View source for Haida Gwaii

{{Short description|Archipelago in British Columbia, Canada}}
{{Redirect|Queen Charlotte Islands|the Solomon Islands archipelago formerly called Queen Charlotte's Islands|Santa Cruz Islands}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox islands
| name             = Haida Gwaii
| sobriquet        = "Queen Charlottes"<br />"The Charlottes"
| image_name       = File:Gwaii Haanas (26924832433).jpg
| image_caption    = [[Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site|Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve]]
| image_size       =
| map_image        = HaidaGwaii2022OSM.png
| map_caption      = Map of Haida Gwaii
| pushpin_map      = British Columbia
| pushpin_label    = Haida Gwaii
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_alt  = Haida Gwaii in British Columbia
| pushpin_map_caption = Haida Gwaii in British Columbia
| location         = [[Pacific Ocean]]
| coordinates      = {{Coord|53|N|132|W|region:CA-BC_dim:300km|display=inline,title}}
| archipelago      =
| total_islands    = {{circa}} 150
| major_islands    = {{hlist|[[Graham Island]]| [[Moresby Island]]}}
| area_km2         = 10,180
| highest_mount    = [[Mount Moresby]]
| elevation_m      = 1,164
| country1         = Canada
| country1_admin_divisions_title   = [[Provinces and territories of Canada|Province]]
| country1_admin_divisions         = [[British Columbia]]
| country1_largest_city            = [[Queen Charlotte, British Columbia|Village of Daajing Giids]]
| country1_largest_city_population = 964
| population       = 4,526<ref>{{cite web |url= https://bcstats.shinyapps.io/popApp/ |title= BC Population Estimates & Projections |website=bcstats.shinyapps.io |access-date= 6 December 2022}}</ref>
| population_as_of = 2021
| density_km2      = 0.445
| timezone  = [[Pacific Time Zone|Pacific]]
}}
'''Haida Gwaii''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|aɪ|d|ə|_|ˈ|g|w|aɪ}};<ref name="BCGNISHaidaGwaii">{{Cite bcgnis|id= 61561 |title= Haida Gwaii}}</ref> {{langx|hai|X̱aaydag̱a Gwaay.yaay}} / {{lang|hai|X̱aayda gwaay}}, literally "Islands of the [[Haida people]]"),<ref name="Ku" /> previously known as the '''Queen Charlotte Islands''', is an [[archipelago]] located between {{cvt|55|–|125|km}} off the [[British Columbia Coast|northern Pacific coast]] in the Canadian province of [[British Columbia]]. The islands are separated from the mainland to the east by the shallow [[Hecate Strait]].<ref name="HG" /> [[Queen Charlotte Sound (Canada)|Queen Charlotte Sound]] lies to the south, with [[Vancouver Island]] beyond. To the north, the disputed [[Dixon Entrance]] separates Haida Gwaii from the [[Alexander Archipelago]] in the U.S. state of [[Alaska]].

Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: [[Graham Island]] ({{lang|hai|Kiis Gwaay}}) in the north and [[Moresby Island]] ({{Langx|hai|T'aawxii X̱aaydag̱a Gwaay.yaay linag̱waay|4=south people island half}}, or {{lang|hai|Gwaay Haanas}} "Islands of Beauty") in the south, along with approximately 400 smaller islands<ref name=HG>{{cite news |title=Welcome to Haida Gwaii: "Haida Gwaii is not only where we are, this is who we are" |publisher=Haida Gwaii Observer |url=https://www.haidagwaiiobserver.com/ |page=3 |year=2018 |access-date=2019-06-04 |archive-date=2019-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604164156/https://www.haidagwaiiobserver.com/ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=June 2019}} with a total landmass of {{convert|10180|km²|0|abbr= on}}. Other major islands include [[Anthony Island (British Columbia)|Anthony Island]] ({{lang|hai| Sg̱ang Gwaay}}), [[Burnaby Island]] ({{lang|hai|Sg̱aay Kun Gwaay.yaay}}), [[Langara Island]] ({{Langx|hai|Kiis Gwaay|label=none}}), [[Lyell Island]] ({{Langx|hai|Athlii Gwaii|label=none}}), [[Louise Island]],  ({{lang|hai|Ḵ'uuna Gwaay}}), [[Alder Island (Haida Gwaii)|Alder Island]] and [[Kunghit Island]] ({{Langx|hai|G̱angx̱id Gwaay|label=none}}).<ref name="Ku">{{cite web |title= Ship X̱aayda Kil Glossary |url= http://www.sd50.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/ship_xaayda_kil_glossary-2010-March.pdf |website=sd50.bc.ca |publisher= Skidegate Haida Immersion Program |access-date= 19 February 2018 |date= March 2011|archive-date= 10 June 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120610054446/http://www.sd50.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/ship_xaayda_kil_glossary-2010-March.pdf|url-status= dead}}</ref>

On June 3, 2010, the ''Haida Gwaii Reconciliation Act'' formally renamed the archipelago to Haida Gwaii as part of the Kunst'aa guu – Kunst'aayah Reconciliation Protocol<ref name="Reconciliation">{{cite web |author1= Haida Nation |author2= Her Majesty the Queen in Her Right of the Province of British Columbia |title= Amending Agreement of the Kunst'aa guu - Kunst'aayah Reconciliation Protocol |url= http://coastalfirstnations.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/haida_rp_fully_signed_and_dated_-_jan_22_2016-1.pdf |website=coastalfirstnations.ca |access-date= 19 February 2018 |date= Autumn 2015 |archive-date= 21 February 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180221035440/http://coastalfirstnations.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/haida_rp_fully_signed_and_dated_-_jan_22_2016-1.pdf |url-status= live}}</ref> between British Columbia and the Haida people.<ref name="BCGNISHaidaGwaii"/><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.leg.bc.ca/39th2nd/1st_read/gov18-1.htm |title= Bill 18 — 2010: Haida Gwaii Reconciliation Act |website= |author= Legislative Assembly of British Columbia |publisher= Queen's Printer |access-date= 17 March 2011 |archive-date= 3 April 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120403025037/http://www.leg.bc.ca/39th2nd/1st_read/gov18-1.htm |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/10017_01 |title= HAIDA GWAII RECONCILIATION ACT |website=www.bclaws.ca |access-date= 2017-07-02 |archive-date= 2017-07-31 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170731004137/http://www.bclaws.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/10017_01 |url-status= live }}</ref> 
The previous official name '''Queen Charlotte Islands''' was given by British explorer [[George Dixon (Royal Navy officer)|George Dixon]] in 1787 and the islands are known colloquially as "the Charlottes".<ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite bcgnis|id= 38615 |title= Queen Charlotte Islands}}</ref> 

