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Haida Gwaii’s wilderness taught Ruth Wheadon the value of living off the land. Then a group of aspiring huntresses taught her about the value of mentorship. Photographer Jackie Dives tells their story

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Nathalie Thiffault aims her bow at a deer on the road in Haida Gwaii, B.C. She is one of several women who joined experienced hunter Ruth Wheadon, who has spent years hunting deer on the islands, where they are an invasive species.Photography and text by Jackie Dives/The Globe and Mail

Jackie Dives is a photographer who explores themes of identity and womanhood. Her work has been published in Canadian Geographic, The Tyee, VICE and Maclean’s.

The first time Ruth Wheadon shot a rifle was in an Alberta outdoor education class when she was 12 years old. As part of the curriculum, she completed the Conservation Outdoor Recreation Education program, which is required to obtain a hunting licence in Canada. This came in handy when she later found herself with a partner who eats a lot of meat but doesn’t like to hunt, and an ecosystem overrun by invasive deer.

In 2000, after finishing university, Ms. Wheadon travelled with a group of girlfriends and her bicycle to Haida Gwaii, an archipelago off the west coast of B.C. “My plan was to find work and visit friends. If I didn’t find work I would ride my bike back to Prince George and look for work along the way. I ended up staying. I just fell in love with the place.”

While working for the Haida Nation’s forest guardian program, Ms. Wheadon began to learn about the intimate relationship the Haida people have with their land, and the threat that the invasive Sitka black-tailed deer pose to plants such as t’suu (cedar), hldaan (blueberry), ts’iihlinjaaw (Devil’s Club) and kayd (sitka spruce) — culturally significant plants that are used as medicine, food, and building materials by the Haida people. Originally introduced to Haida Gwaii in the 1800s, the deer are now decimating island ecosystems by overgrazing. “Medicinal plants that have been used for thousands of years are getting wiped out and are way harder to access because of the deer.”

The first deer she killed was supported by the mentorship of a friend. “It was a doe that I got. It wasn’t a huge shot, maybe 40 yards, and it was in a cut block. He showed me how to gut it on the ground and we took it to the truck and it was amazing. It felt so good to be able to bring home meat to my guy. And I’ve just been doing that since then.” That was 14 years ago.

In 2017, Ms. Wheadon was approached by a group of women who, like her, are interested in environmentally sustainable and ethically procured meat, and was asked to be their mentor in gutting and skinning processes during a hunting trip.

“Women don’t hold each other up enough. I think mentorship is really important,” she says. “It’s really neat to see someone you teach, teach someone else the next day. Hunting is so much more than just being able to get meat, it really builds you up. And we need to spend more time building each other up instead of tearing each other down.”

Over the course of four days, the women in the group would hunt deer by bow or rifle, emotionally and physically supporting each other through the stalking and killing portions of the hunt. Ms. Wheadon provided technical instruction during gutting and skinning.

“It’s a very western approach that women shouldn’t do what we are doing. I think we do it in a really respectful way, and we have a better understanding, almost, of the importance of it,” she explains. “We give life, so we know the value of it. And if we’re making a conscious choice to take a life, to provide sustenance to the life we’ve given, we really have to be considerate of how we do it. Hunting can give us some power that has been taken away from us, whether it’s your glass ceiling, being that girl who couldn’t play on that team, etc.”

Living in Haida Gwaii, where there is an extensive hunting culture, for the past 18 years has provided Ms. Wheadon with opportunities to both mentor and be mentored. But she says for the most part, those experiences have been with men. Hunting with women, she observes a novel tenderness and curiosity.

For example, Ms. Wheadon says she encounters more questions from women than men. “There is openness to learning... One huntress yesterday wanted a minute (alone) with the deer she had been gifted with. I’ve never had a man ask me for a minute with a deer. And I think that’s the appreciation and value of life.

She says the connection to the land and the animals is maternal: “Women are more connected to mother earth than men. It’s no one’s fault; that’s just the way it is.”

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I got really excited about it being all women. I have had negative experiences with men, either fishing or camping. ... I think women need to know and experience for themselves how powerful and capable they are.

Nathalie Thiffault, architectural technologist and bow huntress, pictured above at right
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It’s a very western approach that women shouldn’t do what we are doing. I think we do it in a really respectful way, and we have a better understanding, almost, of the importance of it. We give life, so we know the value of it.

Ruth Wheadon, huntress, shown above holding the clip of her gun in the car
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I think it’s super cool to be able to provide for my family. I want my kids to know that hunting isn’t only for men, and it’s for women too. I want my daughter to know that she can do anything she wants.

Heather Gray, bow huntress, pictured above after killing a deer for the first time
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Pulling the trigger is the easiest thing. Afterwards there’s moving the deer, gutting, skinning, butchering.

Susan Park, nurse, pictured above at right hanging her deer with Ruth Wheadon
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