The Haida (, , , , ) are an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. They constitute one of 203 First Nations in British Columbia and 231 federally recognized tribes in Alaska.
Their traditional territory include Haida Gwaii, an archipelago off the coast of British Columbia, and the southern half of Prince of Wales Island, in Southeast Alaska. Their language is Haida, a linguistic isolate. The Haida are known for their craftsmanship, trading skills, and seamanship. They are known to have frequently carried out raids and to have practiced slavery.
In Canada, the Haida are represented by Council of the Haida Nation (CHN), in addition to the two village band governments, Old Massett Village Council and Skidegate Band Council. Federally recognized Haida tribes in the United States include the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and the Hydaburg Cooperative Association.
Haida governments The Council of the Haida Nation is the main governing body of the Haida First Nations in Canada, who are: Old Massett Village Council, British Columbia Skidegate Band Council, British Columbia
Federally recognized tribes of Haida people in the United States are: Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes, Alaska Hydaburg Cooperative Association, Alaska Organized Village of Kasaan, Alaska
History
Precontact Haida history begins with the arrival of the primordial ancestresses of the Haida matrilineages in Haida Gwaii. These include SGuuluu Jaad (Foam Woman), Jiila Kuns (Creek Woman), and KalGa Jaad (Ice woman). The Haida canon of oral histories and archaeological findings agree that Haida ancestors lived alongside glaciers and were present at the time of the arrival of the first tree, a lodgepole pine, on Haida Gwaii. Recent archaeological evidence suggests habitation as early as 13,100 BP.
For thousands of years since Haida have participated in a rigorous coast-wide legal system called Potlatch. After the Island's wide arrival of red cedar some 7,500 years ago Haida society transformed to centre around the coastal "tree of life". Massive carved cedar monuments and cedar big houses became widespread throughout Haida Gwaii.
In the early 18th century, Haida from K'iis Gwaii in the Duu Guusd region of Haida Gwaii migrated north, settling at the southern half of Prince of Wales Island in Alaska, next to Tlingit territory. This group would become known as the Kaigani Haida.
18th century
The first recorded contact between the Haida and Europeans was in July 1774 with Spanish explorer Juan Pérez, who was sailing north on an expedition to find and claim new territory for Spain. For two days in a row, the Santiago sat off the shore of Haida Gwaii waiting for the currents to settle down enough to allow them to dock and set foot on land. While they waited, several canoes of Haida sailed out to greet them, and ultimately to trade with Pérez and his men. After two days of poor conditions, however, the Santiago was ultimately unable to dock and they were forced to depart without having set foot on Haida Gwaii.
The Haida conducted regular trade with Russian, Spanish, British, and American maritime fur traders and whalers. According to sailing records, they diligently maintained strong trade relationships with Westerners, coastal people, and among themselves. Trade for sea-otter pelts was initiated by British Captain George Dixon with the Haida in 1787. The Haida did well for themselves in this industry and until the mid-1800s they were at the centre of the profitable China sea-otter trade.
Although they had gone on expeditions as far as Washington State, at first they had minimal confrontations with Europeans. Between 1780 and 1830, the Haida came into conflict with European and American traders. Among the dozens of ships the tribe captured were the Eleanor and the Susan Sturgis. The tribe made use of European weapons they acquired, using cannons and canoe-mounted swivel guns.
19th century In 1850, gold was discovered on southern Haida Gwaii. The Haida had been instructed to look for the mineral by the Hudson's Bay Company. A Haida man, possibly Albert Edenshaw, was shown where to find gold by an elderly woman in Skidegate, which he subsequently brought to officers at Fort Simpson. This discovery instigated a brief gold rush in 1851, drawing American prospectors to the area. The Haida themselves took an active role in the mining of gold, seeing it as a new material for trade. In response to the gold rush, British colonial authorities formally annexed Haida Gwaii in 1853, establishing the Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands. It was later integrated into the Colony of British Columbia in 1858. Colonial authorities backed their claims using gunboat diplomacy, both in Haida Gwaii and more broadly throughout northeastern Pacific coastal Indigenous title territories.
Also in 1857, the was sent from Seattle to nearby Port Gamble, where indigenous raiding parties made up of Haida (from territory claimed by the British) and Tongass (from territory claimed by the Russians) had been attacking and enslaving the Coast Salish people there. When the Haida and Tongass (sea lion tribe Tlingit) warriors refused to acknowledge American jurisdiction and to hand over those among them who had attacked the Puget Sound communities, a battle ensued in which 26 natives and one government soldier were killed. In the aftermath of this, Colonel Isaac Ebey, a U.S. military officer and the first settler on Whidbey Island, was shot and beheaded on August 11, 1857, by a small Tlingit group from Kake, Alaska, in retaliation for the killing of a respected Kake chief in the raid the year before. Ebey's scalp was purchased from the Kake by an American trader in 1860.Puget Sound Herald Nov 19, 1858Beth Gibson, Beheaded Pioneer, Laura Arksey, Columbia, Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma, Spring, 1988.Bancroft says they were Stikines and makes no mention of the Haida. History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana: 1845–1889, p.137 Hubert Howe Bancroft (1890) This enormous source, photocopied, including p. 137, is more easily accessible online at , if desired. Retrieved February 21, 2012.
