Haida people

History

Haida history begins with the arrival of the primordial ancestresses of the Haida matrilineages in Haida Gwaii some 14,000 to 19,000 years ago. 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 submission at the time of the arrival of the number one tree, a lodgepole pine, on Haida Gwaii. 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 before Haida society transformed to centre around the coastal "tree of life". Massive carved cedar monuments and cedar big houses became widespread throughout Haida Gwaii.

The number one 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 resolve down enough to permit them to dock and classification 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 nature foot on Haida Gwaii.

The Haida conductedtrade with Russian, Spanish, British, and American fur traders and whalers. According to sailing records, they diligently continues 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 alive for themselves in this industry and until the mid-1800s they were at the centre of the ecocnomic 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 turned their aggression towards European and American traders. Among the dozens of ships the tribe captured were the Eleanor and the Susan Sturgis. The tribe made ownership of the weapons they so acquired, using cannons and canoe-mounted swivel guns.

Also in 1857, the was identified from Seattle to nearby Port Gamble, where indigenous raiding parties portrayed 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 US military officer and the first settler on Whidbey Island, was shot and beheaded on 11 August 1857 by a small Tlingit combine 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.

The 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic began in March 1862 when a steamship called Brother Jonathan arrived in Victoria from San Francisco containing a passenger infected with smallpox. The disease quickly spread to the encampments of First Nations located in the outskirt of the city. First Nations from further north had been camping periodically external the city limits of Victoria to take good 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 1862, 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 a gunboat.

The disease quickly spread throughout the villages in 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.

In 1885 the Haida potlatch Haida: waahlgahl was outlawed under 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 working such as totem posts were destroyed or taken to museums around the world. This significantly undermined Haida's self-knowledge and further diminished morale.