106-710: Kiidk'yaas (meaning "ancient tree" in the Haida language ), also known as the Golden Spruce , was a Sitka spruce tree ( Picea sitchensis 'Aurea') that grew on the banks of the Yakoun River on the Haida Gwaii archipelago in British Columbia , Canada . It had a rare genetic mutation that caused its needles to be golden in colour (rather than the usual green). Kiidk'yaas was considered sacred by
212-524: A language isolate . This theory is not universally accepted; for example, Enrico (2004) argues that Haida does in fact belong to the Na-Dené family, though early loanwords make the evidence problematic. A proposal linking Na-Dené to the Yeniseian family of central Siberia finds no evidence for including Haida. Haida has a major dialectal division between Northern and Southern dialects. Northern Haida
318-472: A "considerably simplified" form of Haida, and comprehension of the language is mostly limited to persons above the age of 50. The language is rarely used even among the remaining speakers and comprehenders. The Haida have a renewed interest in their traditional culture, and are now funding Haida language programs in schools in the three Haida communities, though these have been ineffectual. Haida classes are available in many Haida communities and can be taken at
424-437: A Haida war party generally followed that of the community itself, the only difference being that the chief took the lead during battles; otherwise his title was more or less meaningless. Medicine men were often brought along raids or before battles to "destroy the souls of enemies" and ensure victory. Battles between a group of Haida warriors and another community sometimes resulted in the annihilation of either one or both of
530-613: A deity who presides over the seas; X_yuu, the northeast wind; and Sin SG_aanuwee, a cosmological "super-being" that encompasses all others. Prior to contact with Europeans, other Indigenous communities regarded the Haida as aggressive warriors and made attempts to avoid sea battles with them. There is some archeological evidence that the Northwest coast tribes, to which the Haida belong, engaged in warfare as early as 2200 BC, although it
636-409: A drastic reduction in the Haida population, which became limited to three villages: Masset , Skidegate , and Hydaburg . Positive attitudes towards assimilation combined with the ban on speaking Haida in residential schools led to a sharp decline in the use of the Haida language among the Haida people, and today almost all ethnic Haida use English to communicate. Classification of the Haida language
742-420: A given group or category," e.g. tluugyaa uu hal tlaahlaang 'he is making a boat (a member of the category of boats).' Partitive nouns are never definite, so the two articles never co-occur. Personal pronouns occur in independent and clitic forms, which may each be in either agentive or objective form; first and second person pronouns also have separate singular and plural forms. The third person pronoun
848-420: A majority of their work on the land. Women were responsible for all of the chores in relation to the keeping of the home. Women were also in charge of curing cedarwood to use for weaving and making clothes. It was also the duty of the women to gather berries and dig for shellfish and clams. Once a boy hit puberty, his uncles on his mothers' side would educate him on his family history and how to behave now that he
954-436: A pandemic. European public health standards at the time were well practiced and adhered-to official health standards, including vaccinations and victims isolation. Instead, as the disease spread, Victoria Police burned some one dozen homes, deliberately displacing 200 Haida on May 13. They went on to burn some 40–50 more indigenous villages the following day. First Nations from further north had been camping periodically outside
1060-531: A period ⟨.⟩ for an "unlinked consonant slot." ⟨r x⟩ are used for /q χ/ in Enrico's Skidegate orthography since they generally correspond to /ʡ͡ʜ ʜ/ in the other dialects. The following are how Haida vowels are written: Enrico (2003) uses ⟨@⟩ for some instances of /a/ based on morphophonemics. Alaskan Haida also has a diphthong written ⟨ei⟩ . Enrico & Stuart (1996) use ⟨ï ë ä⟩ for
1166-783: A plural verb suffix -ru (Skidegate) -7wa (Masset) -'waa / -'uu (Kaigani) that is used to indicate that some third person pronoun in the sentence is plural, and to mark plural subject in imperatives. The third person pronoun that is pluralized can have any grammatical function, e.g. tsiin-ee 'laangaa hl dah rujuu-7wa-gan "I bought all their fish" (Masset). Most nouns referring to family relationships have special vocative forms, e.g. chanáa (Alaskan) chaníi (Masset) "grandfather!" Haida uses so-called "relational nouns" referring to temporal and spatial relations in place of most prepositions or prepositional phrases in English. Many of these are formed with
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#17327869970981272-470: A possessor. The first documented contact between the Haida and Europeans was in 1772, on Juan Pérez 's exploratory voyage. At this time Haidas inhabited the Haida Gwaii , Dall Island , and Prince of Wales Island . The precontact Haida population was about 15,000; the first smallpox epidemic came soon after initial contact, reducing the population to about 10,000 and depopulating a large portion of
1378-453: A series of strategic deep cuts in Kiidk'yaas. The cuts were designed to leave Kiidk'yaas standing but weakened, so that it would be knocked over by the next strong winds. The tree fell two days later. After cutting down the tree, Hadwin left the islands for Prince Rupert, British Columbia . He sent a fax to the media and the Haida nation claiming responsibility for the act, saying that he
