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A Millennial Story Print
Written by Shellene Van der Beke   
16 October 2017
millenial-story-coverRecently, on a stunning, blue- sky Haida Gwaii day, I had the pleasure of sitting down and having a chat with Graeme and Sophie Macdonald, a lovely young couple who have spent the past six months checking out what Haida Gwaii is all about.

They are both a part of the Millennial generation; Graeme, 29, and is from North Delta, BC. His wife, Sophie, 26, originates from Covington, Louisiana (one hour north of New Orleans). Their travels here have been far from just a visit. From learning how to grow a garden to overcoming a lifelong fear, they have enjoyed a rich and dynamic “EdVenture” - a newfangled and rather cool term for educational adventure.

Ethan and Adventure

My first curiosity was why Graeme, Sophie and their Husky/Wolf fur child named Ethan chose to come to Haida Gwaii. They shared with me that in 2016, while living in bustling North Vancouver, they adopted their dog, Ethan. “Every time the noise of the city got too loud, Ethan would howl,” notes Sophie, “waking up the household four or ve times per night.” For Ethan, Graeme and Sophie knew they wanted a space where he could better relax, roam freely and have a life with more than just daily walks.

“Being raised on the west coast, you always hear about [Haida Gwaii].” It turns out that Graeme’s Grandmother, Doreen Macdonald loves it here and his Uncle, Charlie Anderson, works in forestry so has traveled to this area often over the years.

Then, via a Facebook post, they happened to watch Charles Wilkinson’s “On the Edge of the World” documentary about Haida Gwaii. “After watching that documentary,” Graeme remarks, “it kind of changed my vision of Haida Gwaii, the culture and the people.” Inspired to learn more, they decided to leave the Big Smoke, along with Graeme’s successful, corporate sales and marketing job, and go on an adventure. Not just any adventure though. Their goal was to learn how to live a more self-su cient life on a working farm. With the hopes of nding a place to stay that would o er the experience they were looking for, Graeme called around and connected with Elizabeth Condrotte and Bill Frazier of the Tlell Bay Farm. “We want to learn how to grow our own food,” Graeme explained to Elizabeth, “we are more than happy to pull our own weight and are looking to work for the whole growing season.” Welcoming some helping hands, Elizabeth agreed and Graeme and Sophie arrived on April 4th of this year.

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Top-Shelf Tutelage

Graeme, sitting on a bench swing beside Sophie and across from me, beams, “We’ve really been lucky because of Elizabeth. She’s a former educator, so when we got here she was pretty structured, asking us what we wanted to learn.” Elizabeth gave Graeme and Sophie half an acre to grow a garden. They spent half of their time working on their garden and the other half helping with chores on the Tlell Bay Farm. In just six short months they have learned how to...

In the garden:

  • till the land and prepare the rows for planting
  • sow seeds (all of the vegetables were grown from seed)
  • set up a greenhouse to grow things like basil and peppers
  • pot up and sell starter plants

At the local farmers’ markets:

  • blanch and freeze crops they grew such as broccoli, peas and beans pickle beets, beans, cucumbers and more
  • make gooseberry jam and homemade bread

“My Mom is so excited to make jam and bread with me!” Sophie exclaims.

On the farm:

  • from the animals: rotate and produce high quality compost
  • milk and care for numerous goats and then make goat’s cheese and yoghurt
  • Graeme built a new barn for Beauty, Elizabeth’s horse, out of salvaged wood, and put it together with a chainsaw, ace and a drawknife that he borrowed from neighboring farmer Adolf Bitterlich. The foundation was made using large rocks he dragged up from the beach.

“We have defnitely learned that livestock and gardening go hand in hand,” Graeme says, “one feeds the other. Nothing is wasted.”

In the wild:

  • pick and process Haida Gwaii mushrooms
  • Graeme enjoyed his first ever successful hunt with the help of Haida Style Expeditions’ cultural guide, James McGuire
  • with Elizabeth’s help: hang, gut, skin and butcher their first deer

“All the venison was great,” Graeme continues, “we kept all the good cuts and then broke everything else up to kilo size portions and we feed it to Ethan and a bit to the birds...we keep a circular thing going on.”