The islands, upon which people have lived for 13,000 years,<ref>{{cite web |title= History: Where we've come from (our history) |url= http://massetbc.com/about-us/history/ |website= Masset BC |publisher= Village of Masset |access-date= 19 February 2018 |quote= Haida Gwaii has been home to the Haida since time immemorial, and evidence of their habitation of the islands dates back 13,000 years. |archive-date= 20 February 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180220151857/http://massetbc.com/about-us/history/ |url-status= live}}</ref> form the heartland of the Haida Nation.  Members of the Haida Nation currently make up approximately half of the islands' population.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.haidanation.ca/Pages/history/haidanation.html |title=History of the Haida Nation |publisher=Council of the Haida Nation |access-date=2014-08-16 |quote=Today, Haida people make up half of the 5000 people living on the islands |archive-date=2016-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514105437/http://www.haidanation.ca/Pages/history/haidanation.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Council of the Haida Nation]] (CHN, {{lang|hai|X̱aaydag̱a Waadlux̱an Naay}}) was established in 1974 to "strive for full independence, sovereignty and self-sufficiency of the Haida Nation".<ref>{{cite web
 |url= http://www.haidanation.ca/?page_id=34
 |title= Mandate - Council of the Haida Nation
 |year= 2019
 |website= Council of the Haida Nation
 |access-date= 18 May 2019
 |quote= The CHN shall strive for full independence, sovereignty and self-sufficiency of the Haida Nation.
 |archive-date= 3 May 2019
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190503212535/http://www.haidanation.ca/?page_id=34
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref> As recently as 2015, the Haida Nation hosted [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] delegations such as the [[potlatch]] and subsequent [[peace treaty|treaty]] signing between the Haida and [[Heiltsuk Nation]].<ref>{{cite news|last1= Erwin|first1= Ryan|title= Heiltsuk and Haida nations finalize peace treaty|url= https://globalnews.ca/news/2085293/heiltsuk-and-haida-nations-finalize-peace-treaty/|access-date= 19 February 2018|publisher= Global News|date= 30 June 2015|archive-date= 20 February 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180220092754/https://globalnews.ca/news/2085293/heiltsuk-and-haida-nations-finalize-peace-treaty/|url-status= live}}</ref> A small number of [[Kaigani Haida]] also live on the traditionally [[Tlingit]] [[Prince of Wales Island (Alaska)|Prince of Wales Island]] in Alaska. In a deal negotiated between the government and the Haida nation over the preceding decades, British Columbia in 2024 transferred the title over more than 200 islands off Canada's west coast to the Haida people, recognizing the nation's aboriginal land title throughout Haida Gwaii.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Cecco |first=Leyland |date=2024-04-15 |title=Canada hands 'long-overdue' title over more than 200 islands to Haida Nation |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/15/haida-first-nation-land-canada |access-date=2024-07-05 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name="Big Shift">{{Cite news |last1=Onishi |first1=Norimitsu |last2=Bracken |first2=Amber |date=2024-07-04 |title=On Small Islands Off Canada's Coast, a Big Shift in Power |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/04/world/canada/canada-indigenous-rights-haida.html |access-date=2024-07-05 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Some of the islands are protected under federal legislation as the [[Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site]], which includes the southernmost part of Moresby Island and several adjoining islands and islets. Coastal temperate rain forest at the shore, the preserve also includes the San Cristoval Mountains, so named by the first European explorer, [[Juan José Pérez Hernández]], and the oldest surviving European place name on the BC coast. Facilities are minimal, and access is via boat or seaplane.<ref>{{cite news| page=22 | title=Gwaii Haanas | work= Haida Gwaii | publisher=Haida Gwaii Observer | year=2018}}</ref> Also protected, but under provincial jurisdiction, are several provincial parks, the largest of which is [[Naikoon Provincial Park]] on northeastern Graham Island. The islands are home to an abundance of wildlife, including a large subspecies of black bear (''[[Ursus americanus carlottae]]''), and the smallest subspecies of ermine, the [[Haida ermine]] (''Mustela haidarum haidarum''), both [[Endemism|endemic]] to the islands. [[Black-tailed deer]], elk, beaver, muskrat, two species of rats, and [[raccoon]] are [[introduced species]] of mammals that have become abundant, imparting many ecological changes to the ecosystem.

== Transportation ==
There is no public transportation on Haida Gwaii. Taxis and car rentals are available, and shuttles can be arranged.<ref name=HG2>{{cite news|title=Arriving in Haida Gwaii | page=7 | work=Haida Gwaii |publisher=Haida Gwaii Observer| year=2018}}</ref>

The primary transportation links between the Islands and mainland British Columbia are through the [[Sandspit Airport]], the [[Masset Airport]] and the [[BC Ferries]] terminal at [[Skidegate]].

The westernmost leg of [[British Columbia Highway 16|Highway 16]] connects [[Masset]] and Skidegate on Graham Island,<ref name=HG /> and Skidegate with [[Prince Rupert, British Columbia|Prince Rupert]] on the mainland via regular BC Ferries service by the [[MV Northern Adventure|MV ''Northern Adventure'']]. Reservations are strongly recommended for the ferry.<ref name=HG2/>

There is also regular BC Ferries service between Skidegate and Alliford Bay on Moresby Island. Floatplane services connect to facilities such as the [[Alliford Bay Water Aerodrome]] and [[Masset Water Aerodrome]].

There are {{cvt|120.|km}} of highway on Graham Island. On Moresby, only {{cvt|20.|km}} of paved road line the coast.<ref name=hg3>{{cite news|page=8 | title=Getting Around |work=Haida Gwaii |publisher=Haida Gwaii Observer |year=2018}}</ref>

== Economy ==
The economy is mixed, including art and natural resources, primarily [[logging]] and [[commercial fishing]]. Furthermore, service industries and government jobs provide about one-third of the jobs, and tourism has become a more prominent part of the economy in recent years, especially for fishing and [[tour guide]]s, cycling, camping, and [[Adventure travel|adventure tourism]].  Indigenous culture tourism has been enhanced with the establishment of the [[Haida Heritage Centre]] at Kaay Ilnygaay.

== Education ==
Public education is provided through [[School District 50 Haida Gwaii]], which operates elementary and secondary schools in Masset, [[Port Clements]], [[Daajing Giids]], [[Sandspit, British Columbia|Sandspit]], and Skidegate. The Old Masset Village Council operates Chief Matthews School, a K/4 through grade 5 (and grade 6 as of the 2023-24 school year) school.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chief Matthews School |url=https://oldmassettvillagecouncil.com/chief-matthews-school/ |website=Old Massett |access-date=20 July 2024}}</ref> Higher education programs are offered at the Haida Heritage Centre in partnership with the [[University of Northern British Columbia]], and with the Haida Gwaii Higher Education Society.<ref>{{cite web |title=Haida Gwaii Higher Education Society webpage |url=http://www.haidagwaiisemester.com/ |website=ww38.haidagwaiisemester.com |access-date=2014-02-02 |archive-date=2022-01-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120140749/https://www.haidagwaiisemester.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Health care ==
Publicly funded health services are provided by [[Northern Health]], the regional health authority responsible for the northern half of the province.

Haida Gwaii is served by two hospitals: The Northern Haida Gwaii Hospital and Health Centre opened in 2008, and serves the northern communities of Masset, Old Massett, Port Clements and Tow Hill.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Province plans for a new hospital on Haida Gwaii |date=2012-04-12 |publisher=[[Ministry of Health (British Columbia)]] |location=Queen Charlotte |url=https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2012HLTH0035-000449 |access-date=2025-10-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Loverin |first=Edzi'u |date=2024-08-12 |title=Despite staffing incentives, Masset, B.C., ER closures continue |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/masset-er-closures-haida-gwaii-1.7290481 |access-date=2025-10-27 |work=[[CBC News]]}}</ref> The Haida Gwaii Hospital and Health Centre ({{Langx|hai|Xaayda Gwaay Ngaaysdll Naay}}) which first opened to patients in November 2016, is located in Daajing Giids and serves patients in the southern communities of Daajing Giids, Skidegate, Sandspit and Tlell.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Haida Gwaii Hospital officially opens |date=2016-11-24 |publisher=[[Ministry of Health (British Columbia)]] |location=Village Of Queen Charlotte |url=https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2016HLTH0088-002478 |access-date=2025-10-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=South End Tour |url=https://www.haidagwaiihealth.ca/south-end-tour.html |access-date=2025-10-27 |website=Haida Gwaii Health}}</ref>

Haida Gwaii has four British Columbia Ambulance stations. They are staffed by approximately 36 casual emergency medical responders (EMR), and one part-time community paramedic based in Masset.

== Population ==
At the time of European contact in 1774, the population was roughly 30,000 people, residing in several towns and including slave populations drawn from other clans of [[Haida people|Haida]] as well as from other nations.<ref name="t053">{{cite book | last=Penikett | first=Tony | title=Reconciliation: First Nations Treaty Making in British Columbia | publisher=D & M Publishers | date=December 1, 2009 | isbn=978-1-926706-29-0 | url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=bhujtZuDNFUC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PA205&dq=1774%252C%2520the%2520population%2520was%2520roughly%252030%252C000%2520people%252C%2520Haida&pg=PA205#v=onepage&q&f=true  |page=205}}</ref> It is estimated that ninety percent of the population died during the 1800s from [[smallpox]] alone; other diseases arrived as well, including [[typhoid]], [[measles]], and [[syphilis]], affecting many more inhabitants.{{sfn|Trigger|Washburn|Adams|MacLeod|1996|p=124}}{{sfn|Kennedy|Bouchard|Gessler|2010|p=}} The [[1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic]] alone killed over 70% of the Haida people.

