Before my latest trip to Haida Gwaii (images coming soon!) I made a day trip to the Kiix?in National Historic Site located in Barkley Sound near Bamfield. It is about a 4 hour drive (much of it on logging roads) and 20 minute hike from Victoria, but worth every minute of getting there, and back. Especially on a beautiful day like we had. On the way we were stopped by bridge repairs at the Nitinat River crossing and photos of the foggy, moss-covered forest also taken on this roll of film can be seen at my blog (link), posted at the same time as this one.
I have worked at Kiix?in (?=glottal stop) several times over the past 31 years. This time was a trip to provide advice to the Huu-ay-aht First Nation whose site it is, and in particular to Tliishin, the hereditary chief of Kiix?in. We stopped at the Huu-ay-aht village of Anacla and their new administration building to meet the rest of our group where I took a few photos as well.
Kiix?in was occupied for more than 5000 years until the late 1800s, but not since then. Even so, some of the post-and-beam houses survive with beams standing or leaning on posts – huge cedar beams (20m x 0.75m, for instance) on posts up to about 3m high. My work at this location has focussed on mapping the village in great detail and reconstructing the houses, on paper. It is a beautiful site, though I did not take any film shots in the dense forest, only these shots on the beaches next to the village. I have posted a few digital shots on my blog the past two or three weeks since this trip, they can be found here.
To see an enlarged version of any image in the gallery below, click on it and then navigate to others with the arrows or with swiping.
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- beach in front of Kiix?in
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- beach succulents
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- vegetation on site
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- View from admin building
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- House of Huu-ay-aht, modelled on Tliishin’s house at Kiix?in
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- Admin building
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- Beach beside Kiix?in
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- Beach beside Kiix?in
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- Beach beside Kiix?in
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- surveying the trees that grow on house frames
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- Kiix?in beach -“execution rock” is the big one, a fortress site
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- Beach beside Kiix?in
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- looking up at the fortress
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- beach in front of Kiix?in
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- beach in front of Kiix?in
Roll 39: Olympus mjuii; expired Fuji Superia X-TRA 400, commercially developed and scanned.
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52 rolls 
Reblogged this on burnt embers and commented:
This is today’s companion post from 52Rolls. Regular visitors will recognise this spot from the digital version I posted a few weeks ago here http://wp.me/p1R4lY-74Y.
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Incredible setting with islands
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Thank you Peter, I don’t get there much these days so was pretty lucky with the weather and sea conditions.
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Gorgeous! I can’t believe I have never even heard of this place!!
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Hi Laurie. It is a fantastic spot, but not open to easy access. It was an Indian Reserve but with the recent treaty is now Huu-ay-aht settlement land. They are working on plans to make it public, so keep your ears open for that. And otherwise, if you are ever planning a trip out that way, let me know. I might be able to put you in touch with a guide, as is necessary if you want to visit.
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