West Coast Native Groups
West Coast Native Groups
The Haida are part of a larger
collection of First Nations peoples who
occupy the west coast of British
Columbia. Since they are close to each
other, they are similar in many ways:
1. They all have permanent homes
2. They all have similar foods
3. They all share similar customs
4. They all built boats to travel on
the water
5. They all traded with each other.
6. They often fought against each
other
The Northwest Coast can be divided
up into several main groups, although
some estimates put the number of
different First Nations groups in British
Columbia at 70.
West Coast Languages
This mountainous area brought about
one major difference and that was in
languages. Each Native group on the
west coast had their own language.
Some, like the Haida, had no
similarities to any other language.
Others had minor similarities.
The Northwest Coast people have the
most diverse languages of any First
Peoples group in Canada. It is
estimated that there are nineteen
distinct languages spoken by the
people. However, if all of the
languages are grouped together then
they can be divided into five main
language groups.
The main groups are the Haida, the
Tlingit, the Tsimshian, the Nuu-chahnulth (Nootka), and the Salishan.
Location:
The Haida are located on a small
gathering of islands called the
Queen Charlotte Islands, which
belong to British Columbia. There
are two main islands with many
smaller islands. The Haida refer
to the islands as HAIDA GWAII.
Historically, the Haida were
located throughout the island.
Today, the two largest
communities are Skidegate and
Masset.
A few other Haida communities
were located on islands just north
of Haida Gwaii which are a part of
Alaska, USA today.
HAIDA FOOD
The west coast of British Columbia is mild for
most of the year with plenty of rain. The
waters are full of fish and other marine life.
The forests are full of vegetation and animals.
Because of this, the Natives who lived in this
region were ‘hunters and gatherers’. They
hunted the animals that lived in the area and
collected (gathered) the food that grew
plentifully in the area.
The people of the Northwest Coast were
skilled fishermen and learned to exploit the
natural waterways in the area to catch fish.
The Pacific Ocean was the main source of
food for the people, and, therefore, the men
spent a lot of time fishing along the coast.
Pacific Salmon was abundant in the waters,
and became the most important food
resource of the people.
In the fall, the salmon would travel up the
rivers to spawn, making them easy to catch
with nets, harpoons, and traps. They would
literally catch thousands of fish in a small
area, which was more than enough to feed a
family for a year.
Haida Food:
The ocean also provided them with
other fish like the Halibut and smelt.
They also caught Crab and other
Shellfish like clams, oysters and
mussels.
Seaweed from the ocean was also a
part of their diet.
The Haida even caught whales! It was
a dangerous process that could take
days. It was dangerous because the
Haida only had fairly small boats which
could be tipped over by an aggressive
whale. Once in the water, the Haida
fisherman could easily drown or be
killed by the whale.
On occasion, the Haida caught other
sea animals like sea otters, seals and
even turtles.
The Candlefish
The Haida used a lot of fish
oil to add flavour to food. The
whale and the seal were the
most common animal to get oil
from.
One valuable and important fish
to the Haida was the Eulachon
(also called candlefish by the
Europeans) The Eulachon is a
small fish similar to a smelt.
During certain times of the year,
the Eulachon has a very high
percent of oil in its body. This
oil can be harvested and used
as fuel for lamps. Even when
fully dried, the Eulachon will
burn like a candle when lit. The
Haida travelled to the mainland
to trade for this fish and the oil.
Native women pressing Eulachon oil
Homes:
With everything they needed so
close to them, the Haida had no
need to move from place to
place, so their homes were
permanent. These permanent
homes were very impressive!
The Haida lived in rectangular
cedar-plank houses with bark
roofs. Usually these houses were
large (up to 100 feet long) and
each one housed several families
from the same clan (as many as
50 people.)
Perhaps the most famous part of
the Haida culture can be seen
behind and in front of each home,
and that is their totem poles
(more later).
Haida homes
Since it rained a lot along the coast, the
trees grew very thick and tall. The huge
red cedars were especially important to
the people because they could make
large houses with them. They cut the
trees with stone axes and floated them to
their villages.
First, a frame was built out of cedar logs.
Then, cedar planks were attached to the
logs. It was important to overlap the
planks to keep the rain out.