By 1915, only 600 people remained..<ref name="t053"/> Towns were abandoned as people left their homes for the towns of Skidegate and Masset, for cannery towns on the mainland, or for Vancouver Island. Today, around 4,500 people live on the islands.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011|title=File not found &#124; Fichier non trouvé|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023112826/http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011|archive-date=2012-10-23|url-status=dead}}</ref>  About 70% of the Indigenous people (Haida) live in two communities at [[Skidegate, British Columbia|Skidegate]] and [[Old Massett]], with a population of about 700 each. In total, the Haida make up 45% of the population of the islands.

[[Anthony Island (British Columbia)|Anthony Island]] and the [[Ninstints]] Haida village site were made a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]] in 2006; in the decision, the decline in population wrought by disease was referenced when citing the "vanished civilization" of the Haida.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/157.pdf|title=World Hertiage Lin No. 157|author=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|website=whc.unesco.org|access-date=2019-12-26|archive-date=2016-08-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809213453/http://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/157.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Haida Houses.jpg|thumb|Houses and [[totem poles]], Skidegate, 26 July 1878]]
Haida Gwaii is considered by archaeologists as an option for a Pacific coastal route taken by the first humans migrating to the Americas from the Bering Strait.<ref name=Hume>{{cite news|last1=Hume|first1=Mark|title=Underwater discovery near Haida Gwaii could rewrite human history|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-researchers-may-have-found-earliest-site-of-human-habitation-in-canada/article20737278/|work=The Globe and Mail|date=Sep 24, 2014|access-date=August 27, 2017|archive-date=April 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419153059/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-researchers-may-have-found-earliest-site-of-human-habitation-in-canada/article20737278/|url-status=live}}</ref> At this time, Haida Gwaii was likely not an island; instead, it was connected to Vancouver Island and the mainland via the now-submerged continental shelf.<ref name="Byun, 1997">{{cite journal| last1=Byun |first1=S.A. |last2=Koop |first2=B.F. |last3=Reimchen |first3=T.E. |title=North American black bear mtDNA phylogeography: implications for morphology and the Haida Gwaii glacial refugium controversy |journal=Evolution |date=1997 |volume=51 |issue=5 |pages=1647–1653 |doi=10.1111/j.1558-5646.1997.tb01487.x|pmid=28568643 |bibcode=1997Evolu..51.1647B |s2cid=10399291 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moss |first1=M.L. |title=Islands coming out of concealment: traveling to Haida Gwaii on the northwest coast of North America |journal=The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology |date=2008 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=35–53 |doi=10.1080/15564890801906587|s2cid=129744735 }}</ref>

It is unclear how people arrived on Haida Gwaii; however, archaeological sites have established human habitation on the islands as far back as 13,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Keller |first1=James |title=Archeologists to launch historic fishing expedition off B.C.'s Haida Gwaii|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/06/06/archeologists-to-launch-h_n_5460227.html |work=Huffington Post |date=6 June 2014 |access-date=7 October 2019|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213212204/https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/06/06/archeologists-to-launch-h_n_5460227.html|archive-date=December 13, 2019}}</ref> Populations that formerly inhabited [[Beringia]] expanded into northern North America after the [[Last Glacial Maximum]], and gave rise to Eskimo-Aleuts and [[Na-Dené]] Indians.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shurr |first1=T.G. |last2=Sherry |first2=S. T. |title=Mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome diversity and the peopling of the Americas: Evolutionary and demographic evidence |journal=Am. J. Hum. Biol. |date=17 June 2004 |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=420–439 |doi=10.1002/ajhb.20041|pmid=15214060 |s2cid=25577766 }}</ref>

Although unsubstantiated, an [[oral tradition]] told by the Haida Chief, Albert Edward Edenshaw, says that the Haida came from northern Alaska and travelled to Haida Gwaii in search of new territory.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

Underwater archaeologists from the University of Victoria are seeking to confirm that stone structures discovered in 2014 on the seabed of Hecate Strait may date back 13,700 or more years ago and be the earliest known signs of human habitation in Canada.<ref name= Hume/> Coastal sites of this era are now deep underwater.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fedje |first1=D.W. |last2=Christensen |first2=T. |title=Modeling Paleoshorelines and Locating Early Holocene Coastal Sites in Haida Gwaii |journal=American Antiquity |date=1999 |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=635–652 |doi=10.2307/2694209|jstor=2694209 |s2cid=163478479 }}</ref>

=== Pre-colonial era ===
The [[Coastal migration (Americas)|coastal migration hypothesis]] of the [[Prehistoric migration and settlement of the Americas from Asia|settlement of the Americas]] suggests that the first North Americans may have been here (when?) as the oldest human remains known from Alaska or Canada are from [[On Your Knees Cave]]. Anthropologists have found striking parallels between the myths, rituals, and dwelling types of the [[Koryaks]]—inhabitants of the [[Kamchatka Peninsula]]—and those of the native peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. At this time the island was twice as large as today. There is strong genetic evidence for these early people having an origin there.<ref name="Wallace & Torroni 2009.">{{cite journal|last1=Wallace|first1=Douglas C.|last2=Torroni|first2=Antonio|title=American Indian prehistory as written in the mitochondrial DNA: a review|journal=Human Biology|date=2009|volume=81|issue=5|pages=509–521|doi=10.3378/027.081.0602|pmid=20504178|s2cid=38737742}}<!--|access-date=25 May 2015--></ref><ref name="Malyarchuk 2011">{{cite journal|last1=Malyarchuk|first1=Boris|title=Ancient links between Siberians and Native Americans revealed by subtyping the Y chromosome haplogroup Q1a|date=2011|volume=56|issue=8|doi=10.1038/jhg.2011.64|journal=Journal of Human Genetics|pages=583–588|pmid=21677663|doi-access=free}}</ref> The Koryaks were a matrilineal seafaring people hunting whales and other marine mammals.<ref name="Jones et al. 1984.">{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=M.L.|last2=Swartz|first2=S.L.|last3=Leatherwood.|first3=S.|title=The gray whale "Eschrichtius robustus."|date=1984|publisher=Academic Press}}</ref> Kujkynnjaku, the Raven, is their primary deity.<ref name="Charri 1984.">{{cite journal|last1=Charri|first1=Anne-Victoire|title=The Discovery of the Koryaks and Their Perception of the World|journal=Arctic|date=1984|jstor=40510306|volume=37|issue=4|pages=441–445|doi=10.14430/arctic2226|doi-access=free}}<!--|access-date=25 May 2015--></ref><ref name=Krupnik>{{cite web|last1=Krupnik|first1=Igor|title=Koryak|url=http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/features/croads/koryak.html|publisher=Arctic Studies Center|access-date=25 May 2015|archive-date=21 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151221033901/http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/features/croads/koryak.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Most of the Raven myths are similar to those of the [[Koryaks|Koryak]].<ref name="Krupnik"/>

The group of people inhabiting these Islands developed a culture made rich by the abundance of the land and sea. These people became the Haida. The Haida are a linguistically-distinct group, and they have a complex class and rank system consisting of two main clans, the Eagles and Ravens.
Links and diversity within the Haida Nation were gained through a cross lineal marriage system between the clans. This system was also important for the transfer of wealth within the Nation, with each clan reliant on the other for the building of longhouses, the carving of totem poles and other items of cultural importance.

