British Columbia recognized the Haida’s aboriginal title to their islands decades after the Indigenous group launched a battle on the ground and in the courts. …The Haida people have lived for thousands of years on Haida Gwaii, a remote archipelago in the Pacific Ocean off Canada’s western coast, just south of Alaska. Nearly wiped out by smallpox after the arrival of Europeans, the Haida clung to their land — so rich in wildlife it is sometimes called Canada’s Galápagos, coveted by loggers for its old-growth forests of giant cedars and spruce. For decades, despite their geographic isolation, the Haida’s unwavering fight to regain control over their land drew outsize attention in Canada. …The Haida opposed clear-cut logging, building ties with environmentalists. They forged alliances with non-Haida communities at home and found common cause with other Indigenous groups across the world. [to access the full story, a NY Times subscription is required]