Masset , formerly ''Massett'', is a village in

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 ...

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, for ...

, Canada. It is located on Masset Sound on the northern coast of

Graham Island Graham Island () is the largest island in the Haida Gwaii archipelago (previously known as the Queen Charlotte Islands), lying off the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is separated by the narrow Skidegate Channel from the other p ...

, the largest island in the archipelago, and is approximately west of mainland British Columbia. It is the primary western terminus of

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...

16 (the

Yellowhead Highway The Yellowhead Highway (french: Route Yellowhead) is a major interprovincial highway in Western Canada that runs from Winnipeg to Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia via Saskatoon and Edmonton. It stretches across the four western ...

) and is served by Masset Airport, with flights to Vancouver and Prince Rupert. During the

maritime fur trade The maritime fur trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in exc ...

of the early 19th century, Masset was a key trading site. It was incorporated as a village municipality on May 11, 1961.

Name

The name Masset was a gift from the captain of a Spanish vessel that was repaired with the assistance of the

Haida Haida may refer to: Places * Haida, an old name for Nový Bor * Haida Gwaii, meaning "Islands of the People", formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands * Haida Islands, a different archipelago near Bella Bella, British Columbia Ships * , a ...

citizens of Atewaas, Kayung and Jaaguhl. These three villages accepted the gift and adopted the name Masset to commemorate what might be the first ever contact between Europeans and the Haida. During the early years of Canadian colonization the name Masset and the post office were adopted by the former Reverend Charles Harrison as part of his scheme to sell land. The name Masset is currently in use by the Village of Masset, a municipality under Canada legislation and the Village of

Old Massett Old Massett, named G̱aw in X̱aad kíl, is an Indigenous Canadian village on Graham Island in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. It lies on the east side of Masset Sound close to the town of Masset; the area of land it is on is legally designated ...

, the original recipient of the name and a village under the Constitution of the Haida Nation. According to John T. Walbran, Masset came from the Haida word ''Masst'', or large island. Captain Douglas, on his second visit from Nootka Sound aboard the ''Iphigenia'' on June 19, 1789, named the bay leading to the inlet ''McIntyre's Bay''. This name was used on the charts of

Dixon Dixon may refer to: Places International * Dixon Entrance, part of the Inside Passage between Alaska and British Columbia Canada * Dixon, Ontario United States * Dixon, California * Dixon, Illinois * Dixon, Greene County, Indiana * Dixon, In ...

and Meares. The American traders called the inlet, ''Hancock's River'' as shown in Ingraham's chart of 1792 after the American brig ''Hancock''. In 1853 H.N. Knox of the Royal Navy, mate on , did a sketch survey of the harbour when the name Masset was adopted by the British. A survey was made in 1907 by Captain Learmouth on ''HMS Egeria''. Masset's name in the local dialect of the Haida language is ''Uttewas'', "white slope", probably referring to a small hill south of the village.BC Names entry "Masset (Village)"
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Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...

, Masset had a population of 838 living in 399 of its 518 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 793. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Oceanographic research

From 1942 to 1942, the

British Columbia Shore Station Oceanographic Program The British Columbia Shore Station Oceanographic Program is a sea surface temperature and salinity monitoring program on the Canadian coast of the northeast Pacific Ocean. The program is administered by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and regroups ...

was collecting coastal water temperature and salinity measurements for the

Department of Fisheries and Oceans Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO; french: Pêches et Océans Canada, MPO), is a department of the Government of Canada that is responsible for developing and implementing policies and programs in support of Canada's economic, ecological and sc ...

from Masset everyday during this period.

Military base

Canadian Forces Station Leitrim Detachment Masset, established as Naval Radio Station Masset in 1943, is a

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

facility used to gather

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of '' signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ...

for the

Communications Security Establishment Canada The Communications Security Establishment (CSE; french: Centre de la sécurité des télécommunications, ''CST''), formerly (from 2008-2014) called the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), is the Government of Canada's national c ...

and the Canadian Forces Intelligence Branch. The equipment at CFS Masset is operated remotely from CFS Leitrim near

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Notable people from Masset

* Guujaaw ( wood carver, musician,

traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

practitioner and political

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

) * Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (

Haida manga Haida manga is a contemporary style of Haida comics and print cartoons that explores the elements of both traditional North Pacific indigenous arts and narrative, while also adapting contemporary techniques of artistic design from the western portio ...

artist) * Robert Davidson (artist) *

Florence Davidson Florence Edenshaw Davidson (1896–1993) was a Canadian First Nations artist from the Haida. She created basketry and button-blankets and was a respected elder in her village of Masset, Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. Early life Florence Edensh ...

(artist) *

Reg Davidson Reg Davidson (born 1954) is an Aboriginal Canadian carver and a member of the Haida band government. He was born in 1954 at the Haida village of Masset on the Queen Charlotte Islands of British Columbia. His parents are Claude and Vivian Davidson ...

(carver)

Climate

The climate, moderated by a warm Pacific current from Japan, is generally mild with no extremes in temperature, oceanic (''Cfb''). Annual temperature varies only 20 degrees Celsius but is variable and unpredictable - even within a 24-hour period. Average rainfall is with snowfall of and there is generally a breeze, most often out of the southeast when it is raining, and the northwest when it is sunny. Summer temperatures are in the range and the days are long - May, June, July boasting 18 hours of daylight. August and May general have the most sun but there is a fair degree of rain throughout the summer months. Winter months are mild with temperatures in the range and while precipitation is usually in the form of rain there can be some snowfall. Conditions can become severe without warning and Masset has registered wind gusts to . Although it is located at over 54 degrees north, rainfall follows a Mediterranean pattern. It is one of the northernmost places with this characteristic.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Villages in British Columbia Populated places in Haida Gwaii Haida villages Graham Island Hudson's Bay Company trading posts