Noted seafarers, the Haida occupied more than 100 villages throughout the Islands. The Haida were skilled traders, with established trade links with their neighbouring First Nations on the mainland to California.<ref name="Sloan 2003.">{{cite journal|last1=Sloan|first1=N.A.|title=Evidence of California-area abalone shell in Haida trade and culture.|journal=Journal Canadien d'Archéologie|date=2003|pages=273–286|jstor=41103451|volume=27|issue=2}}</ref>
The Haida people regularly took slaves from their wars with other peoples around them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/haida/hapso01e.html|title=Civilization.ca - Haida - the people and the land - Social organization|access-date=2020-04-14|archive-date=2020-11-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127012424/https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/haida/hapso01e.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Colonial era ===
{{see also|Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands|Queen Charlottes Gold Rush|Colonial police action against the people of Haida Gwaii}}
The archipelago was first sighted by [[Europe]]ans in 1774 by [[Juan Josef Pérez Hernández|Juan Pérez]], at Langara Island,<ref name="TriggerWashburn1996">{{cite book|last1=Trigger|first1=Bruce Graham|last2=Washburn|first2=Wilcomb E.|title=The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas: North America. Volume I|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iq4caPhKBFgC&pg=PA124|access-date=5 May 2013|year=1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-57393-1|page=124|archive-date=16 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116200455/https://books.google.com/books?id=Iq4caPhKBFgC&pg=PA124|url-status=live}}</ref> in 1778 by [[James Cook]] and in 1786 by [[Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse|Lapérouse]]. In 1794, the Haida captured and sank two [[United States|American]] [[maritime fur trade]] vessels seeking to acquire sea otter pelts, ''Ino'', under captain [[Simon Metcalfe]], which was captured in [[Houston Stewart Channel]] near [[Ninstints]], and ''[[Resolution (1793 ship)|Resolution]]'', captured near [[Cumshewa Inlet]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Searching For Shipwrecks In The Waters Of Haida Gwaii, B.C.|url=http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/news/shipwrecks-haida-gwaii|website=CBC.ca Stroumboulopolous Tonight|access-date=10 June 2014|archive-date=11 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611020106/http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/news/shipwrecks-haida-gwaii|url-status=live}}</ref> In both cases only one crewmember survived. In 1851, the Haida captured the ''Georgiana'', a ship carrying gold prospectors, and held its crew for ransom for nearly two months.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Canadian Press|title=Underwater researchers explore Haida Gwaii|url=http://metronews.ca/news/victoria/1082553/underwater-researchers-explore-haida-gwaii/|work=Metro News (Victoria)|date=30 June 2014|access-date=30 June 2014|archive-date=8 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150808204320/http://metronews.ca/news/victoria/1082553/underwater-researchers-explore-haida-gwaii/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The islands played an important role during the [[maritime fur trade]] era of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. During most of that era the trade in the islands was dominated by Americans.<ref name="Lillard1995">{{cite book|last=Lillard|first=Charles|title=Just east of sundown: the Queen Charlotte Islands|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SixVAGVv0PcC&pg=PA81|access-date=5 May 2013|year=1995|publisher=TouchWood Editions|isbn=978-0-920663-34-9|page=81|archive-date=15 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215141948/https://books.google.com/books?id=SixVAGVv0PcC&pg=PA81|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Oregon Treaty]] of 1846 put an end to American claims to the islands. Following the discovery of gold in the 1850s the British made efforts to exclude whatever American territorial claims might remain.<ref name="Glover2004">{{cite book|last=Glover|first=William|title=Charting Northern Waters: Essays for the Centenary of the Canadian Hydrographic Service|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oeI4CxdYCJoC&pg=PA54|access-date=5 May 2013|date=1 April 2004|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP|isbn=978-0-7735-2710-2|page=54|archive-date=13 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213101007/https://books.google.com/books?id=oeI4CxdYCJoC&pg=PA54|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands]] was a [[British colony]] created by the Colonial Office in response to the increase in American marine trading activity resulting from the [[Queen Charlottes Gold Rush|gold rush on Moresby Island]] in 1851. No separate administration or capital for the colony was ever established, as its only officer or appointee was [[James Douglas (governor)|James Douglas]], who was simultaneously [[List of Governors of Vancouver Island and British Columbia|Governor of Vancouver Island]]. In essence, the colony was merged with the Vancouver Island colony for administrative purposes from the 1850s to 1866 when the [[Colony of Vancouver Island]] was merged with the mainland, which until that point was the separate [[Colony of British Columbia (1858-1866)|Colony of British Columbia]].

=== 21st century ===

In July 2012, entrepreneur [[Russ George]] dispersed {{convert|100|ST|0}} of [[iron sulphate]] dust into the Pacific Ocean several hundred miles west of the islands of Haida Gwaii. The [[Old Massett Village Council]] was persuaded to finance this [[climate engineering|geoengineering]] experiment as a "salmon enhancement project" with $1 million in village funds.<ref name="aptn">{{cite web |author=Lucas, Martin |date=October 15, 2012 |title=World's biggest geoengineering experiment 'violates' UN rules |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/oct/15/pacific-iron-fertilisation-geoengineering?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204004552/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/oct/15/pacific-iron-fertilisation-geoengineering?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038 |archive-date=4 February 2014 |access-date=17 October 2012 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> The concept was that the formerly [[iron]]-deficient waters would produce more [[phytoplankton]] that would in turn produce more [[salmon]]. George hoped to finance the project by using the [[carbon sequestration]] effects of the new plankton as marketable [[carbon offsets]]. The project has been plagued by charges of unscientific procedures and recklessness. George contended that 100 tons of iron is negligible compared to what naturally enters the ocean.<ref name="henry">{{cite news |author=Fountain, Henry |date=October 18, 2012 |title=A Rogue Climate Experiment Outrages Scientists |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/science/earth/iron-dumping-experiment-in-pacific-alarms-marine-experts.html?_r=0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018181449/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/science/earth/iron-dumping-experiment-in-pacific-alarms-marine-experts.html?_r=0 |archive-date=18 October 2012 |access-date=18 October 2012 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

Lawyers, environmentalists, and civil society groups are calling the dumping a "blatant violation" of two international moratoriums.<ref name="aptn" /><ref>{{cite web |date=October 16, 2012 |title=Environment Canada launches probe into massive iron sulfate dump off Haida Gwaii coast |url=http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2012/10/16/environment-canada-launches-probe-into-massive-iron-sulphate-dump-off-haida-gwaii-coast/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130210074119/http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2012/10/16/environment-canada-launches-probe-into-massive-iron-sulphate-dump-off-haida-gwaii-coast/ |archive-date=10 February 2013 |access-date=17 October 2012 |publisher=[[APTN National News]]}}</ref> George said that the Old Massett Village Council and its lawyers approved the effort and at least seven Canadian agencies were aware of it.<ref name="henry" /> In May 2013, the [[Haida Salmon Restoration Corporation]] removed George as a director of the company and ended his employment.<ref>{{cite news |date=2013-05-23 |title=Haida announce termination of Russ George |url=http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1170825/haida-announce-termination-of-russ-george |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007183406/http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1170825/haida-announce-termination-of-russ-george |archive-date=2014-10-07 |access-date=2013-07-02 |publisher=Canada Newswire}}</ref> The 2013 salmon runs increased from 50 million to 226 million fish,<ref>{{cite web |last=Zubrin |first=Robert |date=2014-04-22 |title=The Pacific's Salmon Are Back — Thank Human Ingenuity |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/376258/pacifics-salmon-are-back-thank-human-ingenuity-robert-zubrin |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140423121414/http://www.nationalreview.com/article/376258/pacifics-salmon-are-back-thank-human-ingenuity-robert-zubrin |archive-date=2014-04-23 |access-date=2014-04-23 |publisher=Nationalreview.com}}</ref> but research conducted on 13 major iron-fertilization experiments in the open ocean since 1990 concludes that the method is unproven, and with respect to the Haida Gwaii project, "scientists have seen no evidence that the experiment worked".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tollefson |first1=Jeff |year=2017 |title=Iron-dumping ocean experiment sparks controversy |journal=Nature |volume=545 |issue=7655 |pages=393–394 |bibcode=2017Natur.545..393T |doi=10.1038/545393a |pmid=28541342 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

In a deal negotiated between the government and the Haida nation over the preceding decades, British Columbia in 2024 transferred the title over more than 200 islands off Canada's west coast to the Haida people, recognizing the nation's aboriginal land title throughout Haida Gwaii. The deal was the first of its kind in Canada.<ref name="Big Shift"/><ref name=":5"/>

On 17 February 2025, Prime Minister [[Justin Trudeau]] and [[Haida Nation]] President Gaagwiis Jason Alsop signed the agreement at a public ceremony at [[Skidegate]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Canada recognizes Aboriginal title over Haida Gwaii in historic agreement |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/haida-gwaii-aboriginal-title-federal-agreement-1.7461151 |work=CBC News |agency=The Canadian Press |date=17 Feb 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250629162052/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/haida-gwaii-aboriginal-title-federal-agreement-1.7461151 |archive-date=2025-06-29 |language=en |url-status=live}}</ref>
==Flag==
[[File:Flag of Haida Gwaii.svg]]

== Naming ==
[[File:NWCoast1a.png|thumb|300px|left|The northern Pacific Northwest Coast, showing the position of the archipelago in relation to other islands in the region. The southern half of [[Prince of Wales Island (Alaska)|Prince of Wales Island]] is Kaigani Haida territory, but is not included in the term Haida Gwaii.]] In 1787 Captain [[George Dixon (captain)|George Dixon]] surveyed the islands. He named the islands the Queen Charlotte Islands after his ship, the ''[[Queen Charlotte (1785 ship)|Queen Charlotte]]'', which was named after [[Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz]], wife of King [[George III of the United Kingdom]].