1484-476: A small class of true postpositions , some of which may be suffixed to relational nouns. The Alaskan postpositions -k "to" and -st "from" (Skidegate -ga , -sda ) fuse to the preceding word. The Alaskan postposition of -k has been updated in the current Alaska Haida orthography to -g . These also fuse with a preceding suffix -kw to become -gwiik and -guust . The updated orthography for Alaska Haida has changed
1590-519: A specially made military suit was prepared for chiefs if they fell in battle. The slaves belonging to the chiefs who died in battle were burned with them. The Haida used the bow and arrow until it was replaced by firearms acquired from Europeans in the 19th century, but other traditional weapons were still preferred. The weapons that the Haida used were often multi-functional; they were used not only in battle, but during other activities as well. For instance, daggers were very common and almost always
1696-505: A stone pillow and only allowing her to eat and drink small amounts she would become tougher. Although not commonly practiced today, it was once customary for young boys and girls entering puberty to embark on vision quests. These quests would send them out alone for days. They would travel through the forests, in hopes of finding a spirit to guide them through their lives. It was believed that boys and girls who were destined for greatness could find unique spirit guides. A successful vision quest
1802-426: A subclass of verbs. Haida has only a few adpositions . Indo-European-type adjectives translate into verbs in Haida, for example 'láa "(to be) good", and English prepositional phrases are usually expressed with Haida "relational nouns", for instance Alaskan Haida dítkw 'side facing away from the beach, towards the woods'. Haida verbs are marked for tense , aspect , mood , and evidentiality , and person
1908-558: A syllable boundary. In Skidegate Haida, short vowels which do not have marked tone are phonetically lengthened when they are in a word-initial open syllable, thus q'an [qʼán] "grass" becomes q'anaa [qʼàːnáː] "grassy". In Masset Haida, marked low tone syllables have extra length, thus ginn "thing", 7aww "mother". In Kaigani, the system is primarily one of pitch accent , with at most one syllable per word featuring high tone in most words, though there are some exceptions (e.g. gúusgáakw "almost"), and it
2014-640: Is a matter of controversy, with some linguists placing it in the Na-Dené language family and others arguing that it is a language isolate . Haida itself is split between Northern and Southern dialects, which differ primarily in phonology. The Northern Haida dialects have developed pharyngeal consonants , typologically uncommon sounds which are also found in some of the nearby Salishan and Wakashan languages . The Haida sound system includes ejective consonants , glottalized sonorants , contrastive vowel length , and phonemic tone . The nature of tone differs between
2120-602: Is believed to be Hadwin's broken kayak and effects were found on Mary Island in June 1997. Whether he had been murdered, accidentally drowned, or left his belongings behind and fled into the wilderness is not known. His fate remains a mystery. In 1977 a group of botanists from the University of British Columbia (UBC) visited Haida Gwaii to take cuttings of Kiidk'yaas. These cuttings were grafted onto ordinary Sitka spruce, resulting in two golden saplings. The trees were grown in
2226-476: Is complicated by various spreading processes caused by contiguous sonorants across morpheme boundaries, caused by loss of consonants in morpheme-initial position. The high vowels /i iː u uː/ may be realized as upper mid to high and include lax as well as tense values. The vowels /ɛː ɔː/ are rare in Skidegate Haida. /ɔː/ only occurs in some interjections and borrowings, and /ɛː/ only occurs in
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#17327869970982332-399: Is marked by pronouns that are cliticized to the verb. Haida also has hundreds of classifiers . Haida has the rare direct-inverse verbal alignment where instead of nominal cases, it is marked whether the grammatical subject and object follow or not a hierarchy between persons and noun classes. Haida also has obligatory possession , where certain types of nouns cannot stand alone and require
2438-399: Is mostly suffixing. Prefixation is only used to form "complex verbs", made up of a nominal classifier or instrumental plus a bound root, for instance Skidegate sq'acid "pick up stick-object" and ts'icid "pick up several (small objects) together, with tongs", which share the root cid "pick up". Infixation occurs with some stative verbs derived from classifiers, for instance
2544-426: Is not always clear what should be considered an independent "word". High tone syllables are usually heavy (having a long vowel or ending in a sonorant). The syllable template in Haida is (C(C(C))V(V)(C(C)). In Skidegate Haida the two unaspirated stops /p t/ can occur in the syllable coda, while none of the other unaspirated or aspirated stops can. In Masset Haida the unaspirated stops and affricates which may be in
2650-520: Is not doing it that way". Haida uses instrumental prefixes, classificatory prefixes, and directional suffixes to derive verbs. Some verb stems, known as bound stems , must occur with at least one such affix; for example -daa "strike once" requires an instrumental prefix. Haida people The Haida ( English: / ˈ h aɪ d ə / , Haida : X̱aayda , X̱aadas , X̱aad , X̱aat ) are an Indigenous group who have traditionally occupied Haida Gwaii , an archipelago just off
2756-528: Is only used for animates, though for possession ahljíi (lit. "this one") may be used; after relational nouns and prepositions 'wáa (lit. "it, that place, there") is used instead. Number is not marked in most nouns, but is marked in certain cases in verbs. Relationship nouns do have a plural in with -'lang (or for many speakers -lang ), e.g. díi chan'láng "my grandfathers". A few verbs have suppletive plural forms, as in many other North American languages. In addition, Haida has
