Haida people
The Haida are an Indigenous people primarily residing on Haida Gwaii, an archipelago in British Columbia, Canada, and the southern region of Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. Their rich history dates back at least 12,000 years, with a sophisticated society organized into clans divided into two main social units: Raven and Eagle. The Haida are renowned for their exceptional woodcarving skills, particularly in creating towering totem poles that serve as visual narratives of family lineage and cultural heritage. Although their population once dwindled to just a few hundred due to introduced diseases from European contact, the Haida have rebounded significantly in the twenty-first century, with over 4,600 individuals identified as Haida.
The Haida language, Xaat Kíl, faces endangerment, with only a few fluent speakers remaining, prompting initiatives to revitalize it. Traditional customs, including potlatch ceremonies that emphasize community and social status, continue to play a significant role in Haida life. Economically, many Haida engage in fishing and forestry, and they have made strides in governance with the recent recognition of their rights under Canadian law. The Haida's cultural legacy remains vibrant as they continue to create art and advocate for their rights and self-determination.
Haida people
The Haida are an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest who live primarily on the Haida Gwaii archipelago in British Columbia and the southern section of Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. The ancestors of the Haida settled in the region thousands of years ago. Their society is clan-based and divided into two social units. The Haida are accomplished woodcarvers who express their family lineages through traditional wooden totem poles that can reach more than one hundred feet tall.
At one time, the Haida numbered more than ten thousand, but their numbers fell to just a few hundred in the early 20th century. They rebounded to become a thriving society in the twenty-first century, although the traditional Haida language is in danger of becoming extinct.
Brief History
The first humans are believed to have crossed into North America from Asia more between 13,000 and 15,500 years ago. Archaeological evidence suggests humans lived on the Haida Gwaii archipelago for at least 12,000 years. Haida Gwaii is a 155-mile-long group of 150 islands located about 90 miles off the coast of British Columbia. The Haida called them Xhaaidlagha Gwaayaai, or "Islands at the Boundary of the World," a name eventually shortened to Haida Gwaii, or "Islands of the People."
The Haida developed a seafaring culture that fished the waters around the islands and traded with the neighboring peoples of the mainland. By the time Spanish explorer Juan Perez sighted Haida Gwaii in 1774, the Haida numbered more than fourteen thousand and lived in about 126 villages. Perez initiated contact with the Haida and traded with them, but he did not land on the islands. The first Europeans to set foot on Haida Gwaii were the British, who established a trading relationship with the Haida in 1787. They also renamed the archipelago the Queen Charlotte Islands in honor of the wife of England's King George III. The islands retained that name until 2010, when the Canadian government agreed to rename them according to their traditional Haida title.
For more than a century after contact, the Haida engaged in a lucrative trade in sea otter pelts with the Europeans. The increased trade did not bring a significant number of settlers to the islands until the end of the nineteenth century. When foreigners began arriving in greater numbers, they also unwittingly brought diseases such as smallpox with them. As a result, the Haida population was decimated, falling to an estimated low of about 588 by 1915.
Overview
The modern Haida rebounded to an estimated population of more than 4,600 by the early 21st century. They primarily reside in two coastal communities on Haida Gwaii. According to the 2021 Canadian census, 4,260 people claimed Haida ancestory. In the 2011 census, 3,045 Haida from the northern village of Old Masset registered status as First Nations peoples; in the southern village of Skidegate, 1,652 Haida registered. A smaller Haida population lives on the southern section of Alaska's Prince of Wales Island. The Haida in the United States have joined with the much larger Tlingit population to form the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. For U.S. census purposes, the Haida and Tlingit are counted as one group.
The Haida language, or Xaat Kíl, is similar to Tlingit and is considered distinct from the other native tongues of the region. Dialects of the language exist in Old Masset and Skidegate, but the number of native speakers has been dwindling. The Haida language is highly endangered, with only about nine fluent speakers remaining as of 2014; about a dozen more people had some knowledge of the language. The Haida Language Office in Old Massett was found in 2018 to promote and accelerate the learning, teaching, and speaking of the dialect.
Traditional Haida society was based on a clan system and divided into two units—Raven and Eagle. Clan membership was passed down through the mother's side of the family and marriages were forbidden within social units. Members of the Raven, for example, were only allowed to marry members of the Eagle. Clan and social hierarchy were important aspects of Haida life. Like many peoples of the Northwest, the Haida took part in a traditional potlach ceremony, a community feast marked by the giving of gifts and redistribution of goods. A potlach could be held to mark births, marriages, funerals, or simply to demonstrate the social status of an individual.
The Haida culture has been shaped for centuries by the ocean and forests of their native lands. The Haida developed a reputation for their skill in woodworking, particularly creating great canoes and ceremonial pillars known as totem poles. As fishermen and traders, the Haida relied on canoes to navigate the waterways of their islands and travel to and from the mainland. The canoes were built from single tree trunks, hollowed out and painted with elaborate designs. Some canoes were large enough to hold up to sixty people.
Perhaps the most distinctive use for the tall cedar trees of the region was in creating the iconic totem pole. These works of art are storytelling devices unique to the peoples of the Northwest. The images of animals, humans, and supernatural figures on a totem pole are meant to be visual representations of family lineage, recounting a story of ancestry, social privilege, and clan history. In the Haida language, these poles were called gyáa'aang, or "man stands up straight." The Haida developed a style of totem pole that was larger than those of other cultures, sometimes reaching heights of more than one hundred feet. Totem poles are still crafted by Haida artists in a process that can sometimes take years to complete.
The fishing and forestry industries remain important to the economy of the Haida in the twenty-first century. Many Haida work at local commercial fisheries or help manage the islands' national parks. Despite years of negotiations, the Haida struggled to reach a self-governing treaty with the province of British Columbia. As of early 2017, the two sides agreed on several issues concerning logging rights and conservation of natural resources, but continued to operate on a system of "shared governance." Bill S-16, passed in 2024, recognized the Haida Nation's inherent rights of governance and self-determination. The passing of the bill recognized the government of the Haida National under federal law. The bill finally brought to a close the long ongoing self-governing treaty negotiations.
Bibliography
Bringhurst, Robert. A Story as Sharp as a Knife: The Classical Haida Mythtellers and Their World, Second Edition. Douglas & McIntyre, 2011.
“Canada and Haida Nation Mark Royal Assent of Legislation Recognizing the Haida Nation’s Inherent Rights of Governance and Self-Determination.” Government of Canada, 7 Nov. 2024, www.canada.ca/en/crown-indigenous-relations-northern-affairs/news/2024/11/canada-and-haida-nation-mark-royal-assent-of-legislation-recognizing-the-haida-nations-inherent-rights-of-governance-and-self-determination.html. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
Fedje, Daryl W., and Rolf Mathewes. Haida Gwaii: Human History and Environment from the Time of Loon to the Time of the Iron People. UBC Press, 2005.
Gessler, Trisha, Dorothy Kennedy, and Randy Bouchard. "Haida." Canadian Encyclopedia, 4 Mar. 2015, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/haida-native-group/. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
"History and Projects." Wisdom of the Elders, wisdomoftheelders.org/history-and-projects/. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.
Wright, Robin K. "Totem Poles: Heraldic Columns of the Northwest Coast." University of Washington Libraries, content.lib.washington.edu/aipnw/wright.html. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.