Haida

Margaret B. Blackman

Haidah, Hydah, Hyder

The Haida are an American Indian group whose traditional territory covered Haida Gwaii off the coast of British Columbia (formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands, and which includes the two main islands of Graham and Moresby), and a section of the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska. The name “Haida” is an Anglicized version of the Northern Haida's name for themselves, meaning “to be human, to be a Haida.”

Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), which includes two large and about 150 small islands, lie from thirty to eighty miles off the north coast of British Columbia, between N 52° and 54° 15'. Haida territory in southeastern Alaska extended to about N 55° 30'. This is an ecologically diverse territory, with considerable variation from one locale to another in rainfall, flora, fauna, topography, and soil. At the time of first contact with Europeans in the late 1700s, the Haida were settled in a number of towns that formed six regional-linguistic subdivisions: the Kaigani people in Alaska and, on Haida Gwaii, the people of the north coast of Graham Island, the Skidegate Inlet people, the people of the west coast of Moresby Island, the people of the east coast of Moresby Island, and the southern (Kunghit) people. In the 1970s four divisions were still recognized.

A census conducted from 1836 to 1841 suggested a total Haida population of about 8,000. By 1901 the population had declined to about 900 and then to 588 in 1915. Since that time, it has gradually increased. According to the 2011 Canadian census, the total number of registered members of the tribal councils of Old Massett Village and Skidegate, living on and off the reserves, was 4,689. The 2010 United States census counted 5,222 individuals claiming to be at least partly Haida; 2,365 of them claimed Haida tribal affinity alone.

The first known European contact was with the Spanish explorer Juan Pérez, in 1774. For the next fifty years the Haida exchanged sea otter pelts with European trading ships for iron, manufactured goods, and potatoes, which the Haida then began to cultivate themselves. In 1834 the Hudson's Bay Company established the Fort Simpson trading post in Tsimshian territory, which became the center of Indian-White trade as well as trade among the various Indian groups for the next forty years. Trading trips disrupted the traditional economy, led to warfare with the Kwakiutl, and brought a smallpox epidemic to Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) that led to a rapid population decline in the late nineteenth century. By 1879 the Haida were so reduced in number that they had all resettled in the communities of Skidegate and Masset. The first missionary to visit the Haida came in 1829, but the first to establish residence on the Queen Charlottes did not arrive until 1876 (in Masset); the Skidegate mission was founded in 1883. The first missionary to the Kaigani Haida of Alaska arrived in 1880 (at Howkan). From 1875 to 1910 the Haida underwent considerable culture change, largely in the direction of acculturation into the adjacent white society; the potlatch was outlawed, many features of the traditional religion disappeared, housing in the European-American style replaced cedar plank houses, totem-pole raising was discontinued, and wage labor increasingly replaced traditional economic pursuits. The Queen Charlotte Haida were granted a number of reserves that reflect their many subsistence places. The two largest reserves are the Skidegate and Masset reserves, which were laid out initially in the 1880s and added to in 1913. The Kaigani Haida are not reservation Indians.

The Haida language is apparently unrelated to any other known language, although at one time it was classified in the Na Dene language family. Before European settlement, there were Northern and Southern dialects, and a number of subdialects spoken in specific towns or regions. There are less than two dozen elderly, fluent Haida speakers left in Canada, but revitalization efforts under way.

At the time of European contact the Haida lived in a number of “towns,” although it is not clear how large or permanent these towns really were. Winter villages, consisting of one or two rows of cedar plank dwellings facing the sea, were the more permanent and substantial settlements. In a row in front of the dwelling houses were the totem house poles. Today, Haida house styles are like those of their white neighbors. In the post-contact era, Haida on Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) became concentrated in two main settlements, Skidegate and Masset.

The traditional economy rested on a combination of fishing, shellfish gathering, hunting, and the gathering of plant foods. Because of seasonal variations in food availability, much effort was expended on extracting as much food as possible and on preserving foodstuffs for use in lean seasons by drying, smoking, wrapping in grease, etc. Halibut and salmon were the most important preserved foods (by drying, smoking), and sea mammals (which were also preserved) were more important than land mammals for food. Dozens of species of berries, plant stalks, tree fibers, seaweed, and roots were harvested and preserved.

In recent times, jobs and sources of income have included the commercial fishing industry (fishing, and processing fish and shellfish), logging, and arts and crafts (wood carving, argillite carving, graphics, jewelry, weaving, etc.).

The Haida traded heavily with the Coast Tsimshian and Tlingit. With the former they traded canoes, slaves and shells for copper, Chilkat blankets and hides; with the latter they traded canoes, seaweed and dried halibut for eulachons and soapberries. There was also some internal trade between Haida communities.

Wood was used for a wide variety of objects, including canoes of several sizes for different purposes, totem poles, houses, boxes, dishes, and weapons. Spruce roots and the inner bark of the red cedar were used by women to twine baskets for various uses, and to make spruce root hats.

Labor was divided on the basis of sex and, to a lesser extent, on the basis of social class distinctions. Women gathered plant foods and plant materials for manufactures, preserved food, prepared skins, made clothing, and twined baskets. Men hunted, fished, made canoes, built the houses, and carved and painted. Both sexes collected shellfish and hunted birds. Fishing, canoe making, and carving were viewed as prestigious occupations. People who did not work were looked down upon, but slaves did much of the heavy work.

The lineage was the basic property-owning unit. Lineages controlled rights to streams, lakes, plant patches, trees, sections of coastline, and winter house sites. Lineages also owned names (both personal and object names, such as those given to canoes), dances, songs, stories, and crest figures.