2862-438: Is split into Alaskan (or Kaigani) Haida and Masset (or North Graham Island) Haida. Southern Haida was originally split into Skidegate Haida and Ninstints Haida, but Ninstints Haida is now extinct and is poorly documented. The dialects differ in phonology and to some extent vocabulary; however, they are grammatically mostly identical. Northern Haida is notable for its pharyngeal consonants . Pharyngeal consonants are rare among
2968-570: Is still in use. Robert Bringhurst , for his publications on Haida literature, created an orthography without punctuation or numerals, and few apostrophes; and in 2008 the Skidegate Haida Immersion Program (SHIP) created another, which is the usual orthography used in Skidegate. Other systems have been used by isolated linguists. Haida consonants are represented as follows. In ANLC orthography ⟨ch⟩
3074-518: Is the language of the Haida people , spoken in the Haida Gwaii archipelago off the coast of Canada and on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska . An endangered language , Haida currently has 24 native speakers, though revitalization efforts are underway. At the time of the European arrival at Haida Gwaii in 1774 , it is estimated that Haida speakers numbered about 15,000. Epidemics soon led to
3180-461: Is used for ⟨ts⟩ in syllable-initial position, and a hyphen is used to distinguish consonant clusters from digraphs (e.g. kwáan-gang contains the sequence /n/ followed by /ɡ/ rather than the consonant /ŋ/ ). Bringhurst uses a raised dot for the same, kwáan·gang . The Enrico orthography uses ⟨l⟩ (or ⟨ll⟩ when long) for the syllabic lateral in Skidegate Haida, e.g. tl'l . Enrico uses
3286-405: Is used in place of both past and inferential forms in sentences with question words. There are four classes of verb stems: Habitual aspect uses the suffix -gang in the present and inferential and -(g)iinii in the past. Potential mood is marked with -hang and hortative with the particle ts'an (in the same position as the tense suffixes). Imperatives are marked with
Kiidk'yaas - Misplaced Pages Continue
3392-591: The -kw to -gw . Some postpositions have forms beginning with ǥ- which are used in some common constructions without a preceding possessive pronoun, and translate into English as a pronoun plus "it", e.g. ǥáa hal gut'anánggang "he's thinking about it" (with ǥáa for aa "to, at"). Haida demonstratives are formed from the bases áa (close to speaker), húu (close to listener), 'wáa (away from both), and a(hl) (something previously mentioned), which when used independently are place demonstratives. These may be given
3498-655: The Haida people ) in order to increase the chances of a successful offspring surviving. The only wood harvested from the tree was used by Nova Scotia luthier George Rizsanyi and broadcaster Jowi Taylor as part of Six String Nation , a guitar dedicated to Canadian history . Other pieces of the guitar include wood from Pierre Trudeau 's canoe paddle and Paul Henderson 's hockey stick. 53°37′12″N 132°12′29″W / 53.62000°N 132.20806°W / 53.62000; -132.20806 Haida language Haida / ˈ h aɪ d ə / ( X̱aat Kíl , X̱aadas Kíl , X̱aayda Kil , Xaad kil )
3604-508: The Haida people . Kiidk'yaas was felled in January 1997 by Grant Hadwin as an act of protest against the logging industry . Kiidk'yaas and its felling are the subject of John Vaillant 's 2005 book The Golden Spruce . Kiidk'yaas features prominently in Haida mythology. The Kiidk'yaas story tells of a young boy who disrespected nature and thereby caused a terrible storm to descend on his village. Only he and his grandfather survived
3710-467: 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 U.S. military officer and the first settler on Whidbey Island , was shot and beheaded on August 11, 1857, by a small Tlingit group from Kake, Alaska , in retaliation for the killing of a respected Kake chief in the raid the year before. Ebey's scalp
3816-477: The UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research . Upon hearing of the tree's destruction in 1997, the arboretum offered one of the two young trees to replace Kiidk'yaas. However, the sapling died in storage before it could be transported to Haida Gwaii. The second sapling survives at UBC. After Kiidk'yaas' felling, attempts were made to propagate a further 80 cuttings (with the permission of
3922-669: The USS ; Massachusetts was sent from Seattle to nearby Port Gamble, where indigenous raiding parties made 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
4028-453: The University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau , Ketchikan , and Hydaburg . A Skidegate Haida language app is available for iPhone , based on a "bilingual dictionary and phrase collection comprised of words and phrases archived at the online Aboriginal language database FirstVoices.com ." In 2017 Kingulliit Productions was working on the first feature film to be acted entirely in Haida;
4134-505: The 18th century as evidenced by Captain James Cook 's discovery of one such hilltop fortification in a Haida village. Numerous other sightings of such fortifications were recorded by other European explorers during this century. There were multiple motivations for the Haida people to engage in warfare. Various accounts explain that the Haida went to battle more for revenge than anything else, and would acquire slaves from their enemies in
4240-512: The 21st century, younger people are also making art in a popular expression such as Haida manga . The Haida also created "notions of wealth", and Jenness credits them with the introduction of the totem pole (Haida: ǥyaagang ) and the bentwood box. Missionaries regarded the carved poles as graven images rather than representations of the family histories that wove Haida society together. Chiefly families showed their histories by erecting totems outside their homes, or on house posts forming
