D. The Haida People

From HCO Jr

Part 1. First People of Canada → A. Turtle Island → B. The Wendat → C. The Siksika → D. The Haida → E. The Dene → F. The Inuit → G. The Cree → H. The Ojibwa → I. The Mi'kmaq

West Coast People: The Haida

Environment of the Haida

The Pacific Coast is the warmest part of Canada. Ocean currents from Japan bring warm water close to the land. This warm water makes the air warm as well. This means that winter on the west coast is not as cold as other parts of Canada. The west cost also receives a lot of rain.

Warm weather and rain makes the trees of the west coast the largest in the world. Red cedar, Douglas fir, and Sitka spruce trees grow in these forests. Trees became so large that people used to carve boats from them. This is the only part of Canada that has a rainforest because of the warm weather and rain.

A lot of different animals are found on the west coast. The ocean is home to many types of fish, seals, mammals and whales. Deer, bear and other animals live on the land.

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Haida Life and the Four Seasons

Spearing Salmon

Haida people based their lives on the ocean. Almost all of their food and resources came from the Pacific Ocean. This meant that the Haida lived differently during the seasons compared to other First Nations

Spring, Summer and Autumn

Salmon travel from the rivers to the ocean in December. This was an important time for Haida people to catch salmon. Each type of salmon was different. Some tasted better. The Haida dried other types of salmon and stored them for the winter.

During the whole year the Haida could gather food from the ocean. Certain animals live in shallow water close to shore. Haida men and women collected these animals and cooked them as food.

Spring was also a time to gather berries and other plants.

Haida Life

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Haida Technology

Whaler Wearing Woven Bark Clothing

Haida people used plants and animals to make tools, weapons and clothes.

Red cedar trees were very important to the Haida. They made many things from the wood and bark of this tree. It was the most important resource the Haida had next to salmon.

Haida Clothing

Haida clothes were made from tree bark. Tree bark from red cedar trees was taken. Women cut the bark into strips. Then they pounded the bark with rocks to make it soft. Women wove this into clothes and hats.

Bark clothes were better than clothes made from animal skin. Bark repelled water better than animal skins. Men wore cloaks made of tree bark to stay dry. Women wore skirts made of tree bark. They also made large hats from tree bark.

Haida people did not wear many clothes made of animal hides. Leather clothes would get wet because of all the rain on the west coast. Bark clothes were better for the environment the Haida lived in. Sometimes in the winter they wore robes made of otter skins if it was very cold.

Using Cedar Wood

Haida Totem

Using stone wedges and stone hammers Haida men would take long planks of wood from cedar trees. Very long planks (3 meters or more) were used to build long houses. Short planks were made into storage boxes.

Decorated Chest

From this wood the Haida made their homes. They also made special wood boxes to store food and tools.

Haida people also carved totem poles from red cedar trees. Some totem poles were as tall as a grown person. Some were very tall. Skilled carvers would decorate the poles with totem images from Haida legends. You can read more about totem poles in the section on Haida religion.

Haida men also made large canoes from entire cedar trees. These are called dugout canoes. Men cut down a tree. They used stone tools to carve out the tree and make a canoe.

As you can see the Haida made many things from red cedar trees. It provided them with clothes, houses, and wood to make containers, totem poles and canoes.

Other tools were made from animal bones and stone. Stone chisels, knives and axes helped the Haida to carve totem poles. Haida women beat tree bark with large whale bones. This made the bark soft so it could be turned into clothes. Small tools such as sewing needles were also made from animal bones. Haida men used shark skin as sandpaper because it is so rough. They used it to make totem poles smooth.

Haida Village of Skidegate in 1878, with longhouses, family totem poles and dugout canoes

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Haida Villages

Haida people built their villages on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. They did this for two important reasons. First, being close to the ocean allowed them to find food quickly. Haida people took most of their food from the Pacific Ocean. It made sense to build their villages close to it.

A Chief's Party

Haida people also travelled by dugout canoe. Some canoes were very large and others were small. This was the easiest way to travel on the west coast in the past. Canoes allowed the people to hunt. They also travelled to trade with other villages.

People in Haida villages lived in longhouses. A Haida legend says that the Raven, a powerful spirit, taught the Haida how to build longhouses. Raven learned how to build houses by stealing the idea from Beaver (another spirit).

