Haida Gwaii Human History and Environment from the Time of Loon Soft Cover

Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands) represents a unique environment and fabulous opportunity for research. This archipelago is the most disjunct land mass in North America. It is likely part of, or attached to, a late Wisconsin biotic refugium that currently, or historically, contains a distinct array of endemic and disjunct species. And it was part of a possible coastal land route for the original movement of people into North America from Beringia after 14,000 BP. the opportunity lies in continuing the research reported on here, carrying it underwater to the continental shelf where this movement of people might have occurred. The text of this clearly written and well-edited volume conveys the sense that this is one of the most exciting and important research areas in the Americas. Geomorphology, biogeography, environmental change and cultural adaptation, and human history as informed by Haida traditional accounts as well as archaeological evidence are all part of the story. The book is divided into three parts: Paleoenvironmental History; Haida Traditional History; and Haida History through Archaeological Research (extending back to the early Holocene). This last section accounts for the largest part of the book (230 out of 375 pages of text). The content is integrated by short introductions to each of these parts, by cross-referencing of chapters, and by a good, detailed index. The book is suitable for both a general readership as well as scholars seeking a single source on Haida Gwaii from the end of the last ice age.