Stikine: The Great River

Hans B. Neumann is a history lecturer at Scarborough College, University
of Toronto.

The Stikine River in northwestern British Columbia has been the source
of much environmental controversy recently. Plans by B.C. Hydro to dam
the river and other schemes to log its watershed have made the river one
of the focuses of the environmental movement in western Canada. Since
the Stikine is one of the last great pristine rivers on the West Coast,
the concern should be understandable.

This photographic essay seeks to fulfill several purposes. First and
foremost, it seeks to celebrate the “great river” (which is what
Stikine means in the language of the Tahltan people who inhabit the
river’s delta). In 91 pages of color photographs with an etching-like
quality—the bulk of the book—Fiegehen vividly reveals the stark,
severe beauty of the Stikine landscape, presenting a compelling
testament to what would be lost if large-scale, uncontrolled intrusion
projects were permitted to proceed. Not the least of these losses would
occur should the Grand Canyon of the Stikine—a 100 km stretch of
sheer, high canyon walls through which the river thunders in a boiling
torrent of whitewater—be subject to interference.

A second purpose of this large-format, hard-cover book is to portray
the land of the Tahltan, and hence to serve as a support for Native
peoples’ rights.

Finally, the book seeks to appeal in a philosophical sense to the
reader’s imagination. That is why the photos are left uncaptioned (but
receive a thorough, frame-by-frame discussion at the end of the book).
Through his professionally composed photos Fiegehen hopes to kindle or
rekindle the reader’s awareness of nature and its importance to the
spiritual well-being of our species.

He has succeeded on all three counts. One can only hope that this
book’s impact helps make it possible for future generations to share
Fiegehen’s vision of the Stikine in all its present natural beauty.