They used wooden pegs as nails to hold
the wood together.
They made their houses as huge
rectangles, with many posts to hold up
the roof and covered them with cedar
planks.
There were no windows in the
longhouses. There was only a hole in the
roof to let smoke from the fires out and a
single front door to keep the heat in.
The longhouses were built with low roofs
because they were easier to heat in the
winter.
Inside a Haida longhouse
Inside a longhouse, there was only
simple furniture. Each family had bunk
beds lined up against the wall for
sleeping. Above each bunk, there were
storage areas and open shelves. Below
the bottom bunks, they dug holes
(around two feet deep) to store and
cool food.
Each family would also have their own
small fire pit for cooking.
Woven cedar mats were hung from the
ceiling to separate the different family
areas. The chief had the biggest area
and the most private area which would
be separated by a wooden wall.
When one family member got married,
a new section of the longhouse would
be sub-divided for the new family.
When the Haida house got too full, a
new one would be built and some of
the families would move into it.
Screened off area for the chief
Haida villages
Houses were always grouped together
forming small villages.
Some villages had as many as 1,000 people,
all living in only 30 houses!
Each village was marked by totem poles.
All the houses in a village were lined up sideby-side facing the same direction- towards
the water.
House fronts were commonly painted as
were the totem poles, which were carved
with the family crest. (we’ll learn more about
totem poles later on)
If an individual built a longhouse for his
family, then he lived there with his wife and
children, and then their children.
When the children got older, they were
assigned (by the head of the family) a new
space inside the longhouse.
On the other hand, if the village built the
longhouse together, then it would be the
Chief's responsibility to assign living spaces to
each family.
When the owner of a longhouse died, the
family gave the longhouse away or burnt it to
the ground. It was believed that if the family
stayed after the death, then the spirit of the
dead person would worry too much about
the family.
Haida Clothing:
Haida men wore a breech cloth and long cloaks. A breechcloth is a
long rectangular piece of tanned deerskin, cloth, or animal fur. It is
worn between the legs and tucked over a belt so that the flaps fall
down in front and behind. Sometimes it is also called a loincloth.
Women wore knee-length skirts and poncho-like capes.
Haida clothing was usually woven out of fiber made from cedar bark,
but some garments were made of deerskin and otter fur. In cold
weather, Haida people wore moccasins and heavy caribou robes, but
most of the time, they preferred to go barefoot. For formal occasions,
Haida people wore more elaborate outfits, with tunics, leggings and
cloaks painted with tribal designs. Some important and wealthy Haidas
wore the spectacular Chilkat blankets, which were woven from cedar
bark and mountain goat hair.
Haida Clothing Pictures
The Haida Canoe
The Haida tribe was wellknown for their large dugout
canoes, which they made by
hollowing out cedar logs. A
Haida canoe could be more
than sixty feet long and was
built to withstand stormy
waves and could carry 10 000
pounds of cargo (like fish).
Even other Northwest Coast
Indian tribes, who all made
impressive canoes
themselves, admired the
canoes of the Haida carvers.
The Haida tribe used these
canoes to travel up and down
the sea coast for trading,
fishing and hunting, and war.
Modern Canoes
The tradition of large quality canoes
continues today. Modern Haida carvers still
spend hundreds of hours hollowing out cedar
logs and carving and painting highly detailed
and highly prized canoes.
The art of making the Haida canoes was
almost lost by the beginning of the 1900s. It
may have been lost completely if not for the
work of one man named Bill Reid.
Bill Reid was born in Victoria BC and was half
Haida, but his Haida mother kept this from
him. When he did find out, he explored his
culture and learned that it had almost
disappeared. Over time, he became an
expert in Haida art, especially canoe building.
He decided to become a canoe builder using
traditional Haida techniques. His most
famous canoe was the 15-metre war canoe
Lootaas (Wave Eater), which was carved
from a single cedar tree from Haida Gwaii.
Bill Reid was asked to build this canoe for
Expo ’86, the world’s fair held in Vancouver.
The massive canoe was the first of its kind
carved in the 20th century and ‘wowed’ Expo
‘86 spectators. It triggered a rebirth in canoe
building across the province of British
Columbia, as well as the re-emergence of
traditional tribal canoe journeys and festivals
among first nations peoples.
