Kaigani Haida

Haida
Total population

c. 2,500+
Regions with significant populations
Canada ( British Columbia) United States ( Alaska)
Languages
Haida, English

The Haida (English pronunciation: /ˈhaɪdə/, HY-də), historically sometimes spelled Hydah, are an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their main territory is the archipelago of Haida Gwaii (formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands) in northern British Columbia, but a group known as the Kaigani Haida live across the Dixon Entrance on Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska. Haida have occupied Haida Gwaii since at least the 12,500BP, when pollen fossils and oral histories converge to confirm Haida ancestors were present when the first tree, a Lodegpole pine, arrived at SG̱uuluu Jaads Saahlawaay, the western-most of the Swan Islands located in Gwaii Haanas.

In British Columbia, the term "Haida Nation" refers both to the people as a whole and their government, the Council of the Haida Nation. The Kaigani are part of the Central Council Tlingit Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska government. The Haida language has sometimes been classified as one of the Na-Dene group, but is usually considered to be an isolate.