The coastline on Haida Gwaii in British Columbia, Canada. Amber Bracken for The New York Times

Off Canada’s coast, a big shift in power

The Haida people have lived for thousands of years on Haida Gwaii, a remote archipelago off Canada’s western coast. Known as the country’s Galápagos for its rich wildlife, it has also been coveted by loggers for its forests.

In May — after a decades-long legal battle that raised questions about Canada’s brutal colonial history — British Columbia’s government passed a law recognizing the Haida’s title to the land. It was the first time a provincial or federal government in Canada had ever willingly recognized an Indigenous people’s land claim.