4346-817: The Duu Guusd region of Haida Gwaii migrated north in the early 18th century. Federally recognized Haida tribes in the United States include the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and the Hydaburg Cooperative Association. Some citizens of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska are of Haida heritage. In a first-of-its-kind deal negotiated over the preceding decades, British Columbia in 2024 transferred
Kiidk'yaas - Misplaced Pages Continue
4452-478: The European fashion in 1866, while Northern Haida "were still wearing bearskins and blankets ten years later." In 1862, William Duncan , a British Anglican missionary stationed at Fort Simpson , took fifty Tsimshian converts and created a new model community, Metlakatla , in Alaska. The new village was greatly successful, and throughout the Northwest coast the attitude spread that abandoning tradition would pave
4558-602: The Haida Gospel of John in 1899, and the book of Acts in Haida in the 1890s. The linguist John Enrico created another orthography for Skidegate and Masset Haida which introduced ⟨7⟩ and ⟨@⟩ as letters and did away with the distinction between upper and lower case, and this system is popular in Canada. Another alphabet was devised by Alaska Native Language Center (ANLC) for Kaigani Haida in 1972, based on Tlingit orthographic conventions, and
4664-753: The Haida across Canada. In 1987, the governments of Canada and British Columbia signed the South Moresby Agreement, establishing the Gwaii Haanas National Park , which is cooperatively managed by the Canadian government and the Haida Nation. The blockade was profiled in Christopher Auchter 's 2024 documentary film The Stand . In December 2009, the government of British Columbia officially renamed
4770-590: 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 settle down enough to allow them to dock and set 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,
4876-401: The Haida families as they would identify with one or the other and this would signify what side on the village they would reside on. The family would also own their own property, had specific areas for food gathering. These categories of Eagles and Ravens divided them on an even larger scale, specifying their land, history, and customs. The Haida social system changed significantly by the end of
4982-837: The Haida government consists of a matrix of national and regional hereditary, legislative, and executive bodies including the Hereditary Chiefs Council, the Council of the Haida Nation (CHN) , Old Massett Village Council , Skidegate Band Council , and the Secretariat of the Haida Nation. The Kaigani Haida live north of the Canadian and U.S. border which cuts through the Dixon Entrance south of Prince of Wales Island ( Tlingit : Taan ) in Southeast Alaska , United States; Haida from K'iis Gwaii in
5088-400: The Haida in 1787. The Haida did well for themselves in this industry and until the mid-1800s they were at the centre of the profitable 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 came into conflict with European and American traders. Among the dozens of ships
5194-495: The Knife ( Haida : SG̲aawaay Ḵʹuuna ), was released, with an all-Haida cast. The actors learned Haida for their performances in the film, with a two-week training camp followed by lessons throughout the five weeks of filming. Haida artist Gwaai Edenshaw and Tsilhqot'in filmmaker Helen Haig-Brown directed, with Edenshaw and his brother being co-screenwriters, with Graham Richard and Leonie Sandercock . Christopher Auchter ,
5300-503: The Ninstints dialect area. The next epidemic came in 1862, causing the population to drop to 1,658. Venereal disease and tuberculosis further reduced the population to 588 by 1915. This dramatic decline led to the merger of villages, the final result being three Haida villages: Masset (merged 1876), Skidegate (merged 1879), and Hydaburg (merged 1911). In the 1830s a pidgin trade language based on Haida, known as Haida Jargon ,
5406-510: The Santiago was ultimately unable to dock and they were forced to depart without having set foot on Haida Gwaii. The Haida conducted regular trade with Russian, Spanish, British, and American maritime fur traders and whalers. According to sailing records, they diligently maintained strong trade relationships with Westerners, coastal people, and among themselves. Trade for sea-otter pelts was initiated by British Captain George Dixon with
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#17327869970985512-692: The actors had to be trained to pronounce the lines correctly. The film, entitled SGaawaay K’uuna ("Edge of the Knife"), was due to be released in the United Kingdom in April 2019. Franz Boas first suggested that Haida might be genetically related to the Tlingit language in 1894, and linguist Edward Sapir included Haida in the Na-Dené language family in 1915. This position was later supported by others, including Swanton, Pinnow, and Greenberg and Ruhlen. Today, however, many linguists regard Haida as
5618-484: The archipelago from Queen Charlotte Islands to Haida Gwaii . The Haida Nation asserts Haida title over all of Haida Gwaii and is pursuing negotiations with the provincial and federal governments. Haida authorities continue to pass legislation and manage human activities in Haida Gwaii, which includes making formal agreements with the Canadian communities established on the islands. Haida efforts are largely directed at
5724-427: The building. Well known contemporary Haida artists include Bill Reid , Robert Davidson , Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas , and Freda Diesing amongst others. Transformation masks were worn ceremonially, used by dancers and represented or illustrated the connection between various spirits. The masks usually depicted an animal transforming into another animal or a spiritual or mythical being. Masks were representations of