Another name, "Washington's Isles," was commonly used by American traders, who frequented the islands in the days of the [[marine fur trade]] and considered the islands part of the US-claimed [[Oregon Country]].<ref name="autogenerated1"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mGQFAAAAQAAJ&q=%22Washington%27s+Isles%22&pg=PA559|title=The Geographical and Historical Dictionary of America and the West Indies: Containing an Entire Translation of the Spanish Work of Colonel Don Antonio de Alcedo, with Large Additions and Compilations from Modern Voyages and Travels and from Original and Authentic Information|first1=Antonio de|last1=Alcedo|first2=Aaron|last2=Arrowsmith|date=18 September 2017|publisher=James Carpenter, ... Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, ... White, Cochrane and Company and Murray, ... London; Parker, Oxford; and Deighton, Cambridge.|via=Google Books|access-date=17 October 2020|archive-date=28 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328185707/https://books.google.com/books?id=mGQFAAAAQAAJ&q=%22Washington%27s+Isles%22&pg=PA559|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://hmsbc.library.ubc.ca/browse/map/id_928/|title=Historical Map Society of British Columbia|first=ADI Interactive -|last=www.adiyukon.com|website=hmsbc.library.ubc.ca|access-date=2013-05-05|archive-date=2014-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102233436/http://hmsbc.library.ubc.ca/browse/map/id_928/|url-status=live}}</ref> Following the 1846 [[Oregon Treaty]], which established the current international borders and made the islands definitively part of the British empire, the "Queen Charlotte Islands" name became official.

On December 11, 2009, the British Columbia government announced that legislation would be introduced in mid-2010 to officially rename the Queen Charlotte Islands to the new name "Haida Gwaii". The legislation received [[royal assent]] on June 3, 2010, formalizing the name change.<ref name="BCGNISHaidaGwaii"/> At an official Giving Back the Name ceremony, the name, written on a piece of paper and placed in a bentwood box, was handed to the premier of British Columbia.<ref name=HG /> This name change is officially recognized by all levels of Canadian governments,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/topo/map?mapsize=428%20380&lat=53.25&long=-132.25&mapxy=-2282992.06598+1143926.84151&scale=5000000&feature_na=Haida+Gwaii&location1=59&unique_key=4310e2ccba3611d892e2080020a0f4c9&searchstring=Haida%20Gwaii&entity=ISL&layers=fapfeature+nodata_ntdb_50k%20north_arrow%20other_features%20roads%20hydrography%20boundary%20builtup%20vegetation%20populated_places%20railway%20power_network%20manmade_features%20designated_areas%20water_features%20water_saturated_soils%20relief%20contours%20toponymy%20contour&urlappend=%26unique_key%3D4310e2ccba3611d892e2080020a0f4c9%26map.layer%5Btextzoom03%5D%3DFEATURE+POINTS+-2313122.1827+1166631.94386+END+TEXT+%22Haida%2BGwaii%22+END%26map.layer%5Btextzoom46%5D%3DFEATURE+POINTS+-2313122.1827+1166631.94386+END+TEXT+%22Haida%2BGwaii%22+END%26map.layer%5Bpolygonresultzoom0%5D%3DDATA+fap_islands%26map.layer%5Bpolygonresultzoom1%5D%3DDATA+fap_islands%26map.layer%5Bpolygonresultzoom2%5D%3DDATA+fap_islands%26map.layer%5Bpolygonresultzoom0outline%5D%3DDATA+fap_islands%26map.layer%5Bpolygonresultzoom1outline%5D%3DDATA+fap_islands%26map.layer%5Bpolygonresultzoom2outline%5D%3DDATA+fap_islands |title=Toporama |work=[[Atlas of Canada]] |access-date=17 March 2011 |archive-date=6 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006101429/http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/topo/map?mapsize=428%20380&lat=53.25&long=-132.25&mapxy=-2282992.06598+1143926.84151&scale=5000000&feature_na=Haida+Gwaii&location1=59&unique_key=4310e2ccba3611d892e2080020a0f4c9&searchstring=Haida%20Gwaii&entity=ISL&layers=fapfeature+nodata_ntdb_50k%20north_arrow%20other_features%20roads%20hydrography%20boundary%20builtup%20vegetation%20populated_places%20railway%20power_network%20manmade_features%20designated_areas%20water_features%20water_saturated_soils%20relief%20contours%20toponymy%20contour&urlappend=&unique_key=4310e2ccba3611d892e2080020a0f4c9&map.layer%5Btextzoom03%5D=FEATURE+POINTS+-2313122.1827+1166631.94386+END+TEXT+%22Haida+Gwaii%22+END&map.layer%5Btextzoom46%5D=FEATURE+POINTS+-2313122.1827+1166631.94386+END+TEXT+%22Haida+Gwaii%22+END&map.layer%5Bpolygonresultzoom0%5D=DATA+fap_islands&map.layer%5Bpolygonresultzoom1%5D=DATA+fap_islands&map.layer%5Bpolygonresultzoom2%5D=DATA+fap_islands&map.layer%5Bpolygonresultzoom0outline%5D=DATA+fap_islands&map.layer%5Bpolygonresultzoom1outline%5D=DATA+fap_islands&map.layer%5Bpolygonresultzoom2outline%5D=DATA+fap_islands |url-status=live }}</ref> and also by the United States' [[National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency]] name database.<ref>{{GEOnet2|82578C2626B94BEDBEE57D9AF9FC53D3|Haida Gwaii}}</ref> The name ''{{lang|hai|Haida Gwaii}}'' is a modern coinage and was created in the early 1980s as an alternative to the colonial-era name "Queen Charlotte Islands", to recognize the history of the Haida people.<ref name="BCGNISHaidaGwaii"/> "Haida Gwaii" means "islands of the people",<ref name=HG /> while ''{{lang|hai|Haida}}'' on its own means not only "us" but also "people".

Still in use is the older name ''{{lang|hai|Xaadala Gwayee}}'' or, in alternative [[orthography]], ''{{lang|hai|Xhaaidlagha Gwaayaai}}'', meaning "islands at the boundary of the world".<ref name="BCGNISHaidaGwaii"/> ''{{lang|hai|Xhaaydla}}'' ("worlds") refers here to the sea and sky.<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

