Lifeways

Since the Haida lived on an island whose streams were too small for salmon, they depended more on fish such as halibut and cod. The candlefish provided oil for cooking and lamps. The Haida also hunted sea mammals, such as seals, sea lions, and sea otters. Unlike the NOOTKA and MAKAH to the south, however, the Haida did not pursue whales. Although the forests in the interior of the Queen Charlotte Islands had little game, the Haida were known to hunt black bears.

Haida men constructed some of the largest gabled houses in the Pacific Northwest, some of them 60 feet by 100 feet. The structures were made from cedar planks, and their openings faced the sea, with one or more totem poles in the front.

Haida fishhook

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Haida clothing was made from woven cedar bark or from the pelts of otters and other animals. The women tattooed their faces and bodies and the backs of their hands with family symbols.

Haida society was divided into two clans, the Bear Clan and the Raven Clan. The Haida practiced the potlatch, the ritualistic giving of gifts to guests. Shamans were organized into secret societies and held great power through their supposed contact with the Ocean Beings. The shamans used “soul-catchers,” carved bone tubes, to capture the wandering souls of sick people and return them to their bodies. The dead were placed in carved grave-houses overlooking the ocean, and only the shamans could visit these open coffins.

The favorite wood of the Haida for making their famous dugouts was the giant redwood, although cedar was also used. A tall, straight tree would be felled and floated to the worksite. The log would be split along its center with wooden wedges. Then the remaining round

Haida dugout

Haida rattle representing a whale

Side of one of the logs would be further split to flatten it. The wood would be charred with a torch to make it easier to scrape with a stone adz (later, the Haida used metal tools, acquired from non-Indians). Both the inside and outside of the hull would be scraped, chiseled, and rubbed smooth, until the sides of the boat would be two fingers thick at the bottom, one inch at the top. The cockpit would be widened by putting water inside and adding hot rocks, by burning fires near the outside to further heat the wood, and by forcing the sides outward with oversize wooden braces. The bow and stern pieces, the former longer than the latter, would be carved separately and attached with either cedar pegs or spruce lashings. Strips of cedar would also be added to the tops of the sides. The hull would be sanded with stone and polished with sharkskin to prevent friction in the water. The bow and stern would be decorated with carvings, inlays, and paintings of totemic designs. The resulting boat could be as much as 60 feet long and seven feet wide at the center and could hold about 60 warriors or the same weight in cargo. At first the Indians propelled their boats with paddles, but added sails after contact with Europeans.