And will remain closed to visitors. We welcome visitors when the time is right. We are protecting our elders. Haw’aa

Our family had plans to host a local dinner for business owners on Haida Gwaii to help promote our family business in April. For Summer 2020 season. Instead, we all live in self isolation to protect our community. It’s a time of uncertainty and creative opportunities from COVID-19. Yesterday, we are enjoyed the day at the beach instead of planning the dinner and sending out invitations to our local business owners. Stay safe everyone from our family to yours. #haidagwaii #davidsondescendants #tourismhaidagwaii #haida #beagoodneighbourstayoverthere

More details to come tomorrow. For ongoing updates, visit: < https://bit.ly/2wmgPzg >

Given our culture, remote geography and limited healthcare resources, we have made this critical decision to protect Island citizens, and especially our cherished Elders, language speakers and knowledge holders.

Check out Haida Gwaii Tourism for ideas on what you can do when you visit Haida Gwaii.