{{clear}}

== Environment ==
{{Infobox ecoregion
|name                = Haida Gwaii forests
|image               = Windy Bay forest.jpg
|image_size          = 280px
|image_alt           = 
|caption             = [[Tsuga heterophylla|Western hemlock]] forest on [[Moresby Island]]
|map                 = Queen Charlotte Islands map.svg
|map_size            = 250px
|map_alt             = 
|map_caption         = Haida Gwaii forests ecoregion in [[Canada]]
|biogeographic_realm = [[Nearctic realm|Nearctic]]
|biome               = [[Temperate coniferous forest]]
|animals             = 
|bird_species        = 143<ref name=agc>{{Cite web|title=The Atlas of Global Conservation|url=http://maps.tnc.org/globalmaps.html|access-date=2020-11-13|website=maps.tnc.org|archive-date=2012-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305201312/http://maps.tnc.org/globalmaps.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|mammal_species      = 3<ref name=agc/>
|border1             = [[British Columbia mainland coastal forests]]
|border2             = [[Northern Pacific coastal forests]]
|area                = 10,101
|country             = [[Canada]]
|countries           = 
|state               = [[British Columbia]]
|region_type         = Province
|elevation           = 
|coordinates         = 
|geology             = 
|seas                = 
|rivers              = 
|climate             = [[Oceanic climate|Oceanic]] (''Cfb'')
|soil                = 
|conservation        = Vulnerable<ref>{{Cite web|title=Queen Charlotte Islands {{!}} Ecoregions {{!}} WWF|url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/na0525|access-date=2020-11-13|website=World Wildlife Fund|language=en|archive-date=2020-11-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113130610/https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/na0525|url-status=live}}</ref>
|global200           = 
|habitat_loss        = 0
|habitat_loss_ref    = <ref name=agc/>
|protected           = 20.7
|protected_ref       = <ref name=agc/>
|embedded            = 
}}
Research by [[Simon Fraser University]] concludes that Haida Gwaii around 55,000 BCE was likely covered with [[tundra]] and low meadows that were populated by grazing mammals, including [[caribou]] and [[mammoth]]s. Although no mammoth or mastodon fossils were found, the research discovered dung-eating fungi underground in ancient peat by the Cape Ball site in Naikoon Provincial Park on Graham Island.<ref name=Shore>{{cite news|last1=Shore|first1=Randy|title=Mammoths may have roamed Haida Gwaii 57,000 years ago|url=https://vancouversun.com/technology/mammoths+have+roamed+haida+gwaii+years/11417099/story.html|work=Vancouver Sun|date=Oct 6, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912012905/https://vancouversun.com/technology/mammoths+have+roamed+haida+gwaii+years/11417099/story.html|archive-date=September 12, 2017}}</ref> The tundra-like landscape then evolved to a mix of alpine forest and meadows.<ref name=Shore />

The last [[Pleistocene]] [[ice age|glaciation]] receded from the archipelago about 16,000 BCE, about 2,000 years earlier than the rest of the British Columbia Coast's ice age.<ref>{{cite book
|editor1= Daryl W. Fedje
|editor2= Rolf Mathewes
|date= 2011-11-01
|title= Haida Gwaii: human history and environment from the time of loon to the time of the iron people
|url= https://www.ubcpress.ca/haida-gwaii
|location= 
|publisher= [[UBC Press]]
|page= 5
|isbn= 978-0-7748-0921-4
|access-date= 2021-11-07
|archive-date= 2021-11-07
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211107211450/https://www.ubcpress.ca/haida-gwaii
|url-status= live
}}</ref> That, and its subsequent isolation from the mainland, encouraged Haida indigenous and environmental activists in the 1970s to use the term "[[Galápagos Islands|Galápagos]] of the North", a unique biocultural zone with many endemic plants and animals. The climate of this temperate north hemisphere forested region, like that of much of the British Columbia and Alaskan coast in the area, is moderated by the [[North Pacific Current]], with heavy rainfall and relatively mild temperatures throughout the year.

The islands are home to the Taan Forest, with a wide variety of large trees, including the [[Sitka spruce]], [[western red cedar]], [[Cupressus nootkatensis|yellow cedar]] ([[Nootka cypress]]), [[shore pine]], [[western hemlock]], [[mountain hemlock]], [[Taxus brevifolia|western yew]] and [[red alder]]. The ''Flora of the Queen Charlotte Islands''<ref name="Flora QCI">{{cite book |author1=Calder, James A. |author2=Roy L. Taylor |author3=Gerald A. Mulligan |title=Flora of the Queen Charlotte Islands |year=1968 |publisher=Research Branch, Canada Department of Agriculture|location=Ottawa}}</ref> describes plants from the islands.

Soils are variable. [[Peat]] is common in poorly drained flats and even on sloping ground in the wetter areas. Where drainage is good, the mature soils are [[podzols]] that have classic development (well defined eluvial horizon, Ae under Canadian classification) in undisturbed areas.<ref>Banner, A., W.H. MacKenzie, J. Pojar, A. MacKinnon, S.C. Saunders, and H. Klassen. 2014. A field guide to ecosystem classification and identification for Haida Gwaii. Prov. B.C., Victoria, B.C. Land Manag. Handb. 68. http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/Docs/Lmh/Lmh68.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913194741/http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/pubs/Docs/Lmh/Lmh68.htm |date=2014-09-13 }}</ref> A history of disturbance, as from logging or windthrow, sees the Ae mixed with other horizons and only patchily visible.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=J. Marty |last1=Kranabetter |first2=Harry |last2=Williams |first3=Jacques |last3=Morin |year=2009 |title=Ecological descriptions of Pacific golden chanterelle (''Cantharellus formosus'') habitat and estimates of its extent in Haida Gwaii |journal=BC Journal of Ecosystems and Management |volume=10 |number=1 |pages=59–67 |url=http://www.jem.forrex.org/index.php/jem/article/view/411 |access-date=2015-09-06 |archive-date=2015-10-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018011532/http://www.jem.forrex.org/index.php/jem/article/view/411 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[Kiidk'yaas]] (Golden Spruce), a naturally occurring [[mutation|genetic-variant]] yellow-colour Sitka spruce tree, was near the [[Yakoun River]], the largest on Graham Island. It was a popular tourist attraction until it was illegally cut down in 1997 as a protest against the industrial logging practices.

From the spring of 1996 until November 30, 1997, a popular attraction for tourists to the islands was a male albino white [[raven]]. He lived around Port Clements and would commonly be seen taking food handouts from locals and visitors alike. He died after making contact with an electrical transformer. The white raven was preserved by former Port Clements residents, taxidermists Roger Britten Sr. and Jr., and is on display in the Port Clements Historical Society's museum.<ref>Port Clements Historical Society "White Raven" display case information</ref>

== Climate ==
The climate is [[oceanic climate|oceanic]] (''[[Köppen climate classification|Cfb]]''), except near the summit of [[Mount Moresby]] where the climate is [[subpolar oceanic climate|subpolar oceanic]] (''Cfc''). It is very similar to the climate of the west coast of [[Scotland]] in terms of average temperatures and total year-round precipitation, but the latitude is lower than the west coast of Scotland; it is 52° 39', the same as southern [[Ireland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.distancesfrom.com/gb/Harlow-latitude-longitude-Harlow-latitude-Harlow-longitude/LatLongHistory/132375.aspx?IsHistory=1&LocationID=132375|title=Harlow latitude and longitude|access-date=2015-11-13|archive-date=2015-11-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117024140/http://www.distancesfrom.com/gb/Harlow-latitude-longitude-Harlow-latitude-Harlow-longitude/LatLongHistory/132375.aspx?IsHistory=1&LocationID=132375|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the relatively shielded areas around [[Tlell, British Columbia|Tlell]] and [[Sandspit, British Columbia|Sandspit]] annual rainfall averages from {{convert|1200|mm|in}} to {{convert|1400|mm|in}}.<ref name="metadata" /> Average monthly precipitation is markedly concentrated from October to January, with December the wettest month, averaging about {{convert|198|mm|in}}, most of which is rain, though snow is possible. May through July represent a markedly drier season; July, the driest month, averages about {{convert|46.4|mm|in}} of rain.

Snowfall is generally moderate, averaging from {{convert|10|cm|in|0}} to {{convert|70|cm|in}}, though at northerly [[Langara Island]], it averages around {{convert|100|cm|in|-1}}.

Precipitation is typically extremely frequent (especially from autumn to mid-winter), occurring on around two-thirds of all days even in relatively shielded areas, and direct sunlight is scarce, averaging around 3 to 4 hours per day.

