The islands are inhabited by the Haida people. They were first discovered by Europeans about two hundred years ago when explorers and traders came across them. They found the natives of these islands to be both peaceful and friendly. In their hand hewed cedar canoes they would row out to the strange ships of the Europeans singing songs of welcome and spreading eagle s feathers on the waters in a symbolic act of welcome. The Haida kept no written records of their history prior to the coming of the white man and so very little is known about their arrival on the islands.
Some experts believe that they arrived by way of the Bering Strait from Asia.
Others assert that they came with the currents from Japan. Interestingly many of the people relate a story handed down from their ancestors of a great flood that covered the highest peaks. Only by building a large raft was anyone able to survive. This, of course, bears an uncanny resemblance to the Genesis account in the Bible. The Haida had established a highly structured social system in their pre European years.