5830-595: The city limits of Victoria to take advantage 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, 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 gunboats HMS Grappler and Forward . Those infected did not make it home, according to
5936-487: The classifier 7id plus the stative suffix -(aa)gaa becomes 7yaadgaa . The definite article is suffixed -aay . Some speakers shorten this suffix to -ay or -ei . Some nouns, especially verbal nouns ending in long vowels and loan words, take -gaay instead, often accompanied by shortening or eliding preceding aa . Haida also has a partitive article -gyaa , referring to "part of something or ... to one or more objects of
6042-529: The coast of British Columbia , Canada , for at least 12,500 years. The Haida are known for their craftsmanship , trading skills, and seamanship . They are known to have frequently carried out raids and to have practiced slavery . The Haida have been compared to the Vikings of Scandinavia by Diamond Jenness , an early anthropologist at the Canadian Museum of Civilization . In Haida Gwaii,
6148-1051: The contrasts between vowels, or sequences of vowels and the semivowels /j/ and /w/ , are neutralized in certain positions: The vowels /ɯ ɜ æ/ and short /o/ occur in nonsense syllables in Haida songs. Haida features phonemic tone , the nature of which differs by dialect. The Canadian dialects (Skidegate and Masset) have a tone system with low functional load . Unmarked heavy syllables (those with long vowels or ending in sonorants) have high pitch, and unmarked light syllables have low pitch: gid [ɡ̊ìd̥] "dog", gin [ɡ̊ín] "sapwood". Examples of marked syllables include sùu "among" (Masset), k'á "tiny" (Skidegate). In Masset Haida marked low tone syllables are more common, resulting from elision of intervocalic consonants: compare Skidegate 7axad to Masset 7àad "net". Some alternations may be interpreted as results of syllable parsing rather than marked tone: compare Masset q'al.a [qʼálà] 'muskeg' to q'ala [qʼàlà] 'be suspicious of', where . marks
6254-587: The dialects, and in Alaskan Haida it is primarily a pitch accent system. Syllabic laterals appear in all dialects of Haida, but are only phonemic in Skidegate Haida. Extra vowels which are not present in Haida words occur in nonsense words in Haida songs. There are a number of systems for writing Haida using the Latin alphabet , each of which represents the sounds of Haida differently. While in Haida nouns and verbs behave as clear word classes, adjectives form
6360-447: The disease was spread throughout Haida Gwaii. The disease quickly spread throughout 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
6466-661: The dominant culture. In 1911, Canada and British Columbia rejected a Haida offer whereby in exchange for full rights of British citizenship Haidas would formally join the Dominion of Canada . In November 1985, members of the Haida nation protested the ongoing logging of old-growth forests on Haida Gwaii, establishing a blockade to prevent the logging of Lyell Island by Western Forest Products . A standoff between protesters, police and loggers lasted two weeks, during which 72 Haidas were arrested. Images of elders being arrested gained media traction, which raised awareness and support for
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#17327869970986572-415: The following suffixes to create other demonstratives: jii (singular object), sgaay (plural objects), s(d)luu (quantity or time), tl'an (place), tl'daas (plural people), tsgwaa (area), and k'un (manner). Haida verbs have three basic forms: the present , the past , and the inferential forms. The past and inferential forms are both used to refer to events in
6678-419: The form and antics of a Raven. Ne-kilst-lass revealed the world and was an active player in the creation of life. While Ne-kilst-lass has a generous inclination, they also includes a darker, indulgent, and trickster quality. Nang Kilsldaas is merely one of many dozens of supernatural beings who personify a wide variety of forces, objects, places, and phenomena. A few of the most prevalent include K_ing.gii,
6784-506: The form of gifts. They are often held when a citizen wishes to commemorate an event of importance. For example, deaths of a loved one, marriages, and other civil proceedings. The more important potlatches take years to prepare and can continue for days. Haida society continues to produce a robust and highly stylized art form, a leading component of Northwest Coast art . While artists frequently have expressed this in large wooden carvings ( totem poles ), Chilkat weaving , or ornate jewellery, in
6890-481: The groups involved. Villages would be burned down during a battle which was a common practice during Northwest coast battles. The Haida burned their warriors who died in battles, though it is not known if this act was done after each battle or only after battles in which they were victorious. The Haida believed that fallen warriors went to the House of Sun, which was considered a highly honorable death. For this reason,
6996-615: The late Archaic period and early Formative period show that Northwest coast nations, particularly in the North where most Haida communities were situated, began more frequently engaging in battles of some sort from 1800 BC to AD 500, though the number of battles is unknown. This rise in the incidence of battles during the Middle Pacific period also correlates with the erection of the first defensive fortifications in Haida communities. These fortifications continued to be in use during
7102-555: The nephew of Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas , has created a number of Haida centered films. In 2017 he directed the animated film The Mountain of SGaana , inspired by Haida mythology. His short documentary Now Is the Time premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival . The Haida nation was split between two moieties , the Raven and the Eagle. Marriages between two people from
