Kiliii Yüyan, award-winning National Geographic photographer recently travelled across beautiful British Columbia as part of an open brief from Destination Canada. His only task? To capture a series of images that bring to life this beautiful part of western Canada during the winter months. A time when twilight hangs in the air and all around are scenes of glorious landscapes, rich Indigenous culture, and endless opportunities for adventure and connection.
A snapshot of Kiliii’s adventure. Click an image to find out more.
By day, the totem poles outside the Waap Galts’ap Community House are formidable carvings to behold. But as the light shifts, so does their beauty. “My point in shooting this picture really was to demonstrate how beautiful it can be to photograph things at twilight,” says Yüyan. The building is accessed by students and guests throughout the day who may not fully appreciate its power, which twilight accentuates. “You can see how beautiful it is and how well it offsets against the natural wood around it.”
In this first provincial park jointly managed by Nisga’a Nation and the province, pumice-like stones and scraggly trees make for a unique combination that can feel otherworldly. Most people access the park outside the winter season, but Yüyan says the winter light made the area particularly attractive. “It looks like the moon except that in some places plants have been able to grow,” he says. The photographer found beauty in the dramatically rugged landscape and dogged determination of the trees to grow here, despite the odds.
The lands here were formed more than two centuries ago from a volcanic eruption so strong that it redirected a river. Today, the black lava rock landscape is accentuated by a series of oxbow wetlands. “There's only a couple of places like this in the world,” says Yüyan of the striking landscape. And while there are a few homes that dot the perimeter, you’re more likely to see circling eagles in this space, where quiet beauty shines under the waning sunlight.
There are stories that accompany all the carvings inside the community workspace at Laxgalts’ap, and they are stories only the carvers can tell. Travelers visiting the community carving workshop may have the privilege of hearing these stories as they marvel at the skilled workmanship. Soft sunlight streams through windows to highlight the creations carved by hand out of the B.C. yellow cedar that is most prevalent in this part of the world.
Inside the carving room, wood shavings litter the floor, and art at various stages of completion draws the eye. Here, Calvin McNeil Senior, a respected carver and community member, uses traditional handmade Northwest carving tools (including a long handled carving knife and adze) to help preserve his people’s stories, says Yüyan. “He's bringing them back to life by carving them into these pieces.”
For esteemed Indigenous artist Roy Henry Vickers, Ksan Historical Village in Hazelton, B.C. holds a special place. It’s where he learned his craft. The totem poles outside –some of them centuries old–include the work of his mentors, and inside his mentees continue the storyline. Today, most travelers will visit in the summertime to watch the artists at work, but Yüyan says they may be missing out as winter twilight offers a different perspective. Birds alight on the snow dusted carvings, and the light showcases how even the poles that look smooth, are simply carvings worn by time. “I think it's a lot more beautiful in the winter,” says Yüyan.
The totem poles hold the stories, explains Yüyan, but while they sit in the open and are available to admire, their stories aren’t available to everyone. “Sometimes these are important mythological or origin stories. Different clans have different totems put up to remember and retell those stories. The totem poles are a record of history, but you have to know how to read them and how to interpret them to understand.”
In these spaces where people seem stretched thinly across the land, birds are the opposite. Owls and gray jays abound, but it’s the raven that Yüyan found most interesting. “Ravens here have a special relationship with wolves,” he says, explaining how the birds will often spot potential prey for the hunters and then benefit from this symbiotic relationship by being rewarded with leftovers. At times, Yüyan says, he had the distinct feeling this bird was trying to communicate. “It was trying to tell me something, but I didn't exactly know what,” he says. “I've heard plenty of raven stories. I just don't know what the specific story of this raven is.”
The sound of draft horse hooves and sleigh bells moving across the frozen terrain is part of the meditative spirit of sleigh rides hosted by B & T Adventures in Smithers. Run by couple Breeann and Trevor Doerksen, the rides take you across the couple’s woodland property in a hand-crafted horse-drawn wagon. At times you’ll have a clear view of the sleepy town of Smithers, B.C. below, as well as the cascading sunlight coming across the mountain range.
Lanterns overhead help guests navigate the shifting darkness after sleigh rides across the hills of this northern B.C. woodland. The sky, once bright, slowly shifts to a shade of indigo reminiscent of tie-dyed cotton. Under the lanterns, guests share stories and relax in the comfort of a campfire.
Light and shadow dance around the campfires under a canopy of blue in northern British Columbia. And for Yüyan, these photos convey the gentle nature that emerges as people relax into the evening. From the light nuzzle of Daisy the dog to the interplay of a dark pot simmering water for tea over an open fire, Yüyan says he hoped to capture what it feels like to be completely at ease in twilight. “Photographs that don't deliver any emotion are useless,” he says. “The real power that photography holds is its ability to move people.”
Kym Gouchie is an Elder-in- training of the Lheidli T’enneh Nation, who uses music and storytelling to connect people both to the land and each other. Her presence is felt as much as her wisdom is appreciated, says Yüyan. Everything about her is intentional and on this visit her woodland caribou bone earrings and hand-beaded mukluks (reindeer-skin boots) were parts of her message about her commitment to culture and community.
Every part of the earth is celebrated in Indigenous culture. The land, the sky, and the trees. And in this sacred place known as Chun T'oh Whudujut Park (the only inland temperate rainforest in the world) an Elder-in-training made time to sing to the trees, as twilight descended. Yüyan described the moment as a spiritual experience. “You can’t help but walk among those 1,000- or 1,500-year-old trees without feeling this real sense of walking into nature’s cathedral.”
When work is done for the day, members of the community in Prince George head for the fields outside the Nordic ski club. Cross-country skiers of all ages take to the space and spend the evening whizzing across the open terrain. Yüyan says the mood–light and supportive –is infectious. “It was really fun to be a part of that. It’s healthy and fun and they’re having a grand old time.”
