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Guujaaw is a Haida leader who served as president of the Haida Nation from 2000 to 2013. During this time he oversaw important agreements with the Province of British Columbia such as the Haida Gwaii Strategic Land Use Agreement. The name “Guujaaw” means Drum in the Haida language and was given to him at a longhouse opening potlatch. Guujaaw recently received the name “Gidansda,” becoming Hereditary Chief the G̲aag'yals K̲iiG̲awaay Skedans clan. “Gidansda” is an inherited name meaning 'from his daughter' and was given to him at his succession potlatch in 2017. Guujaaw is also known as a singer, totem and canoe carver, copper maker, traditional medicine practitioner, writer and an advocate for rights, title and earth.

Biography
Guujaaw was born in Massett, on the northern part of Haida Gwaii, and had seven sisters and one brother. He inherits his clan matrilineally from his mother who was of the Raven moiety from the Gakyaals Kiiqawaay of the village of Ḵ'uuna, also called Skedans. His father, Chiits Gitnaii, descended from the Eagle moiety from the Yakoun River. Guujaaw lives in Skidegate.

In his childhood he spent summers with his great-grandmother who lived to be 109 years old. She was a singer who taped over 100 Haida songs and was perhaps the greatest influence on Guujaaw’s life. Even through his teens, Guujaaw was close to his elders and spent much of his time exploring Haida Gwaii and trapping with his uncle Percy Williams, the former Chief Gidansda.

Guujaaw has worked in various capacities with the Council of the Haida Nation over the past forty years. Through this time, he helped in securing the protection of more than half of the archipelago of Haida Gwaii and played a key role in re-establishing the influence of the Haida People. He was in the forefront of the fight for the protection of Gwaii Haanas (South Moresby) and took part in the blockades of logging operations at Lyell Island in the mid 1980s, as well as a more recent uprising, "Island Spirit Rising," that added protection for most of the remaining old growth forests.

He has served as the negotiator for the Council of the Haida Nation and the Firekeeper for the Hereditary Chiefs. In 2018 he became a Strategic Advisor to Coastal First Nations. Guujaaw has travelled to Indigenous communities around the world including the Kayapo in Brazil and known by indigenous people around the world.

