10 Day Countdown to Haida Gwaii — Learning More Each Day : Damned If We Don’t…

I’m an info junkie when it comes to new expe­ri­ences. Since find­ing out that this amaz­ing oppor­tu­nity has been awarded to me, I’ve hun­gered for an edu­ca­tion and knowl­edge about the com­plex­i­ties of Haida Gwaii. In my research, I also found some inter­est­ing video clips. This one in par­tic­u­lar, a movie about Haida Gwaii and cli­mate change put together by Lynda Dixon and her daugh­ter, Shan­tal Bate­hamhas been an inter­est­ing and con­nect­ing thread to the island:

In my quest for “expe­ri­ence” before the “Expe­ri­ence”, I’ve had some lovely folks point me in the direc­tion of infor­ma­tion. As an infor­ma­tion junkie, I want to know as much as I can to make the most out of my short time in Haida Gwaii. Thanks to every­one for the sup­port and help in find­ing out infor­ma­tion about the issues, the ecol­ogy and the cul­ture per­ti­nent to Haida Gwaii and Gwaii Haanas National Park. Specif­i­cally help­ful and inspir­ing are the fol­low­ing folks that have added inspi­ra­tion, edu­ca­tion, encour­age­ment and infor­ma­tion and answered the many ques­tions I have about Haida Gwaii, even before I set foot on island. From con­ser­va­tion issues to pipeline advo­cacy, from abo­rig­i­nal rights and ter­ri­tory to colo­nial­ism, there is much to learn on all sides of the story which spans beyond the beau­ti­ful micro­cosm of Haida Gwaii to the gates of Enbridge and the White House.

Jen Wil­son – Cura­tor, Haida Museum, Skide­gate BC
Chris­tine Pasino – Part­ner­ing & Engage­ment Offi­cer, Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Con­ser­va­tion Area Reserve and Haida Her­itage Site, BC
Marnie Smith - Artist, Researcher and Res­i­dent, Skide­gate, BC
Mar­tin Van Den Akker – Pho­tog­ra­pher, Col­league and Friend
Brandy Dahrouge - Pho­tog­ra­pher, Col­league and Friend
Kathy Math­e­son - Artist, Edu­ca­tor, Friend, Can­more BC
Dar­rell Oike - Artist and Fel­low AIR, Tlell, BC
Fanny-Pierre Galarneau - Artist and Fel­low AIR, Mon­treal, PQ
Richard Dumas – For­mer Col­league, Abo­rig­i­nal Lead­er­ship, The Banff Cen­tre, Banff AB
Donna Kennedy-Glans - Author, Friend and MLA – Calgary-Varsity, Cal­gary, AB
Dou­glas Tan­ton - Direc­tor of Global Pub­lic Resource Devel­op­ment & Fundrais­ing, CARE Inter­na­tional and for­mer Senior Devel­op­ment Direc­tor – America’s, Green­peace Inter­na­tional, ON
John Vail­lant - Author, The Golden Spruce. Van­cou­ver, BC
…and many others.

Thank you to all…and for the many ques­tions I have yet to ask!