Northern (Massett) Haida Toponymy and Geographic Knowledge

Abstract

The Haida language, spoken by the indigenous people of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada, has only about 30 remaining fluent speakers, almost all in their 70s and 80s. This collection will contain documentation on Massett (Northern) Haida place-names and related geographic and environmental information with recordings of remaining speakers of the language. Recordings were made during excursions and ground-truthing sessions. There will also be recordings of traditional ecological and geographic knowledge that accompanies the names themselves. All the recordings will be accompanied by transcriptions and analyses. Next to ELAR, this collection will also be stored at the local archive in Old Massett, where it can be made available in various edited print and audio-visual forms to learners of the language and members of the Haida community.