Time Line

 * 1968 Education: enrolled in a student carving program hosted by Rufus Moody to encourage young argillite carvers. This kicked off a lifetime of studies of Haida artifacts and culture.
 * 1972 Performance: became the principal singer for the Kadsnee Dancers, a dance group led by Claude Davidson.
 * 1972 Architectural commission: designed and constructed a longhouse in the Haida style at Kiusta, Haida Gwaii.
 * 1972 Commission: made several masks for ceremonial use of the Kaadsnee and Skidegate Dancers.
 * 1973 Exhibition: an argillite sculpture titled Woman Washing Hair was purchased for the Legacy Collection of the Royal British Columbia Museum at Victoria, British Columbia.
 * 1976 Performance: made a skin drum with a painted bear design which he still uses today and has become a symbol of his work as a dancer, singer, political activist, and artist.
 * 1977 Commission: assisted Bill Reid with the carving of the 17.4 metre pole which was a gift to the village of Skidegate and now stands at the Skidegate Band Council building.
 * 1979 Commission: assisted Bill Reid with the carving of the Raven and the First Man, a seven-foot sculpture which was commissioned privately and donated to the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia in honor of the grand opening.
 * 1980 Architectural commission: designed and built a longhouse in the Haida style which is used as a carving shed at Skidegate, Haida Gwaii.
 * 1981 Performance: performed with the Squamish Dance Group under the leadership of Simon Baker at the Kobi World's Fair in Japan.
 * 1984 Research project: considered to be at the forefront of the canoe building renaissance which began with a ten-year search of the forests of Haida Gwaii for old and unfinished canoes, and Culturally Modified Trees. Interviewed elders and applied historical theories and practices in the making of contemporary canoes.
 * 1984 Documentary: featured on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Islands at the Edge hosted by David Suzuki as part of the series The Nature of Things.
 * 1984 Publication: The Cedar, illustrated by Arlene Golson, published by Wedge Publishers, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia.
 * 1985 Performance: official unveiling of the bronze Killerwhale by Bill Reid in front of the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia.
 * 1985 Performance: singer and dancer with a multi-nation dance group at Expo '85 in Osaka, Japan
 * 1985 Built scale model for Bill Reid's Loo Taas canoe.
 * 1985 Architectural commission: designed and built a longhouse in the Haida style at Windy Bay, Lyell Island, Haida Gwaii.
 * 1986 Documentary: Islands of the People, British Broadcasting Corporation production documenting Guujaaw's work and travels on Haida Gwaii.
 * 1987 Publication: featured in National Geographic, July, page 102.
 * 1987 Architectural Project: Three longhouses at Rediscovery, Taalung slung
 * 1988 Architectural project: designed and built three longhouses in the Haida style at Taalung Slung, Haida Gwaii
 * 1988 Architectural commission: designed second longhouse at Windy Bay, Haida Gwaii
 * 1989 Lecture and performance: Altamira Forum Conference on Environment and Tourism, Brazil.
 * 1990 Publication: Chronicles of Pride - Journey of Discovery, Patricia Logie, published by Datselig Enterprise Ltd. Calgary, Alberta.
 * 1990 Publication: featured in Paradise Won - The Struggle for South Moresby by Elizabeth May, published by McCelland and Stewart.
 * 1991 Documentary: featured in On the Road Again - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation hosted by Wayne Ronstad on drumming and dancing in the Haida style.
 * 1992 Performance: unveiling of the Black Canoe - Spirit of Haida Gwaii, by Bill Reid at the Canadian Embassy, Washington, DC.
 * 1992 Commission: Gagiiht mask, private collection, Alaska
 * 1992 Architectural commission: designed and constructed a longhouse in the Haida style at Windy Bay, Lyell Island, Haida Gwaii.
 * 1992 Presentation: 6' totem pole carved by master carver Masimoto in Hokaido, Japan.
 * 1992 Performance: featured on CBC's Ideas. Gwaii Haanas: How non-violence works.
 * 1993 Publication: featured in Keepers of the Totem, Time Life Book publication.
 * 1993 Performance: Sesame Street - Guujaaw and the Higagalda Dancers performed on the television show with a documentary showing old canoe sites in the forest of Haida Gwaii.
 * 1993 Commission: carved the 6-metre Sea Grizzly pole, private collection, Ontario
 * 1993 Architectural project: designed primary dwelling in a Haida style.
 * 1994 Performance: raising of totem pole carved by Reg Davidson at Birmingham, Alabama.
 * 1994 Publication: Gathering at Ainumashi - The Land of the Ainu: A message from indigenous people of the world (page 204), published by Eikoh Educational and Cultural Institute.
 * 1994 Commission: Carved a 2-metre pole with master carver Masimito, Japan.
 * 1995 Publication: Skidegate Haida Myths and Histories, wrote foreword for book of short stories.
 * 1995 Presentation: the First International Forum on Nature and Human Kind in the Age of Environmental Crisis - International Japanese Centre for Environmental Studies, Kyoto, Japan.
 * 1995 Performance: raising of totem pole carved by Jim Hart at San Francisco, USA.
 * 1996 Publication: The Great Canoes by David Neel, wrote article The History and Building of Canoes.
 * 1997 Commission: 28' totem pole commissioned by the Government of Canada for presentation to the people of Indonesia. Pole raising ceremony by Guujaaw, Robert Davidson, Terri-Lynn Williams, Simon Dick, Jalun, and Gwaai.
 * 2006 - Winner of the Buffett Indigenous Leadership Award

Bibliography and further reading

 * Skidegate Text and Histories by Swanton ...Enrico (with a foreword by Guujaaw)
 * Haida Gwaii by Fedje and Mathews (with a foreword by Guujaaw)
 * Mycelium Running by Paul Stamats (Guujaaw note)
 * Raven Travelling (Guujaaw quote and art)
 * Neel, David. The Great Canoes: Reviving a Northwest Coast Tradition. Douglas & McIntyre. 1995. ISBN 1-55054-185-4
 * The Golden Spruce: A True Story of Myth, Madness, and Greed, By John Vaillant. W. W. Norton & Co. 2005.
 * David Suzuki: The Autobiography, David Suzuki. Greystone Books. 2006.
 * All That We Say Is Ours: Guujaaw and the Reawakening of the Haida Nation, Ian Gill. 2009. (Shortlisted for BC Book Prize and nominated for the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Book Prize)