Member of an American Indian people who live on the Queen Charlotte Islands , Canada, and islands of southern Alaska. Their language belongs to the Na-Dene family. The abundance of natural resources enabled a settled lifestyle and highly developed culture. They lived in permanent villages of cedar-plank longhouses, and were known for their woodcarving, including elaborate cedar-log canoes and totem poles. Salmon was their main staple food. They were great traders and, like other Northwest Indians , they practised the potlatch ceremony in which prestige was gained by giving gifts. In Alaska they share tribal government with the Tlingit , and have a joint population of 14,800 (2000). The Haida supplemented their predominantly salmon diet with saltwater fish, such as halibut and cod, molluscs, sea mammals, and game. They were skilled seafarers using huge cedar dugout canoes, and often raided neighbouring peoples for slaves. Haida society was matrilineal (membership passing through the…