Haida are an indigenous group who have traditionally occupied Haida Gwaii, an archipelago just off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, for at least 12,500 years.
Haida Gwaii is an archipelago located between 55–125 km (34–78 mi) off the northern Pacific coast of Canada. The islands are separated from the mainland to the east by the shallow Hecate Strait. 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.
Graham Island is the largest island in the Haida Gwaii archipelago, lying off the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is separated by the narrow Skidegate Channel from the other principal island of the group to the south, Moresby Island. It has a population of 3,858, an area of 6,361 km2 (2,456 sq mi), and is the 101st largest island in the world and Canada's 22nd largest island.
Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area, and Haida Heritage Site, usually referred to simply as Gwaii Haanas, is located in southernmost Haida Gwaii, 130 kilometres off the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Gwaii Haanas protects an archipelago of 138 islands, the largest being Moresby Island and the southernmost being Kunghit Island. "Gwaii Haanas" means "Islands of Beauty" in X̱aayda kíl, the language of the Haida people.
The British Columbia Coast, popularly referred to as the BC Coast or simply the Coast, is a geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. As the entire western continental coastline of Canada along the Pacific Ocean is in B.C., it is synonymous with being the West Coast of Canada.
The North Coast Regional District is a quasi-municipal administrative area in British Columbia. It is located on British Columbia's west coast and includes Haida Gwaii, the largest of which are Graham Island and Moresby Island. Its administrative offices are in the City of Prince Rupert.
Skidegate is a Haida community in Haida Gwaii in British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the southeast coast of Graham Island, the largest island in the archipelago, and is approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of mainland British Columbia across Hecate Strait.
Sandspit is the largest community on Moresby Island, in Haida Gwaii off the Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada. The only town on Moresby Island, Sandspit has accommodations, a campground, supermarket and 85-berth harbour serving visitors to Gwaii Haanas.
Daajing Giids, known as Queen Charlotte from 1891–2022, is a village municipality in the Haida Gwaii archipelago in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the southern end of Graham Island at Skidegate Inlet and is a member municipality of the North Coast Regional District.
Moresby Island is a large island that forms part of the Haida Gwaii archipelago in British Columbia, Canada, located at 52°45′00″N131°50′00″W. It is separated by the narrow Skidegate Channel from the other principal island of the group to the north, Graham Island.
Valdes Island is one of the Gulf Islands located in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia, Canada. It is across Porlier Pass from Galiano Island, which lies to the southeast. It has an area of 23 square kilometres, and is 1.6 kilometres wide by 16 kilometres in length. The island is popular with kayakers, boaters and has historically been the site of several human settlements.
The Queen Charlottes Gold Rush was a gold rush in southern Haida Gwaii of what is now the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, in 1851.
The Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands was a British colony constituting the archipelago of the same name from 1853 to 1858, when it was amalgamated into the Colony of British Columbia. In 2010 the archipelago was renamed Haida Gwaii.
Skidegate Channel is a strait located in the Haida Gwaii archipelago of British Columbia, Canada. It divides the archipelago's two main islands, Graham Island to the north and Moresby Island to the south.
Cumshewa Inlet, also recorded or referred to in exploration logs as Cumchewas Harbour and Tooscondolth Sound, is a large inlet on the east coast of Moresby Island in the Haida Gwaii islands of the North Coast of British Columbia. The inlet was the site of various Haida villages, including Cumshewa, Tanu and Djí-gua. The name for the inlet was conferred in the days of the Maritime Fur Trade following a custom whereby captains named locations for the most important local chief, in this case Cumshewa, who figures in maritime fur trade vessel logs from 1787 onwards. In 1794 Cumshewa and his followers massacred the crew of the American trading vessel Resolution in Cumshewa Inlet.
SG̱ang Gwaay Llanagaay, commonly known by its English name Ninstints, is a village site of the Haida people and part of the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site on Haida Gwaii on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada.
Louise Island is a 275-square-kilometre (106 sq mi) island in Haida Gwaii, in British Columbia, Canada, off the east coast of Moresby Island. It was named for Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. Louise Island is located east of Moresby Island and Carmichael Passage, and south of Cumshewa Inlet.
Portland Island is an island of the Southern Gulf Islands of the South Coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the Salish Sea west of Moresby Island and off the south tip of Saltspring Island, adjacent to the main BC Ferries route just offshore from the terminal at Swartz Bay at the tip of the Saanich Peninsula. It was named after HMS Portland, the flagship of Rear-Admiral Fairfax Moresby, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Station 1850–1853.
Houston Stewart Channel is a strait in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada. It separates Moresby Island and Kunghit Island.
Hlk'yah G̱awG̱a, also known as Windy Bay, is located on Athlii Gwaii in southern Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. The site was historically the location of a Haida village named Hlk'yah Llnagaay, meaning Peregrine Falcon Town in English. In the 1980s, Hlk'yah G̱awG̱a was the focus of a series of lawsuits and protests opposing clearcut logging on the island. These demonstrations were the impetus for the signing of the Gwaii Haanas Agreement of 1993 and the creation of the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area Reserve, and Haida Heritage Site.
