SGang Gwaay XIII
Looking up at SGang Gwaay last November.
These are mortuary poles along the front of the UNESCO World Heritage Site on an island on the south-west side of Gwaii Haanas
If you don’t know where SGang Gwaay is, check out this map (here) and if you use the “street view” yellow person icon you can take a virtual tour along the trail through the village.
Click the SGang Gwaay tag at the bottom of this post (or just click here) to see many more images taken during many visits while working in Gwaii Haanas.
burnt embers 
google street view is great for showing the size and extent of the site but your dark images capture the mystery and magic of the place
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Thank you elizabettina 🙂 Sometimes black and white is the best vehicle for mystery and magic 🙂
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Great photos, ehpem. The poles appear to have deteriorated considerably since I was last there. I see vegetation growing on top of at least one, is it not being trimmed back any longer?
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Hi Mad Dog – yes, there has been quite a bit of deterioration in the past decade or so. I think a tipping point of rot has been reached and that the diminishing condition will accelerate from year to year. I fear that there is not much longer (a decade or two) where the visitor experience is similar to what it is now.
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Meant to add that they are trimming the poles, but it seems like the tops of the tallest poles have not been done for two or three years from the amount of vegetation. The lower features, like beams, are well maintained. I am not sure what the maintenance schedule is for the taller poles, but i would think they will be done this year as they are due. As you know the vegetation is a double threat – it acts like a sail and could help bring a pole down, and the roots invade the wood and can run inside the entire length of the pole into the ground, seriously damaging the integrity of the feature.
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Great post 😀
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Thank you!
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