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Say Goodbye to the Chicken Phobia

“Sophie’s made a lot of progress. She had a phobia of chickens,” says Graeme. “I don’t know where it came from,” admits Sophie, “but I would go to people’s farms and within five feet of chickens, I would hyperventilate. There was even this cute one with black, fluffy little feathers named “Mama,” just a sweet little chicken and I still couldn’t do it.” Graeme then goes on to explain that Elizabeth decided to kibosh Sophie’s fear and acquired twelve chicks from Brock Storry and Maryanna Yalte’s Rocking Creek Farm. Sophie oversaw the chicks and Graeme made their pen. They had five hens and seven roosters! “The more you play with them,” Sophie states, “the more they get to know you. I would call them and they would follow me and I trained them to hop up on my lap and shoulder.” The couple are even planning to take two of their favorites, “Wren” and “Raven,” to a friend’s farm in Squamish, who will care for them while they do a bit more traveling before settling down on their own farm somewhere in BC. A testament to Sophie mastering her fear: she killed, cleaned, gutted and butchered all seven roosters. “It puts a whole new perspective on the meat you’re eating. I will probably forever raise my own chickens.”

The Spirit of Haida Gwaii

Competing with a blue jay’s squawks repeatedly piercing the sweet summer air, I ask Graeme and Sophie what they will take away from their stay here on Haida Gwaii. Sophie responds, “In the city, people purposely avoid eye contact. You say hi and they’re like - do I know you? People are genuine here.” Graeme adds, “It’s places like this where you find really good connections... people feel more present here. If you need a hand with anything, there are a dozen people you could probably call or just show up at their house and it wouldn’t even be weird. Some people say it’s hard to get into the social scene on Haida Gwaii, it’s actually not so hard, you just gotta show up!”

Graeme tells me of a friend that came to visit him here on Haida Gwaii and that, by the time he left, he could see the clarity in his friend’s eyes, with all the noise pulled away, he was just able to enjoy himself.

“Another thing,” Graeme continues, “I’m a very frugal person. I’ve always had a tough time separating myself from money but I came here and I love the fact I soon knew the face and person behind the counter. It makes me happy buying something from a store that employs some of my friends - a special thanks to Adriene O’Brien at the Crow’s Nest for supporting so many local products. The economy here on Haida Gwaii is more circular where everyone helps each other out. Spending here in this community hasn’t felt like such an expense.”

Millennial Messages

“The whole experience of being on the farm and learning about Haida culture, Haida Gwaii has changed how we are going to live our life,” Sophie shares. Tears begin to well up in her smiling eyes. “I love everything about this place. Our lifestyle from here on forward will be a lot different. There are things we are not going to sacrifice anymore...like spending time together, spending time with our dog and hopefully our family one day.”

“Everyone who lives here seems to have a much better understanding, respect and interest in Indigenous culture than those living in metropolitan areas,” says Graeme. He gives the bench swing they are sitting on a little nudge, a gesture of comfort supporting Sophie’s expression of heartfelt words. He continues, “People are so generous in sharing stories about the history of this area, we’ve learned tons and gained so much perspective. When you live in the city and rely on mainstream media...it’s just a topic you read about.

“I’ve met lots of friends of all ages, political views and opinions all around Haida Gwaii. I think that everyone here is much more on the same page than they think...they just need to talk to each other more. There are a lot of discussions going on, committees, meeting going on, but a lot of people go into them armed to defend their opinion. I think what would be good is a “Negotiation Skills” workshop for everybody that is on a committee, board or has a stake in anything. Everyone should learn to give a little and see things from other people’s perspectives. It would really change the discussions. There are people that still struggle on Haida Gwaii and I don’t think there needs to be...people just need to work together and take down their defences. Everyone that is having real discussions here are on the same page. If you’re here, you’re pretty cool. If you are living here on these islands, you’re very like-minded because there are not a lot of people that can live this lifestyle.”

After my sit down with Graeme and Sophie, I learned something especially valuable – that people who come and go here on Haida Gwaii, including our youthful Millennials, have much to o er.

The time visitors spend with us is noteworthy. Their stories and perspectives are rich and expansive.

In early November, Graeme and Sophie will be heading back to the mainland to start the next chapter of their lives together. They will be missed by many.

By the way, their dog Ethan has gone from howling at city noises to having a blast spending more time with his humans, learning how to protect chickens from predators and even befriending a horse. He is one happy pooch.

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