Council of the Haida Nation

X̱aaydaG̱a Waadlux̱an Naay Council of the Haida Nation
Flag Coat of arms
Haida Gwaii and British Columbia
Largest village	Skidegate
Official languages	Haida English
Demonym(s)	Haida
Type	Indigenous Government
Leaders
• President	Kil tlaats 'gaa (Peter Lantin)
• Vice President	Ginn wadluu un uula isdaa ayaagang (Trevor Russ)
• Regional Representatives for HlG̱aagilda (Skidegate)	Gaagwiis (Jason Aslop) Kung Xangajii (Shawn Cowpar) Huux̱ (Percy Crosby) Guud Yuwans (William Russ)
• Regional Representatives for G̱aaw (Old Massett)	Kung Xyaalas (Tyler Bellis) Kaad Giidee (Robert Bennett) Xylang Jaad Xylaa (Leslie Brown) Stephen "Buck" Grosse
• Regional Representatives for T'agwan (Vancouver)	David Smith Giinowaan (Earnest Swanson)
• Regional Representatives for Kxeen (Prince Rupert)	Kaakuns (Pansy Collison) Dave Dellil
• Representative for the Skidegate Band Council	Billy Yovanovich, Chief Councillor
• Representative for the Old Massett Village Council	Ken Rea, Chief Councillor
Legislature	Multicameral Citizen Legislature: House of Assembly Elected Government: Council of the Haida Nation Hereditary Leadership: Hereditary Chiefs Council Local Governments: Village Councils
Establishment	1974
• First CHN meeting	7 December
Area
• Total	10,180 km2 (3,930 sq mi)
Population
• 2016 estimate	1,845 on Haida Gwaii[1] 2,000 elsewhere[2]
• Density	0.181/km2 (0.5/sq mi)
Currency	Canadian dollar
Time zone	Pacific
Calling code	+1 250
Website www.haidanation.ca

The Council of the Haida Nation (CHN; Haida: X̱aaydaG̱a Waadlux̱an Naay) is the elected government of the Haida Nation, the Indigenous occupants of the Haida Gwaii archipelago in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The council consists of a president and vice-president elected by popular vote, twelve regional representatives from four electoral regions, and one appointed representative from each of the Old Massett Village Council and Skidegate Band Council.^[3]

The Haida Nation is engaged in a legal title dispute regarding their territories, the islands of Haida Gwaii and surrounding waters, asserting that the Crown has never legally acquired title to these areas, and has illegally infringed upon Haida title and rights within the territories through the imposition of Canadian sovereignty and the extraction of resources under Canadian authority.^[4] There are two main Haida villages on Haida Gwaii: G̱aaw, known in English as Old Massett, and Hlg̱aagilda, known in English as Skidegate. Haida populations in Kxeen and T'agwan are also represented on the Council of the Haida Nation. The CHN recognizes the separate jurisdiction of the Kaigani Haida, in southern Alaska, who are members of the Haida Nation, but are governed by the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.

All Haida territories were in the past also claimed by Russia and Spain as well as the United States. Once Russian and Spanish claims to Haida Gwaii were given up in treaties with Britain and the United States, the islands continued to be claimed by the United States until the British claim to them was formalized by the creation of the Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands in 1853. Russian claims to Kaigani Haida territory were sold to the United States in 1867 with the Alaska Purchase.

The Council, formed in 1974, has been involved in many conflicts over the fate of its territories, which have been part of Canada since 1871, and by the Colony of British Columbia and the Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands prior to that. No treaties between the Crown and the governments of the Haida were ever signed, as with many other Indigenous groups in British Columbia.

The Constitution of the Haida Nation was accepted formally in 2003.The Haida Nation asserts that the Crown has never legally acquired title to Haida Gwaii and its surrounding waters. They claim that the imposition of Canadian sovereignty and the extraction of resources under Canadian authority are illegal infringements on Haida title and rights. This is a clear assertion of their sovereignty and a challenge to the existing state sovereignty, a hallmark of autonomist movements.^[5]