7208-428: The nineteenth century. At this point a majority of the Haida had taken nuclear family forms, and members of families belonging in the same moiety (Ravens and Eagles) were permitted to marry each other. The roles of the family varied between men and women. Men were responsible for all of the hunting and fishing, building homes and carving canoes and totem poles. The women's responsibilities were to stay close to home doing
7314-405: The particle hl after the first phrase in the sentence, or hlaa after the verb word (the verb dropping final weak aa if present) if there is no non-verbal phrase. Verbs are negated with the negative suffix -'ang , usually with the negative word gam "not" in sentence-head position. Verbs drop weak -aa before this suffix, e.g. gám hín hal ist-ánggang "he
7420-424: The past, but differ in evidentiality : the inferential marks that the speaker was informed of or inferred the event rather than having experienced it personally. The bare present form refer to present-tense events, while future is formed with the suffix -saa , using a present-form verb, e.g. hal káasaang "he will go". The interrogative past form, made from the inferential form by removing final n ,
7526-610: The phonemic level. Several orthographies have been devised for writing Haida. The first alphabet was devised by the missionary Charles Harrison of the Church Mission Society who translated some Old Testament Stories in the Haida Language, and some New Testament books. These were published by the British and Foreign Bible Society with the Haida Gospel of Matthew in 1891, Haida Gospel of Luke in 1899 and
7632-676: The plans of the colonial governments, and passed on at Bones Bay near Alert Bay. Later on a group of copper miners travelled from Bella Coola aboard the Leonede under command of Captain McAlmond. The boat took 12 passengers in December. One of these passengers carried smallpox to Haida Gwaii. This might not have been a disaster should the infected miner have stayed in isolation at the mining site on Sḵʼin G̱aadll , or Skincuttle Island. Instead
7738-410: The preceding decades, British Columbia in 2024 transferred the title of more than 200 islands off Canada's west coast to the Haida people, recognizing the nation's aboriginal land title across all of Haida Gwaii. The Haida language is considered to be an isolate . In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Haida was de facto banned with the introduction of residential schools and the enforcement of
7844-489: The process. According to the anthropologist Margaret Blackman , warfare on Haida Gwaii was primarily motivated by revenge. Many Northwest coast legends tell of Haida communities raiding and fighting with neighbouring communities because of insults or other disputes. Other causes included conflicts over property, territory, resources, trade routes, and even women. However, a battle between a Haida community and another often did not have simply one cause. In fact, many battles were
7950-405: The protection of land and water and functioning ecosystems and this is expressed in the protected status for nearly 70% of the million-hectare archipelago. The protected status applies to the landscape and water as well as smaller culturally significant areas. They have also forced a reduction of large-scale industrial activity and the careful regulation of access to resources. In British Columbia,
8056-599: The rationale being that this would aid the children in their school education. After this point few children were raised with Haida as a primary language. Today most Haida do not speak the Haida language. The language is listed as "critically endangered" in UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger , with nearly all speakers elderly. As of 2003, most speakers of Haida are between 70 and 80 years of age, though they speak
8162-733: The result of decades old disputes. The Haida, like several other Northwest coast Indigenous communities, engaged in slave raiding as slaves were highly sought after for their use as labor as well as bodyguards and warriors. During the 19th century, the Haida fought physically with other Indigenous communities to ensure domination of the fur trade with European merchants. Haida groups also had feuds with these European merchants that could last years. In 1789, some Haidas were accused of stealing items from Captain Kendrick , most of which included drying linen. Kendrick seized two Haida chiefs and threatened to kill them via cannon-fire if they did not return
8268-450: The same moiety were prohibited. Due to this any children that were born after the marriage would officially become part of the moiety that the mother had come from. Each group provided its members with entitlement to a vast range of economic resources such as fishing spots, hunting or collecting areas, and housing sites. Each group also had rights to their own myths and legends, dances, songs, and music. Eagles and Ravens were very important to
8374-504: The souls of the mask owner's family waiting in the afterlife to be reborn. Masks worn during ceremonial dances were designed with strings to open the mask, transforming the spiritual animal into a carving of the ancestor underneath. There was also an emphasis on the idea of metamorphosis and reincarnation. With the banning of potlatches by the Canadian government in 1885, many masks were confiscated. Masks and many other objects are considered sacred and designed only for specific people to see. It
8480-416: The stolen items. Though the Haida community complied at the time, less than two years later 100 to 200 of its people attacked the same ship. The missionary William Collison describes having seen a Haida fleet of around forty canoes. However, he does not provide the number of warriors in these canoes, and there are no other known accounts that describe the number of warriors in a war party. The structure of