Bill Reid’s canoe
The Lootaas canoe enjoyed a
rich legacy. It was paddled all
the way from the Haida Gawii
islands to Alaska, and it even
made an honorary journey up
the Seine River in France to
be displayed in Paris’ Museum
of Man. When Bill Reid died in
1998 at age 78, the canoe was
used to transport his ashes
back to his adopted home on
Haida Gwaii.
An exact replica was made for
the Museum of Natural
History located in Ottawa.
Haida Society
The Northwest Coast people never
developed a democracy government.
Instead, their society was ruled by
wealth. The wealthiest clan had the most
power.
Their society included different classes:
nobles, commoners, and slaves (acquired
through War or purchase).
The Haida were divided into basic social
units. In the family groups, the oldest and
highest ranking person was named the
Chief of the family. Then within each
family, a person's rank was determined by
their relationship with the Chief. For
example, if the chief was your father, you
had great social standing. If the chief was
a cousin, you would have a lower social
rank.
Chiefs were responsible for distributing
wealth among the people. Those who
had a higher social status received more,
all the way down to the lowest ranked
individual.
Groups of families lived together,
forming villages. Within each village,
each family was ranked. The Chief of
the most powerful family became the
Chief of the village.
The village Chief displayed his family's
crest on the village totem poles. The
Haida were divided into two or more
family 'clans‘: the Raven and the Eagle
clans. Clan membership was always
passed down through the mother's
side of the family. So if your mother
belonged to the Raven clan, then her
children belonged to the Raven clan.
Each person always married someone
from the other clan.
One thing that set the
Haida people (and other
West Coast Native Groups)
apart from other First
Nations people groups in
Canada was how they
recognized ownership of
land and property. Haida
families claimed good
spots for fishing or hunting
or gathering food. The
amount of property that a
family claimed (owned)
contributed to their wealth
within their community.
Haida Totem Poles
Although the Haida had been making totem
poles for hundreds and hundreds of years,
most experts believe these early totem poles
were much smaller and far less common. It
was not until after first contact with the
Europeans that the totem poles became very
large and very common. They reached their
peak between 1850 and 1880.
The Haida gained wealth through trading furs
with the Europeans. Through trading, the
Haida acquired axes, knives and carving
equipment. Having more wealth and better
equipment allowed the Haida to built more
and greater totem poles.
Totem poles represented family history and
told the story of the people that lived in the
houses. The Haida did not believe that the
poles had any religious meaning at all.
Chiefs competed with other chiefs in the
village to see who could have taller and more
detailed totem poles. Carvers were in great
demand to create these rich works of art.
There are different types of totem poles,
each with a different function:
Totem Poles
Perhaps the greatest and most well known part
of the Haida culture is the Totem pole. The
totem pole is a massive cedar tree cut down and
hand carved by a single person or a group of
people.
To us, most totem poles look the same. But to
the Haida, there were many kinds of totem poles
each with their own important purpose.
House poles were carved with symbols of family
history and were positioned at the back of the
house for all to see. These poles had a second
purpose since they were a part of the house
construction and were used to support the main
beams of the building. House poles could also be
located beside the house or be free-standing.
Some longhouses featured a tall house frontal
pole which would be located at the main
entrance of the house. People entered the house
through a hole located at the bottom of the
house totem pole.
Mortuary poles were used for high-ranking
individuals or chiefs. These poles had large holes
cut out of the upper portion and carved with
crests of the dead person. The deceased body is
placed into a painted box and remained in a
mortuary house for a period of one year. The
remains were then moved to a smaller box and
placed into the hole of the pole. The front
opening was covered with cedar boards and then
painted or carved to complete the original design.
Mortuary poles
Memorial Pole of Chief Kalilix.
Shame Totem Pole
Memorial poles stood on their own
apart from the village. Each pole was
a single tribute to a great chief and
showed the many achievements of
the deceased chief. The pole was
raised one year after his death.
