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The Haida People of the Northwest Coast

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The Haida People of the Northwest Coast
The Haida People of the Canadian Northwest Coast
By Shyann Gilmour

The Haida people had an extremely complex social organization. They were highly respected by their peers and those they traded with and were feared by those who were at war with them. Their art continues to flourish today and many traditions have survived into today’s world.
The Natives of the Northwest Coast have been a group of Natives with the worlds attention, while some may stay to look at museum exhibits concerning the Woodland Native for a few minutes, almost every will devote a lot more time to the Northwest Coast. They style of life and art have survived an extremely long time without too much deviation from the original plans.
Within in the structure of the Northwest coast peoples various subclasses have been established according to the different peoples whereabouts, such people include, the Bella Bella, the Heilsuk and the Haida.

The Location of the Haida People

The Haida of British Columbia live primarily on a set of Islands off the northern shore of British Columbia called the Queen Charlotte Islands also known as “Haida Gwaii” The Islands themselves are at the northern end of British Columbia close to the provinces boarder with Alaska.
The Islands themselves differ in terrain from north to south. The southern islands are mainly mountainous, with Moresby Island being the largest. The largest northern Island, Graham is mountainous on the western side and flat with isolated outcrops of rock on the east side, is where the Haida of today currently reside. Many different types of plants and vegetation grow on these Islands but the typical trees one will find are the Douglas fir, Sitica Spruce and yellow cedar The average rainfall within this region is between 100 and 200 centimetres per year, which classifies this area as a rainforest. Land mammals include such creatures as deer and bear as well as a host of smaller mammals and sea creatures include mammals such as whale,

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