{{Weather box
|location = [[Sandspit Airport]]
|metric first = Y
|single line = Y
|Jan maximum humidex = 13.9
|Feb maximum humidex = 13.5
|Mar maximum humidex = 13.5
|Apr maximum humidex = 17.9
|May maximum humidex = 23.2
|Jun maximum humidex = 28.5
|Jul maximum humidex = 30.9
|Aug maximum humidex = 30.3
|Sep maximum humidex = 27.4
|Oct maximum humidex = 24.5
|Nov maximum humidex = 17.9
|Dec maximum humidex = 15.0
|year maximum humidex = 30.9
|Jan record high C = 12.4
|Feb record high C = 13.4
|Mar record high C = 13.9
|Apr record high C = 18.9
|May record high C = 21.7
|Jun record high C = 26.7
|Jul record high C = 27.8
|Aug record high C = 26.7
|Sep record high C = 24.1
|Oct record high C = 20.6
|Nov record high C = 16.3
|Dec record high C = 13.4
|year record high C = 27.8
|Jan high C = 6.4
|Feb high C = 6.7
|Mar high C = 7.8
|Apr high C = 9.7
|May high C = 12.3
|Jun high C = 15.0
|Jul high C = 17.3
|Aug high C = 18.1
|Sep high C = 16.1
|Oct high C = 12.2
|Nov high C = 8.4
|Dec high C = 6.7
|year high C = 11.4
|Jan mean C = 4.0
|Feb mean C = 4.1
|Mar mean C = 4.9
|Apr mean C = 6.6
|May mean C = 9.4
|Jun mean C = 12.2
|Jul mean C = 14.5
|Aug mean C = 15.2
|Sep mean C = 13.2
|Oct mean C = 9.4
|Nov mean C = 5.7
|Dec mean C = 4.2
|year mean C = 8.6
|Jan low C = 1.6
|Feb low C = 1.5
|Mar low C = 1.9
|Apr low C = 3.4
|May low C = 6.4
|Jun low C = 9.3
|Jul low C = 11.6
|Aug low C = 12.2
|Sep low C = 10.2
|Oct low C = 6.6
|Nov low C = 3.0
|Dec low C = 1.7
|year low C = 5.8
|Jan record low C = -13.9
|Feb record low C = -12.3
|Mar record low C = -12.2
|Apr record low C = -5.1
|May record low C = -1.1
|Jun record low C = 2.2
|Jul record low C = 5.0
|Aug record low C = 1.9
|Sep record low C = -0.6
|Oct record low C = -3.1
|Nov record low C = -15.5
|Dec record low C = -12.8
|year record low C = -15.5
|Jan chill = -22.9
|Feb chill = -24.1
|Mar chill = -22.9
|Apr chill = -10.8
|May chill = -3.4
|Jun chill = 0.0
|Jul chill = 0.0
|Aug chill = 0.0
|Sep chill = 0.0
|Oct chill = -10.7
|Nov chill = -26.0
|Dec chill = -20.8
|year chill = -26.0
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 190.7
|Feb precipitation mm = 130.8
|Mar precipitation mm = 116.8
|Apr precipitation mm = 97.7
|May precipitation mm = 66.4
|Jun precipitation mm = 51.7
|Jul precipitation mm = 48.1
|Aug precipitation mm = 62.2
|Sep precipitation mm = 83.5
|Oct precipitation mm = 169.5
|Nov precipitation mm = 193.8
|Dec precipitation mm = 196.2
|year precipitation mm = 1407.5
|rain colour = green
|Jan rain mm = 178.4
|Feb rain mm = 120.8
|Mar rain mm = 112.0
|Apr rain mm = 96.6
|May rain mm = 66.4
|Jun rain mm = 51.7
|Jul rain mm = 48.2
|Aug rain mm = 62.3
|Sep rain mm = 83.5
|Oct rain mm = 169.5
|Nov rain mm = 191.8
|Dec rain mm = 190.0
|year rain mm = 1371.2
|Jan snow cm = 12.7
|Feb snow cm = 9.9
|Mar snow cm = 5.2
|Apr snow cm = 1.0
|May snow cm = 0.0
|Jun snow cm = 0.0
|Jul snow cm = 0.0
|Aug snow cm = 0.0
|Sep snow cm = 0.0
|Oct snow cm = 0.0
|Nov snow cm = 3.0
|Dec snow cm = 6.0
|year snow cm = 37.9
<!--humidity at 15:00 LST-->
|Jan humidity = 84.4
|Feb humidity = 80.1
|Mar humidity = 77.1
|Apr humidity = 76.4
|May humidity = 76.0
|Jun humidity = 77.1
|Jul humidity = 76.1
|Aug humidity = 76.1
|Sep humidity = 76.3
|Oct humidity = 78.5
|Nov humidity = 81.6
|Dec humidity = 84.6
|year humidity = 78.7
|unit precipitation days = 0.2 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 23.3
|Feb precipitation days = 19.2
|Mar precipitation days = 21.5
|Apr precipitation days = 19.9
|May precipitation days = 17.7
|Jun precipitation days = 15.8
|Jul precipitation days = 14.9
|Aug precipitation days = 14.8
|Sep precipitation days = 17.3
|Oct precipitation days = 22.8
|Nov precipitation days = 24.0
|Dec precipitation days = 23.8
|year precipitation days = 234.9
|unit rain days = 0.2 mm
|Jan rain days = 21.8
|Feb rain days = 17.8
|Mar rain days = 20.9
|Apr rain days = 19.8
|May rain days = 17.7
|Jun rain days = 15.8
|Jul rain days = 14.9
|Aug rain days = 14.9
|Sep rain days = 17.3
|Oct rain days = 22.8
|Nov rain days = 23.3
|Dec rain days = 22.7
|year rain days= 229.7
|unit snow days = 0.2 cm
|Jan snow days = 3.6
|Feb snow days = 2.8
|Mar snow days = 2.2
|Apr snow days = 0.9
|May snow days = 0.0
|Jun snow days = 0.0
|Jul snow days = 0.0
|Aug snow days = 0.0
|Sep snow days = 0.0
|Oct snow days = 0.0
|Nov snow days = 1.5
|Dec snow days = 2.0
|year snow days = 13.0
|Jan sun = 41.9
|Feb sun = 77.2
|Mar sun = 115.9
|Apr sun = 157.7
|May sun = 194.0
|Jun sun = 183.8
|Jul sun = 195.9
|Aug sun = 187.7
|Sep sun = 137.9
|Oct sun = 98.0
|Nov sun = 58.4
|Dec sun = 44.8
|year sun = 1493.1
|Jan percentsun = 16.6
|Feb percentsun = 28.0
|Mar percentsun = 31.6
|Apr percentsun = 37.7
|May percentsun = 39.5
|Jun percentsun = 36.3
|Jul percentsun = 38.5
|Aug percentsun = 41.0
|Sep percentsun = 36.1
|Oct percentsun = 29.8
|Nov percentsun = 22.3
|Dec percentsun = 18.9
|year percentsun = 31.4
|source 1 = 1981 to 2010 Canadian Climate Normals<ref name=metadata >{{cite web |url=http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?searchType=stnName&txtStationName=sandspit&searchMethod=contains&txtCentralLatMin=0&txtCentralLatSec=0&txtCentralLongMin=0&txtCentralLongSec=0&stnID=367&dispBack=1 |title=Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010 Station Data |publisher=Environment Canada |date=2016-06-22 |access-date=2016-08-18 |archive-date=2017-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213192457/http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_1981_2010_e.html?searchType=stnName&txtStationName=sandspit&searchMethod=contains&txtCentralLatMin=0&txtCentralLatSec=0&txtCentralLongMin=0&txtCentralLongSec=0&stnID=367&dispBack=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

== Geology ==

{{see also|2012 Haida Gwaii earthquake|1949 Queen Charlotte Islands earthquake}}
The islands are located along the [[Queen Charlotte Fault]], an active [[transform fault]] that produces significant earthquakes every 3–30 years. This is the result of the converging of the [[Pacific Plate|Pacific]] and [[North American Plate]]s along the archipelago's west coast.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Barrie | first1 = J.V. | last2 = Conway | first2 = K. | last3 = Harris | first3 = P.T. | year = 2013 | title = The Queen Charlotte Fault, British Columbia: seafloor anatomy of a transform fault and its influence on sediment processes | journal = Geo-Marine Letters | volume = 33 | issue = 4| pages = 311–318 | doi=10.1007/s00367-013-0333-3| bibcode = 2013GML....33..311B | s2cid = 128409033 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation
  | title = On This Day August 22, 1949
  | newspaper = National Post
  | pages = B14
  | date = August 22, 2008
  }}</ref>  Major earthquakes have occurred in the Haida Gwaii in [[1949 Queen Charlotte Islands earthquake|1949]] and [[2012 Haida Gwaii earthquake|2012]]. Though the region is prone to fair geological activity, there is little infrastructure set up to gather accurate information to warn locals of possible threats. Many residents, notably from First Nations communities, have been critical of the fact that they must rely on information coming from neighbouring American states, such as Washington or [[Alaska]], and from the USGS (United States Geological Survey). Regardless of the inconsistencies, [[Environment Canada]] does regularly do field tests across the Pacific coast of British Columbia relating to this matter.

