Kiidk'yaas or Kiid K'iyaas ("ancient tree") was a Sitka Spruce tree, Picea sitchensis 'Aurea', that grew on the banks of the Yakoun River in Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), British Columbia. It had a rare genetic mutation causing its needles to be golden in colour. Binomial name Picea sitchensis (Bong. ... The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth A tree can be defined as a large, perennial, woody plant. ... (Public domain map) The Queen Charlotte Islands or Haida Gwaii are an archipelago off the north-west coast of British Columbia, Canada, consisting of two main islands: Graham Island in the North, and Moresby Island in the south. ... Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Splendour without diminishment) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Area 944,735 km² (5th)  - Land 925,186 km²  - Water 19,549 km² (2. ...

It was revered by the Haida First Nation living on the island. In their lore, when their ancestors had mistreated each other, the Creator had buried their village under snow. An old man and a boy hid under a redcedar plank, and then fled up the Yakoun River. The old man warned the boy not to look back, but he disobeyed and was turned into the golden spruce. It was said that the tree would be admired until the last generation. Haida Copper Shield The Haida are the Indigenous Peoples of the west coast of North America. ... First Nations is the current title used by Canada to describe the various societies of the indigenous peoples, called Native Americans in the U.S. They have also been known as Indians, Native Canadians, Aboriginal Americans, Amer-Indians, or Aboriginals, and are officially called Indians in the Indian Act, which... Species Thuja plicata Western Redcedar, Thuja plicata, a species of thuja, is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to the northwestern US and southwestern Canada, from southern Alaska and British Columbia south to northwest California and inland to western Montana. ...

On January 22, 1997, a 48-year-old unemployed logger named Grant Hadwin surreptitiously felled Kiidk'yaas as a political statement against logging companies. He was later arrested, but mysteriously disappeared before he could be brought to trial. January 22 is the 22nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Reef. ...

The act shocked the Haida community; the elders felt they had failed to protect the tree adequately, and some were concerned that the prophecy that the tree would be admired to the last generation meant that the present generation of Haida would be the last.

However, in 1977, a group of botanists from the University of British Columbia had visited Haida Gwaii in order to take cuttings from Kiidk'yaas. They had been grafted onto an ordinary sitka spruce, and then grown separately, resulting in golden saplings. The trees were growing in the UBC arboretum. For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... The University of British Columbia (UBC) is located on Point Grey near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. ... In horticulture, a graft is where the tissues of one plant are affixed to the tissues of another; the process is called grafting. ...

Upon hearing of the tree's destruction, the arboretum offered one of the young trees to the Haida to replace Kiidk'yaas. The Haida accepted, planting it near where Kiidk'yaas had stood, and attempted to propagate approximately 80 parts of the felled tree as well.

See also: List of famous trees. The following is a partial list of famous trees. ...

External links

• External link (http://geog.tamu.edu/sarah/humangeog/tree.html)
• The Spirit of Kiid K'iyaas (http://www.fsccanada.org/pdf_document/FSC_mailer.pdf) (.pdf)
• New Yorker - The Golden Bough (http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?021104fa_fact)