Kilslaay SGiidagids Kihlgula-people Are like Trees-Chief Skidegate Speech

his address of the late Hereditary Chief Skidegate, Lewis Collinson (1881-1970) is one of the most famous in the history of the Haida Nation. In March 1966, Chief Skidegate gave this address in Xaayda Kil, the Haida language. It was translated into English by the late Percy Williams (later known as Hereditary Chief Gidansda).

Raven Calling Productions is pleased to offer this publication, coinciding with the United Nations International Year of Indigenous languages (2019).

This artisanal publication (4 pages long and 5.25 x 7.25 inches in size) is beautifully typeset and designed, with a cover fitting for a Hereditary Chief of the Northwest Coast: red with copper embossing.

Photos featured in the publication are of my paternal grandfather, Lewis Collinson, sculpting argillite (courtesy of the Haida Gwaii Museum) and a stand of cedar trees in Haida Gwaii (Jack Litrell). Inside the page folds are close-ups of cedar bark (Ruth Hartnup).