Smallpox epidemic of 1862
The 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic began on March 26 when a steamship called Brother Jonathan arrived in Fort Victoria from San Francisco containing a passenger infected with smallpox. At the time, thousands of Indigenous people lived in villages outside the walls of Fort Victoria. The disease broke out amongst Tsimshian people in their community near Fort Victoria. This quickly spread into a pandemic. European public health standards at the time were well practiced and adhered-to official health standards, including vaccinations and victims isolation. Instead, as the disease spread, Victoria Police burned some one dozen homes, deliberately displacing 200 Haida on May 13. They went on to burn some 40–50 more indigenous villages the following day.
First Nations from further north had been camping periodically outside the city limits of Victoria to take advantage of trade, and at the time of the epidemic numbered almost 2000, many of whom were Haida. The colonial government made no effort to vaccinate the First Nations in the region nor to quarantine anyone infected. In June, the encampments were forcibly cleared by police, and 20 canoes of Haidas, many of whom were likely already infected with smallpox, were forced back to Haida Gwaii, escorted by gunboats HMS Grappler and Forward. Those infected did not make it home, according to the plans of the colonial governments, and passed on at Bones Bay near Alert Bay.
Later on a group of copper miners travelled from Bella Coola aboard the Leonede under command of Captain McAlmond. The boat took 12 passengers in December. One of these passengers carried smallpox to Haida Gwaii. This might not have been a disaster should the infected miner have stayed in isolation at the mining site on , or Skincuttle Island. Instead the disease was spread throughout Haida Gwaii.
The disease quickly spread throughout Haida Gwaii, devastating entire villages and families, and creating an influx of refugees. The pre-epidemic population of Haida Gwaii was estimated to be 6,607, but was reduced to 829 in 1881. The only two remaining villages were Massett and Skidegate. The population collapse caused by the epidemic weakened Haida sovereignty and power, ultimately paving the way for colonization.
Arrival of missionaries From the mid-19th century onwards, both Anglican and Methodist missions were established on Haida Gwaii, endeavouring to convert the Haida people. The first known missionary to spend time with the Haida was Jonathan Green, a missionary for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Green spent a few weeks on Haida Gwaii in the summer of 1829, though his later suggestions for the establishment of a mission on the coast were ignored.
In 1854 and 1868, two different Anglican missionaries tried to garner support for the establishment of a mission on Haida Gwaii, to no avail. In the 1860s, several Northern Haida visited the newly founded Tsimshian community of Metlakatla, by Anglican missionary William Duncan, prompting them to request a missionary of their own. It wouldn't be until November 1876, Anglican missionary William Collison, acting on behalf of the Church Mission Society, established the first permanent mission on Haida Gwaii, located in Masset. In response to the Anglican mission established in Masset, the Haida in Skidegate petitioned for their own mission. Consequently, a Methodist mission was established there in 1883.
Potlatch ban
The potlatch () began to decline with the arrival of the missionaries, who believed it to be antithetical to their mission of converting the Haida to Christianity. Missionaries like Collison sought to replace the potlatch with Christian ceremonies, such as the singing of hymns. Others, like Methodist Charles Harrison, dissuaded potlatching through public chastisement. By the 1880s, potlatches were often conducted in secrecy, primarily as a result of pressure exerted by missionaries.
In 1884, the potlatch was outlawed throughout the coast, under an amendment to the Indian Act, known as the potlatch ban. The elimination of the potlatch system destroyed financial relationships and seriously interrupted the cultural heritage of coastal people. As the islands were christianized, many cultural works such as totem posts were destroyed or taken to museums around the world. This significantly undermined Haida's self-knowledge and further diminished morale.
20th century
The government began forcibly sending some Haida children to residential schools as early as 1911. Haida children were sent as far away as Alberta to live among English-speaking families where they were to be assimilated into the dominant culture.
In 1911, Canada and British Columbia rejected a Haida offer whereby in exchange for full rights of British citizenship Haidas would formally join the Dominion of Canada.
Lyell Island protests
In November 1985, members of the Haida nation protested the ongoing logging of old-growth forests on Haida Gwaii, establishing a blockade to prevent the logging of Lyell Island by Western Forest Products. A standoff between protesters, police and loggers lasted two weeks, during which 72 Haidas were arrested. Images of elders being arrested gained media traction, which raised awareness and support for the Haida across Canada. In 1987, the governments of Canada and British Columbia signed the South Moresby Agreement, establishing the Gwaii Haanas National Park, which is cooperatively managed by the Canadian government and the Haida Nation.
The blockade was profiled in Christopher Auchter's 2024 documentary film The Stand.
21st century