Ts’uu JaasG̲alang hlG̲aajuu : cedar sisters framework ...

• Main Author: Williams-Davidson, Terri-Lynn
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2022
• Subjects: haida
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0413024; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0413024

There is no framework for the analysis of Haida laws that is grounded in Haida culture. I take seriously the Haida worldview, the Haida conception of Tlgaa K̲’aaysguux̲an SG̲aanaG̲was (the Supernatural Realm), and SG̲aana K̲iidads (Supernatural Beings). From this perspective arises a framework based on the Cedar Tree, who in the Haida worldview, is an Ancient Sister called Ts’uu Jaasas. The conception of this framework was developed intuitively, drawing upon personal experience, knowledge about use of the Cedar Tree, and from observations of the biological functions of the Cedar Tree. I demonstrate the suitability of this framework primarily by drawing upon the ethnographic record of the Haida Nation, with a focus on the oral narratives contained in the work of John R. Swanton. He was an early ethnographer who recorded his work in the Haida language, worked with Hereditary Chiefs, and took the Supernatural Realm seriously. I used a quantitative method to examine the number of occurrences of the Cedar Tree in ...