The last kind of totem pole is the
“Shame” pole. This pole was seldom
used by any First Nations groups,
including the Haida. A shame pole was
built when a native group or even an
individual did not repay a debt. The
pole was built in public so everyone
could see that a debt had not been
paid. It was meant to embarrass the
individual or group into repaying the
debt. When the debt was paid, the
pole was removed. Many shame poles
remain unidentified today because the
original debt, now long forgotten, was
never repaid.
Shame poles
The Watchmen
A totem pole is to be read from the
top down. The character on top is
not necessarily high ranking. The
largest figure would be the one that
is featured in the story. The smaller
figures are sometimes fillers and
have some function in the story.
The "Watchmen" can be identified
as three carved men wearing tall
hats sitting at the top of tall totem
poles, which are attached to the
chief’s house. The main function of
the watchmen was to warn the chief
and the villagers of danger. The
middle watcher faced the ocean to
search for incoming canoes from
other villages, and the other two
looked to the sides and kept watch
over the village.
Totem poles don’t last too long on the
Pacific coast of Canada. The heavy
rain and humid climate means the
cedar wood of the totem poles rots
and decays quickly. There are virtually
no totem poles remaining from the
early part of the 1800s. They have all
rotted away. Even the totem poles
remaining in Haida Gwaii today that
were carved in the late 1880s or 1890s
show extensive decay and many of the
carved and painted faces are difficult
to see.
Although many of the very large totem
poles still remain in Haida Gwaii today,
rotting where they were originally
placed, others have been removed and
have been relocated in museums
around the world. In these
environmentally protected museums,
the Haida totem poles do not rot, and
will remain for many hundreds of years
for all to see and appreciate.
The Potlatch
'Potlatch' was the name given to
most Northwest Coast First
Nations celebrations. It comes
from a First Nations word
'pachitle' meaning 'to give'.
A potlatch was a big celebration
that often took more than a year
to plan.
The ceremony usually happened
when a person had a change in
social status, for example,
marriage, birth, death, and
coming of age, or when a person
became a chief. It included a
feast, singing and costumed
dancers, and some potlatches
lasted as long as two to three
weeks.
Potlatch
Most importantly, though,
potlatches became a way in which
wealthy families could show off
their wealth to others.
Each person invited to a Potlatch
received gifts related to their
social rank. Some examples of
gifts would be canoes or slaves
for high social class people,
carved dishes and eulachon oil for
those of slightly lower social class.
In the Haida culture, wealth was
not shown by how much you
could gather, but by how much
you could give away. The more
wealth that a family gave away as
gifts during the potlatch, the
more respect and honour was
shown to them by the
community.
Dignity Potlatch
Another type of potlatch was
called a dignity Potlatch.
This type of potlatch was much
smaller and didn’t take very long
to plan. A dignity potlatch took
place when a member of the high
social class, like the chief, did
something that caused him great
embarrassment. This could be
falling out a tree or falling out of
his canoe or failing to catch food.
In the Haida culture, a person
could not be laughed at. If they
did get laughed at they lost all
dignity (respect) from the people.
Therefore, a dignity potlatch
allowed an important person to
get back some of their
dignity…for a price!
Shaman
Haida Religion
In Haida culture, their customs, beliefs
and history were passed down orally
through stories, songs, and dances.
They had stories about why certain
things occurred, for example, the
changes in season. There were also
stories about creation and how they
first appeared in this world. All of
these stories were passed down to the
next generations.
The Haida believed that they were
surrounded, at all times, by
supernatural beings interfering with
the natural or the everyday world.
In their culture, spirits were connected
to all living things.
The only link between the spirit world
and the natural world was the
'Shamans' or 'Medicine Men'.
Shaman equipment
Shamans
It was a Shaman's job to cure the sick,
to ensure that there was enough food,
and to influence the weather. The
belief was that they had the power to
do all those things through an ability
to communicate with the spirit world.
Both men and women could have
been Shamans, however, they were
most often men. A Shaman would
wear bear skin robes, aprons, rattles,
skin drums, charms, necklaces and
sometimes masks.
When someone was sick, it was
believed to be caused by the spirit
world. Shamans were the only people
who could communicate directly with
the spirits, so they were the only ones
who could cure the sick.
How sad that the Haida did
not believe that a personal
relationship with God was
possible and that they
needed special men to
speak for them.
God desires to hear from
all of us and He alone can
answer all of our prayers.