The Haida had a moiety structure, with a Raven and an Eagle moiety, each composed of a number of lineages. There were no clans. The lineages traced their origins to supernatural women associated with the two moieties. The lineages were usually named after the site of the lineage origin, and a few were further divided into sublineages. Villages usually were inhabited by members of different lineages, and sometimes both moieties were represented as well. Each lineage was marked by its several crests, usually animals but sometimes other environmental features such as rainbows or clouds. Crests were widely displayed: on totem poles, the body, boxes, utensils, drums, and canoes.

Kin terms followed the Crow system. Affinal kin were distinguished from consanguines.

Marriages were arranged, often by the parents when the betrothed were still children. Polygyny was permitted for chiefs but was rare. The preferred partner was someone in one's father's lineage, and there is some evidence of bilateral cross-cousin marriage.

A man's property went to his younger brothers and nephews. The widow was usually left with little more than her own property. A woman's property went to her daughter.

Girls were evidently preferred, as they guaranteed the perpetuation of the lineage. Much of child-rearing involved formal instruction, with boys being taught male tasks and behaviors by their fathers and mother's brothers, and girls taught female tasks and behavior by their mothers. The puberty rites for girls involved seclusion, food restrictions, and various taboos. There was no comparable rite for boys.

Although there was no ranking of lineages, there is some evidence that some lineages were considered to be wealthier or more powerful than others. At the individual level there were three social categories: nobles, commoners, and slaves. Nobles owned the houses, were generally wealthier, inherited chieftainships, used high-rank names, and hosted potlatches. Commoners did not have access to these signs of status. Slaves were war captives and their children.

There was no overarching political structure above the lineage level of organization. Each lineage was led by a chief who inherited the position through the matriline; that is, the title was passed on to next oldest brother, other younger brothers, or the oldest sister's oldest son. Chiefs made decisions regarding property use, internal lineage business, and war. The owner of the dwelling was the house chief who managed the affairs of the domestic unit. In multilineage settlements, the “town master” or “town mother” was the highest ranking, wealthiest house chief.

Social control was maintained at the lineage, town, and household levels by the appropriate chiefs. The fairly rigid class system served to reinforce expectations about appropriate behavior.

The Haida were feared warriors and fought with, among others, the Coast Tsimshian, Bellabella, and Southern Tlingit for plunder, revenge, or slaves. Internal warfare also existed.

Animals were classified as special types of people, more intelligent than humans and with the ability to transform themselves into human form. Animals were thought to live on land, in the sea and in the sky, in a social order that mirrored that of the Haida. Traditional beliefs have been largely displaced by Christianity, although many Haida still believe in reincarnation.

The Haida prayed and gave offerings to the masters of the game animals and to the beings who gave wealth. Major ceremonial events were feasts, potlatches, and dance performances. High-ranking men were expected to host these events. Property was distributed through the potlatch on a number of occasions including the building of a cedar house, naming and tattooing of children, and death. Potlatches also included feasts and dance performances, although a feast might be given apart from the potlatch.

As with other Northwest Coast groups carving and painting were highly developed art forms. The Haida are renowned for their totem poles in the form of house-front poles, memorial poles, and mortuary columns. Painting usually involved the use of black, red, and blue-green to produce highly stylized representations of the zoomorphic matrilineal crest figures. The body of a high-ranking individual was often tattooed, and faces were painted for ceremonial purposes.

Treatment of the deceased reflected status differentials. For those of high rank the body, after lying in state for a few days in the house, was buried in the lineage gravehouse where it remained either permanently or until it was placed in a mortuary pole. When the pole was erected, a potlatch was held both to honor the deceased and to recognize his successor. Commoners were usually buried apart from the nobles and carved poles were not erected. Slaves were tossed into the sea. The Haida believed strongly in reincarnation; sometimes before death an individual might choose the parents to whom he or she was to be reborn. At death, the soul was transported by canoe to the Land of the Souls to await reincarnation.

This culture summary is based on the article "Haida" by Margaret B. Blackman, in the Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Vol. 1, North America, Timothy O’Leary and David Levinson, eds. Boston, MA: G.K. Hall & Co. 1991. Population figures and geographical references were updated by Ian Skoggard in October, 2017.

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Blackman, Margaret B. (1982). During My Time: Florence Edenshaw Davidson, a Haida Woman. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

Boelscher, Marianne (1988). The Curtain Within: Haida Social and Mythical Discourse. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.

Council of the Haida Nation (2017). Language. http://www.haidanation.ca/?page_id=4152 and http://www.haidanation.ca/?page_id=4166. Accessed October 16, 2017.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs, Canada. (2017). Secretariat of the Haida Nation. http://fnp-ppn.aandc-aadnc.gc.ca/fnp/Main/Search/TCMain.aspx?TC_NUMBER=1039&lang=eng. Accessed October 2, 2017.

MacDonald, George F. (1983). Haida Monumental Art: Villages of the Queen Charlotte Islands. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.

Stearns, Mary Lee (1981). Haida Culture in Custody. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

Swanton, John R. (1905). Contributions to the Ethnology of the Haida. American Museum of Natural History, Memoir no. 5, 1-300.

United State Census Bureau (2013). “Census 2010 PHC-T-6. American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in the United States and Puerto Rico: 2010.” http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2010/cph-t/t-6tables/TABLE (1).pdf. Accessed February 20, 2017.