Taaw Tldáaw, formerly known as Tow Hill, is a large isolated

volcanic plug A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcano, volcanic object created when magma hardens within a Volcanic vent, vent on an active volcano. When present, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of high gas pressure if risi ...

located east of Masset on the north end of the Naikoon Peninsula of northeast

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 pr ...

Haida Gwaii Haida Gwaii (; / , literally "Islands of the Haida people"), previously known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago located between off the British Columbia Coast, northern Pacific coast in the Canadian province of British Columbia ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, east of McIntyre Bay and near the mouth of the

Hiellen River The Hiellen River () is a river on Graham Island in the Haida Gwaii of British Columbia, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic O ...

, which is the site of

Hiellen Hiellen, anglicized from the Haida name , and also spelled in various ways such as Hliiyalang ( Bringhurst) and Łi'elᴀñ ( Swanton), was a historic Haida village located on the northern shore of Graham Island, at the mouth of the Hiellen R ...

, a now-abandoned Haida village and of the Hiellen Indian Reserve No. 2, on the site of that village. Formerly Tow Hill Provincial Park, it is now part of Naikoon Provincial Park, which covers most of the northeastern flatland of Graham Island. Taaw Tldáaw is the traditional, ancient name of this hill. During the colonial era it was, as the Haida phrase it, "briefly known as Tow Hill". The name Taaw Tldáaw was officially restored in 2022 as part of the Haida's ongoing efforts to reclaim their

indigenous land rights Indigenous land rights are the rights of Indigenous peoples to land and natural resources therein, either individually or collectively, mostly in colonised countries. Land and resource-related rights are of fundamental importance to Indig ...

and

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

. Taaw Tldáaw is associated by the editors of ''Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia'' with the Queen Charlotte Mountains which in turn form part of the

Insular Mountains The Insular Mountains are a range of mountains in the Pacific Coast Ranges on the Coast of British Columbia, Canada, comprising the Vancouver Island Ranges and Queen Charlotte Mountains. The Insular Mountains are rugged, particularly on Vanco ...

, but it is not physically part of the range, and is separated from mountainous parts of Graham Island by expanses of forested flatland-marsh and is properly designated as being on the Argonaut Plain, one of the lowland areas of Haida Gwaii not in the Queen Charlotte Mountains. Taaw Tldáaw consists of faceted columnar-jointed

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

columns that solidified about two million years ago during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

epoch.

"This feature is an eroded volcanic plug - the most distinctive navigational landmark on the entire North Beach. Tow is derived from a Haida word that rhymes with "cow", and means place of food. Many legends about its origin and the significance of the blowhole at the base of the hill......"Dalzell, Kathleen E; ''Queen Charlotte Islands - Book 2: of places and names''; Prince Rupert: Cove Press, 1973

File:Looking Northeast from Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii.jpg, Looking Northeast from Taaw Tldáaw at North Beach File:Looking down from Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii.jpg, Looking down from Taaw Tldáaw File:Looking North from Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii.jpg, Looking North from Taaw Tldáaw; Alaska on the horizon File:Looking South from Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii.jpg, Looking South from Taaw Tldáaw

References

{{coord, 54, 05, 00, N, 131, 48, 00, W, display=title Volcanic plugs of British Columbia Mountains of British Columbia under 1000 metres Graham Island Pleistocene volcanoes Pleistocene British Columbia

See also

References