Ninstints or Nan Sdins is a World Heritage Site and a part of Parks Canada. It is located on a small island off of the west coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii) in Western Canada.
I’m not a spiritual person, but on the two chances that I have had to visit Ninstints, I have found it a place that is different from any other place on earth. It’s hard to explain, but it felt like the souls of the Haida people were there with me.
Anthony Island Boardwalk
When you first land and walk along the path way toward the village site, you enter a lush green world covered with mosses, lichens and ferns. Like walking in a fresh snow, any sound is deadened by the softness of the forest.
Totems
After a while, the forest opens up to where the village once stood. It is now the largest collection of Haida totems in their original locations. Historians will tell you that with the abundant food supply, the people where able to spend time to record their world in art and celebrate important events and people with memorial and mortuary poles.
Totems
Long House
I’m thankful I was able to see such a place.
Thanks for sharing the places you’ve been, Mark – I’d love to have the chance to see the natural beauty of Haida Gwaii in person, but until that happens you’ve given me a wonderful set of impressions to appreciated.
Thanks for the note, Rob. I’m glad that you like my ramblings. I trust that you’re hard at work on yours? Or outside enjoying that spring weather you’re getting.