8586-482: The storm. As they fled the village, the grandfather warned the boy not to look back. The boy disobeyed, and was immediately turned into the Golden Spruce where he stood. In January 1997, 47-year-old unemployed forest engineer Grant Hadwin travelled to Haida Gwaii and purchased a chainsaw and other felling equipment. Early on the morning of January 20, 1997 he swam across the freezing Yakoun River and made
8692-412: The suffix -guu , or in Alaskan Haida more often -kw . The updated orthography for Alaska Haida has changed the -kw to -gw . For example, Haida únkw / ínkw / ánkw "surface" likely comes from ún "back (noun)", and Alaskan Haida dítkw "side facing away from the beach, towards the woods" comes from the noun (a)díit "away from the beach, place in
8798-732: The syllable coda are /p t t͡s t͡ʃ k/ , in Alaskan Haida /p t t͡s t͡ɬ k kʷ ʡ͡ʜ/ . Would-be final /q/ in loanwords may be nativized to zero. In Skidegate Haida a long syllabic lateral may appear in VV position, e.g. tl'll "sew". Historically this developed from long ii after a lateral consonant, but a few Skidegate words retain ii in this position, e.g. qaahlii "inside", liis "mountain goat wool". Syllabic resonants occur frequently in Masset Haida and occasionally in Kaigani Haida, but they are not present on
8904-657: The symbol ⟨⟩ . Unspecified /a/ becomes /u/ after /w/ , /i/ after (non-lateral) alveolar and palatal consonants, and syllabic /l/ after lateral consonants. This does not exist in Masset Haida. A small class of Masset Haida words has a new vowel in place of this unspecified vowel which differs in quality from the vowel /a/ . /ə/ is the short counterpart of /aː/ and so can also be analyzed as /a/ . Though quite variable in realization, it has an allophone [ʌ] when occurring after uvular and epiglottal consonants. The sequences /jaː/ and /waː/ tend towards [æː] and [ɒː] for some speakers. A number of
9010-569: The term "Haida Nation" often refers to the Haida people as a whole however, it also refers to their government, the Council of the Haida Nation . All people of Haida ancestry are entitled to Haida citizenship, including the Kaigani, who as Alaskans are also part of the Central Council Tlingit Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska government. In a deal negotiated between the government and the Haida nation over
9116-476: The thighs and lower back and slats (a long strip of wood) in the side pieces to allow for more flexibility during movement. They wore elk hide tunics under their armour and wooden helmets. Arrows could not penetrate this armour, and Russian explorers found that bullets could penetrate the armour only if shot from a distance of less than 6.1 metres (20 ft). The Haida rarely used shields because of their developed armour. Historical Haida villages were: This
9222-508: The time of the arrival of the first 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 ago 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 first recorded contact between
9328-459: The title over more than 200 islands off Canada's west coast to the Haida nation. 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 present at
9434-795: The tribe captured were the Eleanor and the Susan Sturgis . The tribe made use of European weapons they acquired, using cannons and canoe-mounted swivel guns . British colonial authorities formally annexed Haida Gwaii in 1853 by establishing the Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands. It was later integrated into the Colony of British Columbia in 1858. Colonial authorities backed their claims using gunboat diplomacy, both in Haida Gwaii and more broadly throughout northeastern Pacific coastal indigenous title territories. Also in 1857,
9540-460: The two words tleehll "five" and tl'lneeng (a clitic ). In Masset Haida /ɛ/ and /ɛː/ are both very common are involved in spreading and ablaut processes. Alaskan Haida has neither of these, but has a diphthong /ei/ , introduced from contraction of low-toned /əʔi/ and /əji/ sequences. In Skidegate Haida, some instances of the vowel /a/ are on an underlying level unspecified for quality; Enrico (2003) marks specified /a/ with
9646-415: The use of English language. Haida language revitalization projects began in the 1970s and continue to this day. It is estimated that there are only 3 or 4 dozen Haida-speaking people with almost all of them being the age of 70 or older. Haida host Potlatches which were intricate economic and social-political processes that include acquisition of incorporeal wealth like names and the circulation of property in
9752-479: The use of the Haida language were widespread among the Haida people, even in the fairly conservative village of Masset where Keen was located. In an 1894 letter, Keen wrote: These people would fain have their services etc. entirely in English. It has been by sheer determination that I now have the whole service (except hymns and canticles) in the vernacular. Beginning at the turn of the century, Haida began sending their children to residential schools . This practice
9858-464: The vowels /ɯ ɜ æ/ that occur in nonsense syllables in songs. The Alaskan Haida orthography was updated in 2010 by Jordan Lachler. The word classes in Haida are nouns, verbs, postpositions, demonstratives, quantifiers, adverbs, clitics, exclamations, replies, classifiers, and instrumentals. Unlike in English, adjectives and some words for people are expressed with verbs, e.g. jáada "(to be a) woman", 'láa "(to be) good". Haida morphology
9964-633: The way for a better life. The Haida themselves invited missionaries to their community, the first arriving in 1876. These missionaries initially worked in the Haida language. The Rev. John Henry Keen translated the Book of Common Prayer into Haida, published in 1899 in London by the Church Mission Society . The book of Psalms as well as 3 Gospels and Acts from the New Testament would also be translated into Haida. However, negative attitudes towards
