''Kiidk'yaas'' (meaning "ancient tree" in the

Haida language Haida (', ', ', ') is the language of the Haida people, spoken in the Haida Gwaii archipelago off the coast of Canada and on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. An endangered language, Haida currently has 24 native speakers, though revitalizat ...

), also known as the Golden Spruce, was a Sitka spruce

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

(''Picea sitchensis'' 'Aurea') that grew on the banks of the Yakoun River on the

Haida Gwaii Haida Gwaii (; hai, X̱aaydag̱a Gwaay.yaay / , literally "Islands of the Haida people") is an archipelago located between off the northern Pacific coast of Canada. The islands are separated from the mainland to the east by the shallow Heca ...

archipelago in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It had a rare genetic

mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA replication, DNA or viral repl ...

that caused its needles to be golden in colour (rather than the usual green). Kiidk'yaas was considered sacred by the Haida people. Kiidk'yaas was felled in January 1997 by Grant Hadwin as an act of protest against the

logging industry Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

. Kiidk'yaas and its felling are the subject of

John Vaillant John Vaillant (born June 4, 1962) is an American-Canadian writer and journalist whose work has appeared in ''The New Yorker, The Atlantic, National Geographic'', and '' Outside''. He has written both non-fiction and fiction books. Personal life ...

's 2005 book '' The Golden Spruce''.

Kiidk'yaas in Haida mythology

Kiidk'yaas features prominently in Haida mythology. The Kiidk'yaas story tells of a young boy who disrespected nature and thereby caused a terrible storm to descend on his village. Only he and his grandfather survived the storm. As they fled the village, the grandfather warned the boy not to look back. The boy disobeyed, and was immediately turned into the Golden Spruce where he stood.

Felling

In January 1997, 47-year-old unemployed forest engineer Grant Hadwin travelled to Haida Gwaii and purchased a

chainsaw A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable gasoline-, electric-, or battery-powered saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. It is used in activities such as tree felling, limbing, bucking, pru ...

and other felling equipment. Early on the morning of January 20, 1997 he swam across the freezing Yakoun River and made a series of strategic deep cuts in Kiidk'yaas. The cuts were designed to leave Kiidk'yaas standing but weakened, so that it would be knocked over by the next strong winds. The tree fell two days later. After cutting down the tree, Hadwin left the islands for

Prince Rupert, British Columbia Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Its location is on Kaien Island near the Alaskan panhandle. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and has a population of 12 ...

. He sent a

fax Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (the latter short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer o ...

to the

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

and the

Haida nation The Council of the Haida Nation ("CHN") (''X̱aaydaG̱a Waadlux̱an Naay'') 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 el ...

claiming responsibility for the act, saying that he was motivated by "rage and hatred towards university trained professionals and their extremist supporters". The act outraged people throughout

and received extensive media coverage. Hadwin was arrested, ordered to return to Haida Gwaii to stand trial, and released on

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...

. Hadwin planned to travel to his trial date by crossing the notoriously stormy and violent

Hecate Strait , image = HecateStrait(PittIsland).JPG , image_size = 260px , alt = , caption = Hecate Strait and Pitt Island , image_bathymetry = Loc-QCS-Hecate-Dixon.png , alt_bathymetry = , caption ...

(from Prince Rupert to

Masset Masset , formerly ''Massett'', is a village in Haida Gwaii in British Columbia, Canada. It is located on Masset Sound on the northern coast of Graham Island, the largest island in the archipelago, and is approximately west of mainland British Col ...

) alone by kayak in mid-winter. He departed Prince Rupert in February 1997 but never arrived at his trial. What is believed to be Hadwin's broken kayak and effects were found on Mary Island in June 1997. Whether he had been murdered, accidentally drowned, or left his belongings behind and fled into the wilderness is not known.Vaillant, John, ''The Golden Spruce'', W.W. Norton & Co., 2005, p. 209 His fate remains unknown.

Post-felling

In 1977 a group of botanists from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

(UBC) visited Haida Gwaii to take cuttings of Kiidk'yaas. These cuttings were

grafted Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the rootstock. The succ ...

onto ordinary Sitka spruce, resulting in two golden saplings. The trees were grown in the

UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research UBC Botanical Garden, at the University of British Columbia, was established in 1916 under the directorship of John Davidson, British Columbia's first provincial botanist. It is the oldest botanical garden at a university in Canada. The garden m ...

. Upon hearing of the tree's destruction in 1997, the arboretum offered one of the two young trees to replace Kiidk'yaas. However, the sapling died in storage before it could be transported to Haida Gwaii. The second sapling survives at UBC.Vaillant, John, ''The Golden Spruce'', W.W. Norton & Co., 2005, p. 203 After Kiidk'yaas' felling, attempts were made to propagate a further 80 cuttings (with the permission of the Haida people) in order to increase the chances of a successful offspring surviving. The only wood harvested from the tree was used by

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

luthier George Rizsanyi and broadcaster

Jowi Taylor Jowi Taylor (born June 15, 1962) is a Toronto-based radio personality, public speaker and originator of the Six String Nation guitar, also known as Voyageur. As a radio broadcaster, producer, writer and host, Taylor is known for his work at CBC Rad ...

as part of

Six String Nation Six String Nation is public art and history project conceived by Jowi Taylor and centred around a steel-string acoustic guitar built from a variety of artifacts collected by Taylor representing diverse cultures, communities, characters and eve ...

, a guitar dedicated to

Canadian history The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Canada were inhabited for millennia by ...

. Other pieces of the guitar include wood from Pierre Trudeau's canoe paddle and Paul Henderson's hockey stick.

References

External links

The Spirit of Kiid K'iyaas
(.pdf)
John Vaillant, "The Golden Bough", ''The New Yorker''The Golden Spruce written by John VaillantUBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research homepage
{{coord, 53, 37, 12, N, 132, 12, 29, W, region:CA-BC_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Individual trees in British Columbia Demolished buildings and structures in Canada Haida Political history of British Columbia Haida Gwaii Trees in religion Religious places of the indigenous peoples of North America 1990s individual tree deaths Individual spruce trees

Kiidk'yaas in Haida mythology

Felling

Post-felling

See also

References

External links