Ninstints

Lore & Background

SG̱ang Gwaay Llnagaay was one of the southernmost Haida villages, located in a sheltered bay on the east side of Anthony Island, facing Kunghit Island. It is the earliest recorded village in the southern archipelago and was the most secluded and protected major Haida settlement. The Kunghit Haida, who occupied the southern portion of Haida Gwaii, had approximately two dozen permanent villages, with SG̱ang Gwaay Llnagaay being one of them. Early records place the number of long houses at twenty, and larger Kunghit villages typically had around 15 longhouses, with populations ranging from less than two hundred to more than five hundred.

Reader's Guide

The significance of Ninstints lies in its role as a major Haida settlement during the maritime fur trade era and its preservation as a cultural heritage site. Visited by European traders such as George Dixon in 1787, Charles Duncan in 1788, and Robert Gray and John Kendrick in 1789, the village experienced both amicable and hostile trade relations. The 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic greatly reduced the population, and by 1878 all remaining residents had moved to Skidegate. Today, the site is extremely remote, accessible only by sea or air, and is protected by the Haida Watchmen program. The totem poles, though allowed to naturally decay, are celebrated as great works of art and are emblematic of Haida culture, featured in tourism promotions for Haida Gwaii and British Columbia.

Did You Know?

• The name Ninstints comes from a powerful mid-19th-century chief, adopted by ship captains as the village's name.
• The village site dates back to at least 360 CE.
• The last chief born at Ninstints, Thomas Price, was a noted carver of argillite.
• The village was largely abandoned by the mid-1880s, with the last residents leaving around 1885.