Just East of Sundown: The Queen Charlotte Islands

Charlene Porsild is an assistant professor of history at Simon Fraser
University.

Charles Lillard speaks for many when he writes that “no place on the
West Coast is as extraordinary as are the Queen Charlotte Islands.”
The magical, mystical allure of these islands is well known, if not well
understood, by nature enthusiasts and art lovers around the world.
Lillard examines the roots of this appeal and in the process explains
the relationship between those who inhabit the islands and those who
want to exploit the islands’ natural resources.

Using the journals and memoirs of non-Native visitors to the Charlottes
over a period of 200 years, Lillard builds his story around a
fundamental paradox of the Queen Charlottes: that the extraordinary
beauty of the islands had been “noted and appreciated—then raped by
fur traders, miners, loggers, settlers and hippies.” Today the threat
is from tourism. The heroes of this story are unmistakably the Haida,
one of the few Native groups to have triumphed in the cultural conflict
that began with Columbus. From harassing and driving out gold miners in
the 1840s to the logging protests that resulted in the creation of South
Moresby/Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, the Haida have
fiercely—and successfully—protected the Charlottes.

Lillard demonstrates both a passion for his subject and a sensitivity
to the human and environmental factors involved in the islands’
development. His very readable book is a welcome addition to the growing
number of regional histories for British Columbia.