Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site

Gwaii Haanas' Haida Heritage

Visitors to Gwaii Haanas are drawn to its natural beauty and also to its extraordinary living Haida heritage. The carved poles at SGang Gwaay Llnagaay are breathtaking—but there is an enormous quantity of more subtle archaeological evidence from the over 10,000 years of Haida habitation on the Islands. There are over 600 archaeological sites in Gwaii Haanas, alone. Culturally modified trees (cedars with bark removed for weaving; or with test holes), and fish weirs (posts placed in estuaries to help catch salmon) are examples easily seen by informed visitors.

There were about twenty large, permanent winter villages in locations across Haida Gwaii, though of course this number varied over time. Typically, a village site was chosen for access to fresh water, coastal fisheries, and other food sources, and it afforded some protection from winter storms. Families lived in large permanent longhouses in these villages during the winter; they dispersed into other areas to hunt and gather food for the rest of the year.

Effects of Contact with "People From Away"

Prior to the arrival of explorers and fur traders or “Iron People”, starting in 1774, estimates of the Haida population on Haida Gwaii range from 10,000 to 30,000. Initially, the intense sea otter fur trade improved economic conditions. But the overwhelming result of contact for the Haida was their near-demise from introduced diseases. Smallpox wiped out families and lineages, and decimated small villages.

Beginning in the 1870's, missionaries intent on the conversion of the Haida encouraged survivors to leave outlying villages such as T'aanuu Llnagaay. By 1900, the Haida population reached a low of around 600 people, and only Skidegate and Massett had people living in them full-time. Since then, the Haida population has rebuilt to around 2500 on Haida Gwaii—along with a renewal of pride in a strong cultural identity.

The Present

While many ancestor spirits dwell in Gwaii Haanas, it is a place for the living that remains an integral part of Haida life, spiritually, culturally and economically. Haida Gwaii Watchmen safeguard five key sites during the summer. The Haida harvest food, run tourism businesses and a youth camp within Gwaii Haanas. Hereditary chieftainships of the old villages are still passed through the generations. The chiefs and their families feel close kinship with their original villages.