Introduction

Haida language family area

The dense forests of the interior of the Queen Charlotte Islands, northern British Columbia, had little game, but the deeply indented coastline was frequented by shoals of salmon and halibut, and by sea otters, sea lions and fur seals, so the Haida were almost wholly dependent on the sea for their livelihood. The Haida were mighty hunters on the sea, and captured more fur seals and sea otters than any other tribe along the Pacific Coast.

(IC Indians of Canada"," D. Jenness)

by Dr. George F. MacDonald

The Haida of the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii) have fascinated all who have visited them, from the first travellers and explorers of the late eighteenth century to the anthropologists of the present. To early visitors the Haida presented a culture, complex in social organization and rich in artistic expression, which displayed a fine and fulfilling balance between man and the natural and supernatural worlds. With continued exposure to the pressures, both spiritual and material, of European culture this balance was disrupted, and the traditional Haida way of life came close to extinction. Today, however, the Haida regard their future with hope, bolstered by recent developments that hold great potential for reinforcing their cultural revival.

Haida

Group of tribes native to the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada.

They have as their common speech the Haida language.

Skillful carvers, the Haida produce miniature totems, utensils made of black slate, large wooden family totems, and decorated canoes.

The Haida use canoes for both traveling and fishing, and the economic organization of the tribes, which is largely maritime, centers on them.

Contact with modern civilization has decimated their numbers. From a peak population of more than 8000 (the number recorded in the first census in 1841) and a territory that extended, in raids, as far south as the mouth of the Columbia River, they have been reduced to less than 1000 people.

The Haida people, a group of indigenous peoples living on the Queen Charlotte Islands off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, carved the single mortuary pole seen here. When a high-ranking member of the community dies, the Haida erect a mortuary pole to commemorate his life. Totemism plays a large role in the culture and tradition of many of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest.

Bjorn Bolstad/Photo Researchers, Inc.
"Haida," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.