Relationship with Colonizers

Prior to contact with colonizers, the Haida population was in the tens of thousands with settlements spread out across all of Haida Gwaii (Archived). First encounters of Haida and European people date back to the 1770's with the trade of sea otter pelts, however, at this time there was no interest in settling the region (Mullins and Painter). These pelts that were sold would go for a lot of money overseas in China, which only increased interest in trading with the Haida.

Outside of sea otter pelts, argillite carvings, pipes, and figurines were some of the staples that the Haida would bargain with. However, when the otter population started to decline the Haida had to find a new way to continue this trading relationship. The solution to this was the depiction of "Europeans and Europeans scenes rapidly became a fundamental feature of Haida trade goods" (Mullins and Painter). These were wildly popular with outsiders and shaped the way the Haida traded with Europeans going forward.