Haida: Indigenous "Vikings" of Canada

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A look at the Haida, the First Nation people of Haida Gwaii in the Pacific Northwest. A powerful seafaring culture, the Haida don wooden armor and trade with and raid distant coastlines, drawing later comparisons to the Vikings. Faced with European and American traders, the Haida mount considerable resistance to colonial incursions in a history that includes American Revolutionaries, King Kamehameha of Hawaii, and more.
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SOURCES
Ames, K. M. (2003). The Northwest Coast. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 12(1), 19-33. doi.org/10.1002/evan.10102
Duff, W. (1979). Koyah. Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Retrieved February 18, 2023, from www.biographi.ca/en/bio/koyah_...
Fedje, D. W., & Mathewes, R. W. (Eds.). (2005). Haida gwaii: Human history and environment from the time of Loon to the time of the iron people. University of British Columbia Press.
Gough, B. M. (1982). New light on haida chiefship: The case of Edenshaw 1850-1853. Ethnohistory, 29(2), 131-139. doi.org/10.2307/481373. A worthwhile overview of Haida resistance to gold mining, as well as ransoming crews in the 1850s.
Haswell, R., Hoskins, J. B., & Boit, J. (1941). Voyages of the "columbia" to the Northwest Coast 1787-1790 and 1790-1793. (F. W. Howay, Ed.)Archive (Vol. 79). The Massachusetts historical Society. Retrieved 2023, from archive.org/details/massachus.... Journals of fur traders of Kendrick's and his contemporaries' crews, and their accounts of the happenings at Haida Gwaii.
Howay, F. W. (1925). Captain Simon Metcalfe and the Brig "Eleanor". The Washington Historical Quarterly, 16(2), 114-121. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/4....
Howay, F. W. (1929). The Ballad of the Bold Northwestman: an Incident in the Life of Captain John Kendrick. Washington Historical Quarterly, 20(2), 114-123.
MacDonald, G. F. (n.d.). The Haida : Children of eagle and Raven. Retrieved February 18, 2023, from www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhi... A portal offering a fairly nice overview of Haida customs, diet, warfare, etc.
Pethick, D. (1980). The Nootka Connection Europe and the Northwest Coast 1790-1795. Archive. Douglas & McIntyre. Retrieved 2023, from archive.org/details/nootkacon....
Richards, R. (1991). Captain Simon Metcalfe: Pioneer Fur Trader in the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii and China, 1787-1794. (R. A. Pierce, Ed.). Limestone.
Rosman, A., & Rubel, P. G. (1986). Feasting with mine enemy: rank and exchange among Northwest Coast Societies. Waveland Press. See 55-66 for a Haida-specific discussion of the potlatch.

[@HistoryDose]

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[@khalidalali186]

It’s fascinating, and rather disturbing I daresay, how Canada has been able to fly under the radar for so long, shifting all the focus to its southerly neighbor. I remember when I first stumbled upon “Catholic Residential Schools” by sheer coincidence, on the Internet, 3-4 years ago only. It made me utter the phrase “Reality is stranger than fiction” over and over again. Until my subconscious kept saying “Reality is far more frightening than anything I’ve read in fiction.” The further I kept reading about these schools. 😰😨

[@theomelchior2739]

The thing that I'm surprised you didn't mention was their pre contact metal use, mostly iron daggers cold worked for meteorites

[@steveoltjenbruns2366]

What’s crazy about this is I did a paper on this in college basically the same premise comparing similarities between Kwakiutl and Haida cultures to that of the Norse. Making an argument sort of in favor of environmental determinism.

[@theimaginationofmyself]

i for one completely reject the framing of your title

[@SwaggyBaggy69]

As somebody who lives in BC, thank you covering a part of indigenous history that gets no where near as much attention as other cultures get! Haida and Nuu-chah-nulth history is interesting!

[@seanfaherty]

People forget the time when the colonizers were homegrown.

[@Ojibwe_Chippewa]

Thank you for covering a Canadian First Nation tribe 🇨🇦💪 I’m Anishinaabek First Nation, frm here Canada. This was rlly fun and interesting to watch. Love the videos. miigwech🙏 (thank you In Ojibwe)

[@Kingsultansapainca]

For anyone interested in learning more about Haida culture, there's a film that was released in 2018 called SG̲aawaay Ḵ'uuna (The Edge of the Knife) that details early 19th century Haida life through the interpretation of the legend of the Gaagiixiid, a man who becomes wild and feral after being ostracised from his village. It was shot in Haida Gwaii by an all-Haida crew, with the dialogue entirely in the Haida language. It's amazing how alien, and yet strangely familiar, the landscape, people, and themes are, and it's a rare look into cinema that is by, for, and about Indigenous Canadians. Well worth checking out if this topic intrigues you!

[@prestonjones1653]

Welp, I know my next EU4 campaign.

[@-Jansen155]

The Haida seem like they were a super unique culture. They combined being cutthroat inhumane conquerors with things like having some women as rulers. And Haida rulers had to maintain their status by being good at their job, rather than sitting on a lazy throne. Sounds like the kind of people that would be in a fantasy anime.

[@melle9155]

This channel is amazing. I recently learnt that Ancient peoples like Mongols, Conquistadors and Samurais sometimes clashed and traded. Truely amazing, in my mind all of these factions were years apart and too far away to meet. Your narration is so poetic, it feels like i am watching a movie. keep this up, i love it!

[@hugodesrosiers-plaisance3156]

My uncle lived with the Haida People for many, many years. When he came back, he had a pendant carved from argilite, depicting the Great Raven with the Moon in its beak. It was crafted by local artisan G. Moody in 1982 who gave it to my uncle. He eventually gifted it to me - he knew I understood its meaning, its value, and that I would keep it safer than even he could. It's one of my most treasured item and your video just gave even more depth to its meaning. I went to pick it out of its box to look at it just now. Thank you.

[@travisshannon9040]

As a Haida. I thank you for this! I enjoyed watching and listening to your narration. I hope that one day, the History Channel makes a series like Vikings :) And I hope that I would get a role in it!

[@callusklaus2413]

There's a place in Washington called Skull Island, it's a location where the Haida caught up with and massacred a band of Lummi. There were and likely still are human corpses, or rather their remains, on the island today.

[@Gravelgratious]

The Tlingit, and the Salish did this too.

[@bernardoohigginsvevo2974]

It’s interesting how deep the parallels go between the Haida and the Norse. Not only did they have the prevalence of raiding, but also a similar model of decentralized authority and the cultural importance of gift giving. Very fascinating all around.

[@natedogg890]

I grew up in this region of BC, Haida Gwaii is till an incredible place full of native culture

[@WhatIsSanity]

How did you know I needed to learn more about Indigenous Canadians? ;) This will be good. Also beautiful and striking artwork, well done artist brother!

[@jtoegi]

This looks really cool