Through Christ, we can talk
to God individually. We
don’t need someone to do
it for us.
Haida Art
Art played a major part in Haida
culture.
They were known for their:
Basketry (basket, hats)
Woodworking (masks,
totem poles)
Weaving (Chilkat blankets)
Baskets: The Haida people used
baskets for storage and trade.
This Haida cedar bark basket at
the top of the pictures would
have been used to collect clams.
Others were used to collect
berries and other food.
Baskets were often very artistic
and colourful as well as being
very functional.
Haida Hats
Hats were particularly important for
the Haida people because they were
used as protection from the rain.
Getting a hat was much more difficult
for the Haida than for us to get a hat.
Hats had to be ordered individually
from the hat maker. Hats were woven
on a stand with a wooden form
appropriate to the head shape and size
of the person buying it. Male artists
painted the hats with the symbols of
the family. The colours of paint were
limited to red and black (with blue or
green sometimes).
In early historic times, Haida women
also sold their hats to Europeans and
Americans who were trading or
travelling in Haida territory. Painted
woven hats became a popular
European tourist item late in the
nineteenth century.
Transformation mask
Haida Masks
When it came to wood, the Haida
were very talented artists. We
have already looked at totem
poles and the canoes, yet the
Haida were also very good at
carving masks. Haida carved
masks were an important part of
all of their ceremonies.
One of their very special masks
was called a transformation
mask. It was a carved wooden
mask that could open in the
middle to reveal another carved
wooden mask of a different face.
This mask allowed the dancer to
become multiple characters.
More Haida Masks
Another type of mask used in
ceremonies was made of copper.
It was quite rare since the Haida
did not often use metal. Having
this mask was a sign of great
wealth in the Haida culture.
Bentwood boxes:
The Haida made bentwood boxes
from a single cedar plank. The
plank was steamed and then bent
at three corners to form a box
shape and then pegged together.
Then a top and bottom were
added. Bentwood boxes were
used to serve and store food, and
they were also common at
ceremonial feasts. They were a
common gift to be given away at
potlatches.
Copper Mask
Bentwood boxes
Directions on how
to build a
bentwood box.
European Influences
In 1774, the way of life for the
remote Haida people drastically
changed when the first European
explorer, Juan Perez from Spain,
discovered the Queen Charlotte
Islands.
He never landed on the islands,
but a few of the Haida canoed
over to his ship and traded with
him. Perez was low on food, so
he couldn’t stay long. He quickly
left the area and headed further
south.
Captain James Cook also saw the
islands in 1774. In 1787, another
British explorer named Captain
George Dixon named the islands
after his ship, the Queen
Charlotte.
Sea otter
The Fall of the Haida
The islands were of little interest to
anyone until Europeans discovered the
sea otter. The fur of the sea otter was
prized throughout Europe and Asia.
Soon, hundreds of Europeans were
eager to trade with the Haida.
The contact with Europeans increased
Haida wealth, but many ‘White man’
diseases were devastating to the Haida
who had no immunity. Thousands
died of tuberculosis and smallpox.
Within a few decades, the population
of the Haida fell from 7 000 to fewer
than 700. Those that remained
gathered to form two small villages.
Government agents and missionaries
came to the area to bring the Gospel,
but also ‘western’ ideas. The Canadian
government believed the Haida
needed to become more ‘Canadian’.
Haida Gwaii Cultural Centre
The Haida Today
Through the work of Bill Reid (we
already learned about him) and other
Haida people, the Haida culture has
had a rebirth over the past 30 years.
Today, world wide tourism to Haida
Gwaii helps keep this culture alive.
The Haida Heritage Centre at Kaay
Lliagaay is an award-winning
Aboriginal cultural tourism attraction
located on the islands. The centre
houses the Haida Gwaii Museum,
additional temporary exhibition space,
two classrooms, the Performance
House, Canoe House, Bill Reid
Teaching Centre, and The Carving
House.
The Haida are also battling the BC and
Canadian governments concerning
logging on their island and other parts
of British Columbia.
Haida traditional ceremony
tourism
Hopefully, the future will be strong
and prosperous for the Haida people
and their culture. The more we learn
about it and appreciate it, the better
chance they have of surviving.