On the southern tip of a windswept archipelago sixty miles off the coast of mainland British Columbia, lie the remains of a great civilization.
Tucked into a sheltered cove on the East Side of Anthony Island, the once thriving village of Ninstints (or Skuun Gwaii, or Sung Gwaii; there are many local spellings) is guarded by the last standing giants of the Haida Nation. Twenty-six totem poles carved by Haida masters stand in silent watch over the land.
Lake Lugu, in China’s Northern Yunan Province; home of the aboriginal Mosuo tribe, the last purely matriarchal people left in China. The Mosuo are best known for their practice of walking marriage, a form of poly-amoury in which the women – masters of the household – chose their lovers for the evening from among the men of the tribe. Children are raised semi-communally, taking the mother’s name and living in the mother’s home.