After
the Haida were forced, by disease, to abandon some 35 of their ancient
villages, their islands became a paradise for the relic hunters of the
early 20th century, greedy for the totem poles and masks that were – and
are – desired by museums all over the world.
Unbeknownst to the Haida, these adventurers also dug up graves and looted mortuary poles, taking away hundreds of skeletons to be used in a bizarre and ultimately futile scientific quest. Not until the early 1990s did the young people of Haida Gwaii learn that the remains of their ancestors – along with more than 100,000 from other tribes -- were in museum basements. When they found this out, they decided to do something about it.
Unbeknownst to the Haida, these adventurers also dug up graves and looted mortuary poles, taking away hundreds of skeletons to be used in a bizarre and ultimately futile scientific quest. Not until the early 1990s did the young people of Haida Gwaii learn that the remains of their ancestors – along with more than 100,000 from other tribes -- were in museum basements. When they found this out, they decided to do something about it.
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