Haida Heritage Centre

Haida Heritage Centre
Haida Heritage Centre at Kay Llnagaay
General information
Location	Second Beach Road, Skidegate, British Columbia
Completed	2007/8
Cost	$19.2 million (total projected cost)
Technical details
Floor area	4,800 m2 (52,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect	David Nairne & Associates Ltd.
Website
www.haidaheritagecentre.com

The Haida Heritage Centre is the premier cultural centre and museum of the Haida people. It is located in Skidegate, a community on Graham Island in Haida Gwaii off the Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada. The centre is situated just south of the site of a historical village in Kay Llnagaay (pronounced kie-il-na-guy, which means "Town of Sea Lions"). The Centre was built and is managed by Gwaalagaa Naay, an economic development branch of the Skidegate Band Council, the owners of the site. It is one of the major aboriginal cultural tourism attractions in Haida Gwaii and has been described as "a place for the Haida voice to be heard." Educational programs are offered in partnership with School District 50 Haida Gwaii, the University of Northern British Columbia, and with the Haida Gwaii Higher Education Society.

The Centre includes an interpretive centre, temporary exhibit space, Performing House, Canoe house, Carving Shed, the Bill Reid Teaching Centre, Program Management Centre, an expanded Haida Gwaii Museum, a gift shop and a small restaurant and cafe.

Planning for the Heritage Centre began in the early-mid 1990's and in 1995, the Qay’llnagaay Heritage Centre Society was formed.

The facility was planned in partnership various entities, including the Heritage Centre Society, the Skidegate Band Council, and Parks Canada. Funding was provided by various sources: Parks Canada (in return for long-term office, classroom, lab, exhibit and interpretive space and a sharing of exhibits), Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Department of Canadian Heritage, Gwaii Trust Fund, Haida Gwaii Museum Society, the Skidegate Band Council, and fundraising efforts (continuing as of 2013

The project was targeted to be completed in mid-2005; actual completion and a "soft opening" to the public on July 1, 2007. The Grand Opening Ceremonies were held in August, 2008 and included the launching, naming, and traditional presenting of three canoes, the first canoes made in Skidegate since Bill Reid's Loo Taas in 1985. Both Loo Tas and Loo-plex joined the canoes coming in to land on the beach.