The Haida people's struggle for their survival on the island of Haida Gwaii

The Haida are a nation and an ethnic group native to the Haida Gwaii, which is an archipelago located on the west coast of Canada and immediately south of Alaska, and which is made up of a population of 4,000 people. The Haida language is an isolated language, which has been historically spoken throughout Haida Gwaii and other islands in southern Alaska. There are currently some 445 speakers of the Haida language. The Haida language was eliminated by the Canadian authorities through the Haida child abduction policy through the "residential school system". This resulted in a sudden decline in usage during the 1900s. Haida language advocates are working through multiple initiatives to revitalize the Haida language along with Haida law, customs, and cultural identity.
In Haida Gwaii, the government consists of a matrix of national and regional hereditary, legislative and executive bodies including the Council of Hereditary Heads, the Haida Nation Council (CHN), the Old Massett Village Council, the Council of the Skidegate Band and the Haida Nation Secretariat These are located in the Haida Gwaii Archipelago (formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands). Haida has occupied Haida Gwaii since at least 14,000 BP, and evidence has shown that there has been a constant habitation on the islands for at least 6000 years. Pollen fossils and oral histories confirm that Haida's ancestors were present when the first tree, a Lodgepole pine, reached SG̱uuluu Jaads Saahlawaay, the westernmost of the Swan Islands located in Gwaii Haanas.
Canada's reconciliation movement is a relatively recent development. For example, after years of claiming that the islands were actually the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia announced in December 2009 that provincial legislation would be implemented to rename the archipelago to Haida Gwaii in recognition of the Haida people. The Haida Nation affirms the Haida title above all Haida Gwaii, and is conducting negotiations with the provincial and federal governments. Haida authorities continue to pass laws and manage human activities in Haida Gwaii, including making formal agreements with Canadian communities established on the islands. Haida's efforts are largely directed at protecting land and water and functioning ecosystems, and this is expressed in the protected state of almost 70% of the one-million-hectare archipelago. Protected status applies to landscape and water, as well as culturally smaller areas. They have also forced a downsizing of the industry on a large scale and carefully regulate access to resources. In the fall of 2019, with both the Provincial and Federal Crown in the minority government, there are indications that the reconciliation of Canadian and indigenous titles may resume.
One problem that the Haida experienced was the establishment of religious missions that seek to introduce their beliefs to the detriment of the Haida religion.
 As in other indigenous nations of Canada, this situation has not yet been resolved due to the insistence of certain evangelical groups using extensive resources and taking advantage of the situation of isolation and poverty of many native communities.
(to be continued).