Nearly 40 years ago on a misty fall morning, a small group of Haida set up a blockade along a dirt road on Lyell Island, just off B.C.’s North Coast.
The group wanted to put a pin in a plan to log parts of Haida Gwaii, according to a report from The Canadian Press that appeared in the Vancouver Sun in November 1985.
Reports from the time show that 72 people were arrested as a result of the blockade.
A new documentary film examines that time through archival footage and audio, in an effort to inform generations to come about the commitment those individuals made to protect their land.
The Stand, directed by Christopher Auchter, makes its world premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival on Thursday. Another showing is scheduled for Oct. 5.
Auchter sat down for an interview with North by Northwest host Margaret Gallagher ahead of the premiere.
North by Northwest18:00Chistopher Auchter’s new documentary The Stand
In 1985, a small group of Haida set up a blockade of Lyell Island to take a stand against clearcut logging on what would eventually become part of the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site. Haida filmmaker Christopher Auchter tells this story by deftly weaving together archival footage.
This interview had been edited for length and clarity.
What inspired you to tell this story?
I grew up around this story without really knowing much about it. My aunt and my uncle were both a part of it. They were on Lyell Island fighting for the Haida and I knew that they went there.
They’re both huge figures in my life … I grew up, didn’t really know too much, but I wanted to honour them and at the same time I get to learn about what they did down there.
So I think that was the entry mark for me in terms of diving into this story. And then it just expands from there.
You tell the story by weaving together archival audio and video footage. Why did you want to tell the story in this way?
Once I started seeing the footage and I’d seen the great wealth that I did have in front of me with just how much was recorded, it became pretty evident.
One of the first tasks we tried to tackle was asking ourselves, ‘Can this story be told almost like in real time? Can it unfold like a scripted film, a scripted drama, a thriller?’ Like, how compelling would that be for an audience to take in the story?
So that was our first challenge to see if this can be done or will I have to go and get interviews.
I had to learn a lot in terms of being able to tell the story, but I didn’t really want to insert myself so much. I wanted them, the ones who experienced it and were there, to tell the story. So we get that through organic conversations that are happening around the fire.
How did you get access to this? I mean, you must have gone through hundreds of hours [of material].
It was well over 100 hours of both visual footage and audio. And not all of it was going to be able to be usable in the film. I knew this.
But I gathered [it], especially the audio stuff, to try to get that insight into what was happening before all this happened, what were some of the stories and some of the little skirmishes that were happening.
We used footage from Susan Underwood and Donna Wilson. They were young filmmakers at the time, from the Lower Mainland. They heard what was going on up on Haida Gwaii and they thought, ‘Let’s get up there.’
And they got up there and I don’t quite know how they connected with the Haida, but I did talk to Arnie Bellis and he said, ‘You know, they were able to stay with us in Haida camp because of the type of people they were. There wasn’t anything phony about them. They didn’t overly try hard. They could just see the genuineness in them and they were welcomed in.’
Some of those voices in the film have gone on to become major leaders, like Guujaaw and Miles Richardson. What’s it like to see them in action all those years ago?
I grew up around Guujaaw. He was my uncle Mike’s best friend. Throughout my life he’s been this huge figure, this big leader, great speaker. And this is kind of like seeing a little bit of his origin story, in terms of becoming Guujaaw.
His leadership is on display and the same with Miles, both [are] so well-spoken.
Your uncle is Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, a very powerful knowledge keeper and artist.
He’d been in politics for a long time. And then he retired and went full time into being an artist. The amount that he’s accomplished in that time as an artist is amazing. His speaking ability, his presence and stuff like that, [they’re] all things I got to watch growing up.
Another element in this film is animation. Who is the Mouse Woman to you?
I seem to go back to visiting her and kind of have her involved in the stories that I tell quite a bit because she played a big role in entering me into our stories.
She symbolizes our culture and what the Haida were fighting for on Haida Gwaii. Supernatural beings are all over the landscape of Haida Gwaii. They’re at every point, they’re at every creek. They help keep us in check so that we don’t just go rampage over the islands and take everything we want.
We have to be respectful because somebody’s watching us — supernatural beings.
That’s who Mouse Woman is. She’s voiced by Dolores Churchill, who’s my aunt.
In 1976, at the potlatch for her brother Oliver Adams who became Chief Gaala, [my aunt] stood up during the feast and she gave a speech.
She asked, ‘Why are there so many logs coming off of the islands? It’s barge after barge.’ My uncle Mike said that speech galvanized the Haida into taking action. I think it’s very symbolic that she became the voice of Mouse Woman.
One thing that really struck me was when the elders came to the line and how much that meant, you know, the behind the scenes footage. To see them arrested was really quite moving.
The elders deciding to get involved was a game changer. The blockade was not backing down at this point, but the elders’ arrival to the scene was quite dramatic.
I love this story that my uncle Mike told me about that moment. [He said] it was a stormy day and the rain was just coming down.
They knew they weren’t getting any reinforcements by boat. So they were standing there, they had just defied the court order and they hear this helicopter coming and my uncle said, ‘Holy smokes, here comes SWAT to teach us Indians a lesson.’
And the helicopter landed and out stepped the elders. And [my uncle] said they were just so surprised and happy, and then instantly when [the elders] came out they give [everyone] orders — build a shelter, build a fire. I think they also really helped instill the strategy of non-violence and respect. It brought so much to the battle.