10070-704: 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 works such as totem posts were destroyed or taken to museums around the world. This significantly undermined Haida's self-knowledge and further diminished morale. The government began forcibly sending some Haida children to residential schools as early as 1911. Haida children were sent as far away as Alberta to live among English-speaking families where they were to be assimilated into
10176-525: The weapon of choice for hand-to-hand combat, and were also used during hunting and to create other tools. One medicine man's dagger that Alexander Mackenzie came across during his exploration of Haida Gwaii, was used both for fights and to hold the medicine man's hair up. Another dagger that Mackenzie obtained from a Haida village was said to be connected to a Haida legend; many daggers had individual histories which made them unique from one another. The Haida wore rod-and-slat armour . This meant greaves for
10282-508: The woods". These contrast with "local nouns", which refer to localities and do not occur with possessive pronouns, e.g. (a)sáa "above, up". Some local nouns have an optional prefix a- which does not have semantic value. Both relational and local nouns may take the areal suffix -sii to refer to the entire area rather than a particular location, so for example 'waa ungkw means "[at some place] on its surface" while 'waa ungkwsii means "its surface area". Haida has
10388-833: The world's languages, even in North America. They are an areal feature of some languages in a small portion of Northwest America, in the Salishan and Wakashan languages as well as Haida. The pharyngeal consonants of Wakashan and Northern Haida are known to have developed recently. In Alaskan Haida, all velar, uvular, and epiglottal consonants, as well as /n l j/ for some speakers, have rounded variants resulting from coalescence of clusters with /w/ . Alaskan Haida also shows simplification of /ŋ/ to /n/ when preceding an alveolar or postalveolar obstruent, and of /sd̥͡ɮ̊/ to /sl/ . In Skidegate Haida, /x/ has allophone [h] in syllable-final position. Masset Haida phonology
10494-449: Was a man. It was believed that a special diet would increase his abilities. For example, duck tongues helped him hold his breath under water, whereas blue jay tongues helped him to be a strong climber. The aunts on the father's side of a young Haida woman would teach her about her duties to her tribe once she first began to menstruate. The young woman would go to a secluded space in her family home. They believed that by making her sleep on
10600-571: Was celebrated by the wearing of masks, face paints, and costumes. Haida beliefs are varied and diverse. Modern Haida ascribe to a wide variety of faiths including Protestantism, Catholicism, and Bahá'i. Nihilist, atheist, agnostic, and absurdist perspectives also attend the nation's post-colonial context. Pre-colonial beliefs, however, may still be most popular, and potlatch maintains its elevated situation in Haida society. Many Haida believe in an ultimate being called Ne-kilst-lass , spelt Nang Kilsdlaas in Skidegate dialect, which can manifest through
10706-595: Was most widespread among the Southern Haida; among the Northern Haida it was practiced by the more "progressive" families. These schools strictly enforced a ban on the use of native languages, and played a major role in the decimation of native Northwest Coast languages. The practice of Haida families using English to address children spread in Masset in the 1930s, having already been practiced in Skidegate,
10812-599: Was motivated by "rage and hatred towards university-trained professionals and their extremist supporters". The act outraged people throughout Canada and received extensive media coverage. Hadwin was arrested, ordered to return to Haida Gwaii to stand trial, and was released on bail . Hadwin planned to travel to his trial date by crossing the notoriously stormy and violent Hecate Strait (from Prince Rupert to Masset ) alone by kayak in mid-winter. He departed Prince Rupert in February 1997 but never arrived at his trial. What
10918-479: Was not a regular occurrence in the archeological record until the subsequent millennium. Though the Haida were more likely to participate in sea battles, it was not uncommon for them to engage in hand-to-hand combat or long-range attacks. Hostilities were not always violent, often ritualized and some resulting in Peace Treaties still in force hundreds of years later. Analyses of skeletal injuries dating from
11024-579: Was purchased from the Kake by an American trader in 1860. The 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic began on March 26 when a steamship called Brother Jonathan arrived in Victoria from San Francisco containing a passenger infected with smallpox . At the time thousands of indigenous people lived in villages outside the walls of Fort Victoria. The disease broke out amongst Tsimshian people in their community near Fort Victoria. This quickly spread into
11130-456: Was unknown who the wearer of the mask was as each mask was made for each individual's soul and spirit animal. Due to the confiscation of the masks and the sacred meaning to each individual who wore the mask, it is unknown if the masks in museums are truly meant to be seen or if they are an aspect of European colonialism and the rejection of Haida religious and spiritual traditions. In 2018, the first feature-length Haida-language film, The Edge of
11236-500: Was used in the islands by speakers of English, Haida, Coast Tsimshian , and Heiltsuk . The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858 led to a boom in the town of Victoria , and Southern Haida began traveling there annually, mainly for the purpose of selling their women. For this the Haida used Chinook Jargon . This contact with whites had a strong effect on the Southern Haida, even as the Northern Haida remained culturally conservative. For instance, Skidegate Haida were reported as dressing in
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