About Haida Style

In welcoming you to our backyard, we want to introduce you to our home. Haida Style Expeditions is a Haida Owned and Operated cultural adventure & fishing expeditions company on Haida Gwaii that shares our culture, stories, and history with you. In doing this, we seek to provide an authentic aboriginal experience.

We are Sk’aal Ts’iid (Flicker Bird - James Douglas Cowpar) and Kung X angajii (Moonshadow - William Shawn Cowpar), identical twin brothers and the owners of Haida Style Expeditions. Born into the Tsaahl Eagle Clan, we offer a combined 35 years in the tourism industry. Our backgrounds in commercial & recreational fishing, forestry, and community governance have shaped our belief in building a sustainable future on Haida Gwaii.

Living on Haida Gwaii requires a balance, a symbiotic relationship between human beings and the natural environment. In sharing our history and way of life, it is our hope that we continue to build on conversation and protect the natural world in trust for future generations.

Offering day tours through Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site has been a long-standing dream of ours, formed during years spent working in the region.

In 2000, after completing a diploma in Adventure Eco-Tourism/Small Business, we started off with a small fleet of kayaks. Over the course of the next 10 years we moved into the sport fishing industry. After years of educating the masses on Haida protocols on fishing, with scales growing behind the ears, we then made the jump into cultural eco-tourism and met the requirements as a registered guide operator with Gwaii Haanas.

Ten years later, we use a 30'x11' aluminum Catamaran landing craft / passenger vessel, built in 2008 by Armstrong which has never been in salt water. Some of the main features of this craft are: Twin 250 hp Yamaha outboards w/ appr. 1,300 hrs. Electronics include Furuno chartplotter, radar, and sounder, Raymarine autopilot, and Icom VHF. 25 kt cruise, 38 kt top speed. Hydraulic ramp. 12 passenger seating, currently configured for 10 tour passengers. Diesel heat. 410 gallons gas in (4) isolated tanks. Kayak racks and lifting davit. Built to Transport Canada specifications. As an added bonus, it also has a washroom, with front and back seating outside of the cabin.

“People are like trees, and groups of people are like the forests. While the forests are composed of many different kinds of trees, these trees intertwine their roots so strongly that it is impossible for the strongest winds which blow on out island to uproot the forest, for each tree strengthens its neighbour, and their roots are inextricably intertwined.

In the same way the people of our Islands, composed of members of nations and races from all over the world, are beginning to intertwine their roots so strongly that no troubles will affect them.

Just as one tree standing alone would soon be destroyed by the first strong wind which came along, so it is impossible for any person, any family, or any community to stand alone against the troubles of this world.”

— Chief Skidegate - Lewis Collinson. March 1966.

Our Values

In giving back, we are helping to improve tourism on Haida Gwaii. We work with a local network of operators, and we will happily provide solid recommendations on where to stay, dine, and which sites to visit while on island.

We have built Haida Style Expeditions on a system of values, with the art of exchange at its core. This value is central to our culture, and we believe it runs from the traditional potlatch system through to how we conduct our business.

We work hard to make your trip a memorable one, helping you to enjoy as many opportunities as possible while on island. Our goal is to have you walk away having learned a story about our people and these lands we have called home for thousands of years.