Kasaan Haida Elders Speak

Fred's Work to Save a Language

new project Kasaan
Haida Heritage Foundation.

 our recent project, "Gásaáan Xaadas Guusuu"  
(Kasaan Haida Elders Speak).

http://kavilco.com/pages/khhfprojects.html

 http://kavilco.com/pages/khhfhowtogive.html

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Gásaáan Xaadas Guusuu Project
(Kasaan Elders Speak)

The Sounds of Haida

Click on the Sounds-of-Haida to hear samples of each of the sounds in the Haida language. These recordings were made in Ketchikan, Alaska at the home of Mrs. Erma Lawrence, a Native speaker of the Kasaan dialect of Alaskan Haida.

Historic Background of Kasaan Village and Its People

The only two Alaskan Haida villages remaining today are Hydaburg and (New) Kasaan. The original village of (Old) Kasaan was abandoned in 1902 for the promise of year round employment and schools at the new location. At its peak, the population in Kasaan reached 150 in the 1900s. Today the village population has remained at a stable, though low, number (35-45 depending on the season). About one-third to one-half the population are descendants of the original Kasaan Haida families with the remaining population consisting of non-Natives and Natives who are members of other tribal groups, specifically Tlingit and Aleut. Currently, the remaining living Kasaan Haida elders (seven identified – all 75 years plus) live in Kasaan, Ketchikan, and Seattle—all who speak some Haida (Kasaan dialect) with varying degrees of fluency.

The traditional IRA council, for the most part, was inactive until 1996. Since IRAs members do not need to be of the local tribe, but can from be any Native American tribe, unlike many other traditional IRA’s in Alaska, the Organized Village of Kasaan (OVK) tribal council is made up of six members with just over one-half being Kasaan Haida and the others are Tlingit and Aleut. Still, as long term residents of Kasaan, the OVK tribal council recognizes the historical importance of the work Kasaan Haida Heritage Foundation (KHHF), the non-profit arm of Kasaan Village Corporation (Kavilco) will do and supports the project.

Critical Issues of Historic Preservation

Relatively little comprehensive information exists regarding either the Kasaan Haida, or Kasaan village area history. The largest and most consolidated source of information is from a 167+ page compilation of interviews collected in June of 1971 by Andrea Laforet and published as Kasaan Cultural Heritage Project as part of a Historic Preservation project sponsored by National Parks. Three elders were interviewed who have long since passed away. At that time, the recommendation was to do more work in this area, but it was not until recently the people actively committed to documenting what remains of their cultural heritage and language.

As part of the recognition of the urgent need for action—board members of Kavilco formed a non-profit entity named KHHF for the purpose of documenting and preserving what remains of cultural and historical heritage. This would be done both for future descendants and for outsiders who will be able to learn about this little known region of Alaska and its people.

Summary

To meet this need, KHHF has developed a project entitled “Kasaan Haida Elders Speak: Gásaáan Xaadas Guusuu”. The intent is to gather and preserve the oral testimonies of the seven remaining Kasaan Haida elders through a series of both audio and video recordings with the aim of making available the edited versions to both Kasaan Haida people themselves, and others including teachers and researchers.

Conclusion

This Project was successfully completed in 2002, and the video tape was viewed during the Annual Meeting.

Order Tape

VHS Video tapes may be ordered for $23.95 (includes shipping and handling).
Send your request to:

Kasaan Haida Heritage Foundation
c/o Jeane Breinig, Secretary/Treasurer
9715 Trappers Lane
Juneau, AK 99801

jeane@gci.net

Or pay with a credit card through PayPal

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