Longhouses were very large. Three or more families would live in a longhouse. This means thirty to forty people lived in a longhouse. Houses of powerful chiefs held 100 people or more. Each longhouse had several fires to cook food on. People had their beds along the walls. Food and other things were stored in the longhouses.

Large chief's lodge at Masset in about 1895; note the fish drying racks and canoe

Interior of the Haida chief's lodge at Masset; note the sunken central fire pit

Interior of chief's lodge with family property

Unlike other First Nations the Haida never moved their villages. There was enough food in the ocean and on the land for a village to be permanent.

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Haida Families and Society

Haida Eagle Clan Hat

Haida people lived in extended families. That means parents lived with their children and their grandparents, aunts and uncles. Men were in charge of their families. Women still did very important things that were necessary for the family to survive. When a man married he joined his wife's family.

Haida society was different from other First Nations. For example, they had social rank. Some people in a Haida village were more important than other people. A chief was more important than someone who was a warrior or hunter.

There were two main groups in Haida society: the Raven and the Eagle. In each group there were different families. There were over twenty famlies in each group. People had to marry outside of their group.

Being a member of a certain group gave you certain privileges. People in the Raven group could use certain spots for fishing that Eagle members could not use. Each group also had its own stories and ceremonies. Only people from that group could learn and perform the ceremonies.

Haida Food

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Ocean and River Resources

A lot of people lived on the west coast because there was a lot of food. Haida people lived in large villages. Some villages had 500 people. Big villages had 2000 people living in them. There was enough food in the ocean to support people living in large communities.

Some ocean food was very close to shore. Every day the water level of the ocean rises and falls. This is called the tides. When the tide moves back from the shore it leaves behind pools of water called tidal pools. Many small animals live in tidal pools: clams, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins. Seaweed is also in tidal pools. Haida people collected this food to eat. There is a saying that "when the tide goes out the dinner table is set."

West Coast People Gathering Shellfish, by William Hind

West coast people also took fish from the rivers. On the west coast rivers drain into the sea. At different times during the year a type of fish called salmon travel up the river. During these times the Haida caught salmon for food.

Salmon was a very important fish to the Haida. Some Haida said there were so many salmon long ago that you could cross a river by walking on their backs. The Haida caught five different types of salmon. They used each type of salmon for a different reason. They ate some salmon right after it was caught. Women dried other types of salmon to be eaten later.

They also caught a fish called eulachon. Oil was taken from eulachon fish. This oil was added to other food for flavour. Haida oil lamps burned eulachon oil.

West Coast Natives used spears and nets to catch fish. They also built fishing weirs to catch fish in rivers. Weirs were made from tree branches. It trapped the fish in a small area so people could catch them more easily.

Halibut Fishers Returning with Catch, about 1905

They also hunted seals, porpoises and whales. Whale hunting was very dangerous. The hunters only had spears. They traveled in very large dugout canoes into very deep water. Hunters had to get very close to a whale to hit it with their harpoons. If they killed a whale it provided tons of meat for the village. When hunters killed a while the village held a large feast to celebrate.

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Land Resources

Sitka Spruce Forest

People on the west coast also gathered berries and other types of food from the forest. Haida people collected: salmon berries, thimbleberries and salal berries. Some berries were eaten right away. Some berries were dried and saved for the winter. Berries were mashed together and spread out to dry in the sun. They formed into dry sheets of berries the Haida ate in the winter.

They also took the bark off of hemlock trees. They scrapped the inside of the bark to gather a white material. This was pressed together to make cake and mixed with dry berries.

They hunted some animals such as elk, deer and bear. Most of their meat came from fish and other ocean animals.

To hunt these different animals West Coast people had many different tools. Hunters used bows and arrows. Hunters also made different kinds of traps such as snares.

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Social and Family Life

Dances and Ceremonies

West Coast people had very elaborate dances and ceremonies. Dancers would wear large wooden masks during the dances. These masks were of animals and spirits from different legends. For example, one dancer might wear a raven mask.

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Travelling to a Potlach by Dugout Canoe

The Potlach

An important festival for people on the west coast was the potlatch. These were held by families for different reasons. A potlatch could be held because someone died. Sometimes they were held to apologize for something someone did. Someone might hold a potlatch because they became a village chief. During this festival the family would hold a large feast for everyone in the village. Potlatches could last for days. During the potlatch the family would give away everything it owned to the people in the village.

Giving away what you own was how people in west coast villages became important. Today people are considered important if they own a lot. West coast people, like many Native people, believed that sharing was more important than owning a lot of things.

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