Something very special happened in Berlin Germany on December 7, 2022. The recently renovated Stiftung Humboldt Forum (HF) in Berliner Schloss, a museum in the capital’s center dedicated to human history, art and culture, opened a display that includes loans from two museums on Haida Gwaii. The exhibition is called Ts’uu-Cedar: Of Trees and People.

Saahlinda Nay - Haida Gwaii Museum (HGM) Collec-tions and Lab of Archaeology Manager Gid yahk’ii Sean Young co-curated the display over a two-year period on MS TEAMS with the Forum’s professional natural his-tory curator Daniela Kratzsch. Sean flew to Berlin for the opening and guided the first visitors through the collection that focuses on the giant living cedar, referred to as the wet red cedar, and the SGaahlan Nootka false cypress known as yellow cedar. The project explains the Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples’ relationship with red and yellow cedars and includes a timeline to show how the relationship has changed over the years.

The exhibit’s Haida storyline was developed by Sean, Dan-iela and HGM staff. It deals with the history of the Haida from when they first used stone tools to harvest and carve cedar. Prior to contact, the Haida only used what they needed from the bountiful riches these islands support. A huge change came just before World War 1 when the government realized how lucrative tree harvesting could be and the forests became a commodity.

The exhibit focuses on the cedar’s extraordinary role in the resurgence of First Nations culture, in “anti-forestry movements; in land and sea resource use…or in the reap-propriation of cultural practices and traditions.” It pres-ents over 130 objects, including tools for working with wood, media installations, cultural historical and natural history exhibits. It quotes Gidansda Guujaaw, artist and former president of the Haida Nation: “When the trees are gone, we’ll just be like everyone else.”

Among the items on loan from the HGM is a six-foot crosscut saw used for bucking logs that predates 1930. Bucking saws have large teeth with the cutting edge angled in an alternating pattern. Each tooth acts as a knife edge. Fallers would often stand on a springboard off the ground to maintain the crosscut saw’s angle.

The HGM also sent a 14-foot yellow cedar canoe carved prior to the Loo Taas by Yaahl Sgwansung Bill Reid and Gitkinjuaas Ron Wilson. Sean said the canoe and saw needed to be specially crated for delivery to the exhibit. The crates were custom-built, and the items wrapped in acid free polyfoam and sent overland to be flown out of Vancouver and Toronto.

Several Haida artists were commis-sioned by the HF to create items for the exhibit. Kun Kayangas Marlene Liddle wove a cedar hat, Jaalen Edenshaw carved a mask and Guud San Glans Reg Davidson carved a raven rattle. Animator and illustrator Christopher Auchter produced panels to explain how the various tools were used and filmmaker Patrick Shannon Nang K‘uulas videotaped Jaalen Edenshaw. T-shirts by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas and Jaad Gudgihljiwah Michaela McGuire are also included.

The Port Clements Historical Soci-ety’s (PCHS) museum also contrib-uted to the exhibit in Berlin. They have loaned a Woodboss one-man chain saw originally donated by Eric Ross, late of Daajing Giids. The saw had been on display with other items concerned with the history of logging on the islands.

Sean said there is a distinctive feature that makes this exhibit different from other cultural displays. The HF asked for his input at the beginning of the project and appointed him co-curator. He said that this is a first and a huge step forward for museums because he was asked to be fully involved in the design of the collaborative exhibit.

The museum in Berlin has an extensive collection of Haida belongings. Over 12,000 Haida belongings have been traced and identified around the world and the HGM continues to add to that number.

Google humboldtforum.org to find out more about Ts’uu-Cedar.

A virtual tour will be available later in 2023.

Photo courtesy Sean Young