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| Hydaburg Harbor |
Left Mabel Cove and headed to Hydaburg on Sunday, as a storm was approaching. On the way, we fished briefly near a rocky headland until we had two nice rock cods. The entryway to Hydaburg Harbor is littered with rocks. I asked Urs, "Is that buoy red?" Then the depth alarm went off. Hard turn to the left. Red buoys warn of an obstruction on the right; sailors say, "Red [buoy on the right] right [when] returning [to harbor or going north or west].
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| Joe and Younger Carvers |
Hydaburg Harbor is no longer maintained by the government and the local population hasn't taken over yet. The breakwater is suffering. The outer fingers don't have electricity. One whole dock and pilings are tipped at 30 degrees. There isn't even a wharfinger to assign a berth but there was lots of space. As we tried to dock, a man walked toward us. I asked if he could take our line - we were a long way from the finger and the wind and current were not helping. He pointed out that, though our finger looks new, it has no electricity and we could use his outlet. He also pointed to one of the neighboring fingers and said there was a sunken boat! Nice.
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| Joe's Totem at Boys and Girls Club |
Hydaburg is 100 years old. There will be a celebration in November this year. In the 1800's (or before?), some Haida from Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlottes) crossed Dixon Entrance (which they had considered the end of the world) and settled in the islands around Prince of Wales. In 1911, four small villages decided to move together in a larger village so that the children would have a better school (and probably that they could fish cooperatively and have a grocery store, etc).
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| Joe's Totem At Boys & Girls Club |
Our friend from the dock had told us to go to the carving shed. So we walked through the village, looking at the totem poles in front of the houses. Carvers welcomed us warmly to their shed. They had three old totem poles, each lying parallel to an unfinished new pole. Master carver Joe (also called David) gave us the introduction to his great-grandfather's pole. He described it as a transformation pole, with a lake monster, which I'd never seen before. He has carved several other poles for the village, one very nice one at the Boys and Girls Club - carving of children and guardian animals?
The younger carvers were very friendly, asking about our travels, and telling us about their other jobs, like responsibility for the engines on a research boat.
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| Naval Officer |
Another master carver, James Bell, is the cousin of the late Bill Reid [a very important artist in reviving Haida art]; they worked together on several poles in Masset and Skidegate. He walked with us around the other two poles. One was obviously a story about European contact: an American-style eagle, a naval officer with gray beard, and one source says that the watchmen at the top are naked, a sign of their offense at the interference of the Europeans.
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| American Eagle |
The three poles are replicas of replicas of the poles brought to Hydaburg from the parent islands. They are hoping to raise the new poles at the end of July. They will join the dozen or so poles outside the school. They are also hoping to build a long house and have dozens of cedar trees waiting to be carved.
Trying to follow the instructions on the sign in the harbor, we reported to the Town Office to say that we are tied up at their dock. No one seemed concerned.
Saw a new way of walking a dog: get in the car and follow the dog from one end of the town to the other 5 or 6 times! I'm not kidding.
The storm intensified Tuesday and the boat is heeling over at the dock with the gusts and is forcing us to keep our drawers locked to prevent them from sliding open.
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