Kiidk'yaas

[2] In January 1997, 47-year-old unemployed forest engineer Grant Hadwin travelled to Haida Gwaii and purchased a chainsaw and other felling equipment.

Early on the morning of January 20, 1997 he swam across the freezing Yakoun River and made a series of strategic deep cuts in Kiidk'yaas.

He sent a fax to the media and the Haida nation claiming responsibility for the act, saying that he was motivated by "rage and hatred towards university-trained professionals and their extremist supporters".

Hadwin planned to travel to his trial date by crossing the notoriously stormy and violent Hecate Strait (from Prince Rupert to Masset) alone by kayak in mid-winter.

[6] After Kiidk'yaas' felling, attempts were made to propagate a further 80 cuttings (with the permission of the Haida people) in order to increase the chances of a successful offspring surviving.

[6] The only wood harvested from the tree was used by Nova Scotia luthier George Rizsanyi and broadcaster Jowi Taylor as part of Six String Nation, a guitar dedicated to Canadian history.

Kiidk'yaas in 1984
A sapling from Kiidk'yaas