The [[Cascadia subduction zone]] does pose some additional earthquake risks, but, most importantly, the subduction zone poses direct [[tsunami]] risks to the coastal settlements on the western side of the islands.

== Culture ==
[[File:Haida House Frontal Pole, Liverpool Museum July 08 2010.jpg|thumb|right|[[Totem pole]]]]

=== Visual arts ===
{{Main|Northwest Coast art}}
The artwork known as ''[[Spirit of Haida Gwaii]]'', by [[Bill Reid]], is featured on the reverse of [[Canadian $20 bill]]s produced between 2004 and 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bank-banque-canada.ca/en/banknotes/graphs/photos/general/2001-04/cjs_20b.gif |title=Banknotes |website=www.bank-banque-canada.ca |access-date=28 October 2010 |archive-date=21 October 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051021192235/http://www.bank-banque-canada.ca/en/banknotes/graphs/photos/general/2001-04/cjs_20b.gif |url-status=live }}</ref> It depicts a Haida chief in a canoe, accompanied by the mythic messengers Raven, Frog and Eagle (the first casting of this sculpture, ''Spirit of Haida Gwaii: The Black Canoe'', is on display in the atrium of the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC, the other, ''Spirit of Haida Gwaii: the Jade Canoe'', is on display in Vancouver Airport). Haida art is also frequently seen on large monumental-sized cedar [[totem poles]] and dugout canoes, hand-crafted gold and silver jewellery, and even as cartoons in the form of [[Haida manga]].

=== Repatriation of cultural belongings ===

The Haida have been engaged in an ongoing repatriation effort, bringing belongings/remains back to their ancestral homelands since the 1990s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bourgon |first1=Lyndsie |title=Grave Injustice |journal=The Walrus |date=September 12, 2020 |orig-date=March 26, 2013 |url=https://thewalrus.ca/grave-injustice/ |access-date=October 26, 2025}}</ref> Much of this battle is influenced by the number of remains taken from the island, due to Haida remains being popular among collectors in the late 19th century.<ref name="Restless Spirits">{{cite web |last1=Kuin |first1=Frank |title=Homecoming of Restless Spirits |date=January 13, 2004 |url=https://frankkuin.com/en/2004/01/13/haida-repatriation/ |website=frankkuin.com }}</ref>

Repatriation to the Haida is more than a return of belongings/ remains, but a shared healing and grieving process that integrates aspects of Haida culture, ceremony, language, and song. Repatriation refers to the return of ancestors' spirits to their homelands to rest.<ref name="Restless Spirits" /> In Haida practices, the ancestors must be cared for, so much effort goes into preparing and following protocols to bring them home. Though there are no traditional protocols for repatriation, as this was not historically necessary, much work was done with elders and community members to determine culturally appropriate ways to bring home remains and belongings.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Joseph |first1=Bob |title=Indigenous Repatriation - Andy Wilson and the Haida Nation |journal=Indigenous Corporate Training Inc |date=June 26, 2013 |url=https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/indigenous-repatriation-andy-wilson-and-the-haida-nation |access-date=October 26, 2025}}</ref> The community decided it would be important to include the making and preparation of traditional bentwood boxes, woven cedar, and button blankets to wrap the ancestors.<ref>{{cite web |title=Respecting Our Ancestors |url=https://repatriation.ca/Pages/Respecting%20Our%20Ancestors.html |website=Skidegate Repatriation and Cultural Committee}}</ref> Alongside this ceremony was held at both the Museum, where remains were collected, and in the Haida's home territory to lay the ancestors to rest.<ref name="Stolen Spirits">{{cite AV media |author=Primitive Entertainment |title=Stolen Spirits of Haida Gwaii |date=November 16, 2017 |url=https://vimeo.com/243190452 |via=Vimeo |access-date=October 26, 2025}}</ref>

A noteworthy repatriation happened in the early 2000s, when the Haida Repatriation Committee supported the repatriation of about 150 remains and other belongings from the Field Museum in Chicago.<ref name="Stolen Spirits" /> This was an important event in the Haida Nation and has left its mark on their cultural resurgence and community healing. During the ceremony for this specific repatriation, the community also recognized many of the babies born this year, highlighting the return of ancestors and the continued generations and resiliency of the Haida.<ref name="Stolen Spirits" />

The [[Buxton Museum and Art Gallery]] in England repatriated items in its collection to the Haida people. The Museum returned the items as part of its initiative to return Native American and First Nation artefacts.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Addley |first=Esther |date=2023-02-13 |title=How One Derbyshire Museum Took Initiative in Returning Indigenous Artefacts |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/feb/13/how-one-derbyshire-buxton-museum-took-initiative-in-returning-indigenous-artefacts |access-date=2023-02-14 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

=== Haida language ===
{{Main|Haida language}}
The [[Haida language]] was proposed for classification as part of the [[Na-Dene languages|Na-Dene]] family of languages on the basis of a few similarities with Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit.  Many linguists, however, consider the evidence insufficient and continue to regard Haida as a [[language isolate]]. All 50 remaining speakers of Haida are over 70 years old.{{cn |date=February 2024 }}{{update inline |?=y |date=February 2024 }} [[Telus Communications]] and Gwaii Trust recently completed a project to bring broadband internet to the island via a {{convert|150|km|mi|abbr=on}} microwave relay. This enables interactive research to be carried out on the more than 80&nbsp;CDs of language, story and spoken history of the people.

== See also ==
* [[Council of the Haida Nation]]
* [[Dené–Yeniseian languages]]
* [[Guujaaw]]
* ''[[Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World]]''
* [[Haida language]]
* [[Hlk'yah G̱awG̱a]] (Windy Bay)
* [[Indigenous peoples of Siberia]]
* [[Lohafex]]
* [[Lyell Island]]
* [[Moresby Camp]]
* [[List of islands of British Columbia#Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands)|List of islands of British Columbia]]
* [[The Stand (2024 film)]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography== 
*{{cite book |last1=Trigger|first1=Bruce G. |last2=Washburn|first2=Wilcomb E. |last3=Adams|first3=Richard E. W. |last4=MacLeod|first4=Murdo J. |last5=Salomon|first5=Frank |last6=Schwartz|first6=Stuart B. | title = The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas: North America|year=1996| publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]| isbn=9780521573931}} <small>- Total pages: 500 </small>
*{{cite web |last1=Kennedy|first1=Dorothy |last2=Bouchard|first2=Randy |last3=Gessler|first3=Trisha |date=2010|url = https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/haida-native-group|title =Haida|publisher =[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]| access-date = May 17, 2020 }}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Haida Gwaii}}
* [https://daajinggiids.ca/ Village of Daajing Giids]
* [https://www.sandspitbc.ca/ Sandspit Community Website (Moresby Island Management Committee)]
* [https://massetbc.com/ Village of Masset]
* [https://www.haidanation.ca/ Council of the Haida Nation]
* [https://www.haidaheritagecentre.com/ Haida Heritage Centre at Kaay Llnagaay]
* [https://www.haidagwaiiobserver.com/ ''The Haida Gwaii Observer'' – Local Newspaper]
* {{Cite web |author1=Pelmorex Weather Networks Inc.|title=Masset, British Columbia 7 Day Weather Forecast |url=http://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/weather/british-columbia/masset |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=The Weather Network |language=en}}
{{Subdivisions of British Columbia|regions=yes}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Haida Gwaii| ]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:North Coast Regional District]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of British Columbia]]
[[Category:North Coast of British Columbia]]
[[Category:Cultural regions]]