Dear Editor.
Your editorial in the December 4th edition nudged me to add another letter to your incoming folder.
Last summer, we got to meet friends I made on Zoom during the pandemic. They live on Lasqueti, an island that is approximately 8 km wide and 22 km long with an area of 73.56 km2. The 2021 Census listed its population as 498, and there is a local estimate of some 400 feral sheep. A walk-on ferry connects the island to Vancouver Island.
After they regaled us with stories about garden tractors and four-wheel options, a must to move some of the materials needed for building and fixing up cabins, the joys of solar and hydro powered living, as well as community services, such as burials of long-time residents, we got around to talking about the news.
There are three monthly newspapers, available in paper copy, and recently, I received a care package of garlic and editions of newsletters. There is Our Isle and Times that might have delighted Genghis Khan with his imperial communication system called Yam, and it gave my jaw a bit of a workout, open and close at some of the statements made. Another one, claiming to be incendiary, The Lasqueti Fire Starter News favours an absurdist view of goings-on. Xwe’etay, a Northern Coast Salish term for the yew tree, appears in the Xwe’etay News. Full disclosure: my friend is a contributor and co-founder of the latter. I am sending you a sample copy of each for your use, to keep informed or entertained while keeping warm.
If a small island can support three newspapers available in paper and online copy, then hopefully Haida Gwaii will get to enjoy and support the variety of newsletters and papers we have here. Yes, I am going to mention local media ecology that includes The Haida Laas, the Haida Gwaii Trader, village newsletters, organization newsletters, I would miss one or two if I tried to list them all. And finally, I want to recognize your fine endeavour. Wishing you the best, and for all of us to keep going in 2026.
Astrid Egger
Daajing Giids
