Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands | |||||||||
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Colony of British North America | |||||||||
1853–1858 | |||||||||
Flag | |||||||||
Anthem | |||||||||
God Save the Queen | |||||||||
Capital | None – governance via Colony of Vancouver Island | ||||||||
History | |||||||||
Government | |||||||||
• Type | Colonial Administration | ||||||||
Monarch | |||||||||
• 1853–1858 | Victoria | ||||||||
Lieutenant Governor | |||||||||
• 1853–1858 | James Douglas | ||||||||
History | |||||||||
• Established | 1853 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1858 | ||||||||
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The Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands was a British colony constituting the archipelago of the same name from 1853 to 1858, when it was amalgamated into the Colony of British Columbia. [1] In 2010, the archipelago was renamed Haida Gwaii. [2]
The Queen Charlotte Colony was created by the Colonial Office in response to the increase in American marine trading activity resulting from the gold rush on Moresby Island in 1851. No separate administration or capital for the colony was ever established, as its only officer or appointee was James Douglas, who was simultaneously Governor of Vancouver Island. He was granted a commission as Lieutenant-Governor of the Queen Charlotte Islands in September 1852. [3]
While ostensibly the archipelago was a British colony, historical evidence, such as a seasonal mission of exploration to survey the islands as late as 1859 [4] does not support the establishment of a permanent European settlement following the unsuccessful conclusion to the Queen Charlottes Gold Rush in 1853.[ citation needed ]
Prior to and during its establishment as a nominative British colony, the archipelago was inhabited by groups belonging to the Haida people, which made up the sole population of the ostensible colony. [5]
William Ronald Reid Jr. was a Haida artist whose works include jewelry, sculpture, screen-printing, and paintings. Producing over one thousand original works during his fifty-year career, Reid is regarded as one of the most significant Northwest Coast artists of the late twentieth century.
Haida are an indigenous group who have traditionally occupied Haida Gwaii, an archipelago just off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, for at least 12,500 years.
Haida Gwaii, formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago located between 55–125 km (34–78 mi) off the northern Pacific coast of Canada. The islands are separated from the mainland to the east by the shallow Hecate Strait. Queen Charlotte Sound lies to the south, with Vancouver Island beyond. To the north, the disputed Dixon Entrance separates Haida Gwaii from the Alexander Archipelago in the U.S. state of Alaska.
Kiidk'yaas, also known as the Golden Spruce, was a Sitka spruce tree that grew on the banks of the Yakoun River on the Haida Gwaii archipelago in British Columbia, Canada. It had a rare genetic mutation that caused its needles to be golden in colour. Kiidk'yaas was considered sacred by the Haida people.
Graham Island is the largest island in the Haida Gwaii archipelago, lying off the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is separated by the narrow Skidegate Channel from the other principal island of the group to the south, Moresby Island. It has a population of 3,858, an area of 6,361 km2 (2,456 sq mi), and is the 101st largest island in the world and Canada's 22nd largest island.
The Dixon Entrance is a strait about 80 kilometers (50 mi) long and wide in the Pacific Ocean at the Canada–United States border, between the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia in Canada. The Dixon Entrance is part of the Inside Passage shipping route. It forms part of the maritime boundary between the U.S. and Canada, although the location of that boundary here is disputed.
Hecate Strait is a wide but shallow strait between Haida Gwaii and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It merges with Queen Charlotte Sound to the south and Dixon Entrance to the north. About 140 kilometres (87 mi) wide at its southern end, Hecate Strait narrows in the north to about 48 kilometres (30 mi). It is about 260 kilometres (160 mi) in length.
Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area, and Haida Heritage Site, usually referred to simply as Gwaii Haanas, is located in southernmost Haida Gwaii, 130 kilometres off the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Gwaii Haanas protects an archipelago of 138 islands, the largest being Moresby Island and the southernmost being Kunghit Island. "Gwaii Haanas" means "Islands of Beauty" in X̱aayda kíl, the language of the Haida people.
Daajing Giids, known as Queen Charlotte City from 1891–2022, is a village municipality in the Haida Gwaii archipelago in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the southern end of Graham Island at Skidegate Inlet and is a member municipality of the North Coast Regional District.
Moresby Island is a large island that forms part of the Haida Gwaii archipelago in British Columbia, Canada, located at 52°45′00″N131°50′00″W. It is separated by the narrow Skidegate Channel from the other principal island of the group to the north, Graham Island.
The Queen Charlottes Gold Rush was a gold rush in southern Haida Gwaii of what is now the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, in 1851.
Banks Island is an island on the coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located south of Prince Rupert, on Hecate Strait, east of and opposite Haida Gwaii. To its east is Pitt Island and McCauley Island, both across Principe Channel. To its west is Bonilla Island. To its south lies the archipelago of the Estevan Group, beyond which is Caamaño Sound.
Gold Harbour was a historic gold and silver mine in Haida Gwaii, on the north coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is notable as the location of the first lode mine worked in what is now British Columbia.
SG̱ang Gwaay Llnagaay, commonly known by its English name Ninstints, is a village site of the Haida people and part of the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site on Haida Gwaii on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada.
Hotspring Island, originally named in English as Volcanic Island and known in the Haida language as G̱andll K'in Gwaayaay ("Hot-Water-Island"), is a small island near the southeast coast of Lyell Island in the Haida Gwaii archipelago of the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. The island's names derive from a hot spring located on its southwestern end, the temperature of which has been measured at 162 °F (72 °C). The island is part of Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site and is supervised by the Haida Gwaii Watchmen.
Cartwright Sound is a sound on the southwest coast of Graham Island in the Queen Charlotte Islands of the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. It was named by Captain George Vancouver in honour of John Cartwright, then serving in the Royal Navy under Admiral Howe and later a noted political and social reformer in Britain. The sound is located in the area of Kano Inlet, and lies between Tcenakum and Hunter Points. In the center is a tiny island called Marble Island. Listed by the BC Geographical Names Information System, the sound is entirely missing from Google Maps. Adding to the confusion, Cartwright Sound Charters, which runs fishing expeditions to the sound, is based in Sandspit, British Columbia, on the far east coast of Graham island Queen Charlotte Islands is also now known as the Haida Gwaii archipelago
Rennell Sound is a sound off the west coast of Graham Island in Haida Gwaii, a coastal archipelago of the North Coast region of British Columbia, Canada.
Parry Passage is a strait and marine waterway between Langara Island (N) and Graham Island (S) in Haida Gwaii, formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, in British Columbia, Canada.
The Council of the Haida Nation ("CHN") is the elected government of the Haida Nation. The council consists of a president and vice-president elected by popular vote, twelve regional representatives from four electoral regions, and one appointed representative from each of the Old Massett Village Council and Skidegate Band Council.
Various Imperial and colonial actions against Haida Gwaii Authorities have been undertaken since the 19th century. The indigenous peoples of Haida Gwaii often reacted violently to European and American ships which trespassed in their waters and lands. From the 18th to 19th centuries, various skirmishes took place between Haida authorities and European and American merchantmen and warships. Canadian settlers did not arrive on Haida Gwaii islands until 1900, and many Canadian colonial police actions attempted to assault the Haida Gwaii authorities and citizens. The indigenous Haida population was decimated by diseases such as smallpox which were introduced accidentally by way of Fort Victoria. The presence of foreign diseases, to which the Haida had no immunity, along with some colonial hostility, meant that the numbers of Haida citizens was reduced from tens of thousands to 588 by 1915. This erosion of Haida cultural institutions was essential to open the way for subsequent British and Canadian incursions and jurisdictional claims.