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It is a damp July morning, and inside a light-dappled gallery in the newly opened Haida Heritage Centre, a sturdy little fellow from a nearby daycare is putting his back - or more precisely, his beak - into an eagle dance.

While his teacher chants a traditional Haida song to the beat of her hand-held drum, the flush-cheeked boy swoops in tight circles, flapping his tiny button-blanket cape like wings and shoving his cardboard eagle mask back on his forehead whenever it slips over his eyes. He is clearly the leader of his motley group of dancers; the other youngsters watch him closely to remember when to fly, when to hop. He is oblivious to the small crowd that has gathered to watch him; he is dancing only for himself. When the music stops, he throws his head back and joyfully shouts, "Again!"

It is a scene far removed from a quite recent past when, as late as the 1960s, British Columbia's Haida children were systematically stripped of their language and culture in government-sanctioned residential schools. And it is exactly the sort of scene that Jason Alsop, the museum's articulate young operations manager, wants to encourage in the $26-million cedar-and-glass facility on the shores of Second Beach, near the ferry terminal.

"We don't want to take a 'dying culture' perspective here," says Alsop, who grew up next door in Skidegate. "Everything about this project reaffirms we are still a living people."

To a visitor approaching Haida Gwaii ("islands of the people") from the mainland on BC Ferries' Queen of Prince Rupert, the centre looks like it might have come straight out of an Emily Carr painting: five longhouses line up just beyond the high-tide line on a white-sand beach; in front, six totem poles depicting 14 Haida clans stand sentinel.

But, unlike the abandoned villages rendered by Carr (and protected now within the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site), this modern seaside settlement bustles with life - even today, months before its "official" opening in the spring of 2008. "We're about 85 per cent finished," Alsop says. "But we're open and there is lots to see."

On this Monday morning, while children dance in the shadow of potlatch poles at one end of the museum, local artisans are hard at work in the carving shed located at the other end. It has been more than 20 years since a canoe was carved here. In 1986, the late Haida artist Bill Reid carved the magnificent Loo Taas for the world's fair in Vancouver. (That canoe and its fibreglass twin live in the centre's Canoe House longhouse.) Now, three teams composed of one master carver and two apprentices are creating three new cedar canoes.

One of the carvers, Robert Vogstad, is a local aboriginal artist who usually makes "trinkets for the tourists." He is pleased with the opportunity to stretch his talents with an artistic project that is more "monumental" in scale.

As Alsop notes, many of the Haida nation's most famous artists gained international recognition only after they graduated from small works to monumental art pieces: "Here, we are preserving and conserving our heritage while helping to support the next generation of artists."

The centre houses artisan workshops where visitors can watch craftspeople work in traditional and contemporary art forms, using materials such as wood, silver and textiles. In the Bill Reid Teaching Centre, students will soon be able to participate in a training program offered in conjunction with Northwest Community College, and receive accreditation for the technical skills they learn on site. "We can fulfill the educational needs of the community and inspire visitors at the same time," Alsop says.

Indeed, the need to protect a rich Haida past while advancing a promising Haida future informs every aspect of the centre's design and purpose. The large, airy Eating House will serve as a restaurant highlighting customary Haida foods. The Performing House, which resembles the inside of a traditional two-beam longhouse with its sunken, tiered seating arrangement, is a magnet for the performers who help keep traditional stories and songs alive. And in the Savings Things house - the museum proper - venerable Haida relics are displayed side by side with contemporary creations.

The centre is a mandatory stop for visiting the old villages - or any of the approximately 500 archeological and historic sites - within the protected area at the south end of Moresby Island. The spectral villages of Skedans, SGang Gwaay and Tanu are without question a highlight of any Haida Gwaii itinerary.

But these ancient settlements, decimated by smallpox and abandoned in the late 1800s, are not the end of the Haida nation's epic story. For a glimpse of the next forward-looking chapters, be sure to visit the Haida Heritage Centre as well.

Pack your bags

GETTING THERE

BC Ferries (http://www.bcferries.com ) connects Qay'Ilnagaay on Graham Island with Prince Rupert on the mainland.

HAIDA HERITAGE

The Haida Heritage Centre at Qay'Ilnagaay 250-559-7885; http://www.haidaheritagecentre.com. A five-minute drive from the BC Ferries terminal. Open Monday to Friday, 10 to 6; weekends and holidays, 10 to 5. Check the website for a list of accommodations.

Gwaii Haanas National Park http://www.parkscanada.gc.ca/gwaiihaanas.

MORE INFORMATION

For general tourism information about Northern B.C., visit http://www.nbctourism.com.

The author visited the heritage centre as a guest and her travels in the region were sponsored by Tourism Northern BC.