"Praise the Main God! The Haida mainly live on Haida Gwaii, across from the Tsimshian coast, and on the scattered islands to the north. There are estimated to be over a hundred tribes in all, numbering in the tens of thousands. And in the Haida language, 'Haida' means 'sea bear people of the ancient islands'... They are excellent fishermen and sailors, and among the northern tribes, they are one of the few peoples skilled in handicrafts! It is said that on Haida Gwaii, the strongest thousand-person tribe is the Sea Bear Tribe, which worships the sea bear. And the Totem Pole of the Sea Bear Tribe is a man-shaped sea bear, transformed from their ancestor. Unfortunately, our fleet did not go to Haida Gwaii, but set out directly from the Eagle Island Tribe toward the territory of the Tlingit along the northern coast..."
"In early June, at latitude 55 degrees north, on an archipelago coast only three hundred li from the Eagle Island Tribe, we found a peninsula by the sea, a decent harbor site! This is where the territories of the Tsimshian, the Haida, and the Tlingit meet. It is far from any large thousand-person tribe, with no conflicts over fishing and hunting grounds, making it very suitable for the kingdom's early foothold. Likewise, the harbor site's fishing conditions are very good, especially for the kingdom's Longships, which can venture deep into the ocean. One or two hundred li out to the west lies a warm ocean current where schools of fish gather! And on the north side of the peninsula, there is a freshwater lake where we can try planting potatoes..."
"Around this harbor site, there was a small Tsimshian tribe that believed in the divine eagle, only a little over a hundred people, precisely our 'Rubber People