Cuneah, also Gunia, Cunneah, Cunnyha, Cunniah, Coneehaw, Connehaw, Cunneaw (

Haida Haida may refer to: Haida people Many uses of the word derive from the name of an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. * Haida people, an Indigenous ethnic group of North America (Canada) ** Council of the Haida Nati ...

: ''Gəniyá'' ( 1789–1801), was the chief of Kiusta, a town at the northwestern tip of

Graham Island Graham Island () is the largest island in the Haida Gwaii archipelago (previously known as the Queen Charlotte Islands), lying off the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is separated by the narrow Skidegate Channel from the other pr ...

during the era of the Maritime Fur Trade in

Haida Gwaii Haida Gwaii (; / , literally "Islands of the Haida people"), previously known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago located between off the British Columbia Coast, northern Pacific coast in the Canadian province of British Columbia ...

off the

North Coast of British Columbia The British Columbia Coast, popularly referred to as the BC Coast or simply the Coast, is a geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. As the entire western continental coastline of Canada along the Pacific Ocean is in the pr ...

, Canada. This town was an important port of call for acquiring sea otter skins in the early years of the maritime fur trade. Cuneah seems to have avoided the violence that plagued other Haida chiefs, like

Koyah Koyah, also Xo'ya, Coya, Coyour, Kower, Kouyer (; 1787–1795), was the chief of Ninstints or Skungwai, the main village of the Kunghit-Haida during the era of the Maritime Fur Trade in Haida Gwaii off the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. ...

. George Dixon visited the Kiusta area in 1787 and called the inlet where he traded Cloak Bay, for the large number of beautiful sea otter cloaks he acquired there from Cuneah's people. The first European to go ashore and meet Cuneah was William Douglas, in June 1789. In addition to trading goods, Cuneah and Douglas exchanged names, a gesture of good will and honour among the Haida. From that time on the log books of various traders mention the chief as "Douglas Cuneah". A number of American traders visited, one of whom described Cuneah as "humane" and "friendly". Unfortunately the details about Cuneah after Douglas's visit are difficult to trace due to the fragmentary nature of the historic material available.

Robert Haswell Robert Haswell (November 24, 1768 – 1801?) was an early American maritime fur trader to the Pacific Northwest of North America. His journals of these voyages are the main records of Captain Robert Gray's circumnavigation of the globe. Later d ...

of the ship ''

Columbia Rediviva ''Columbia Rediviva'' (commonly known as ''Columbia'') was a privately owned American ship under the command, first, of John Kendrick, and later Captain Robert Gray, best known for being the first American vessel to circumnavigate the globe, a ...

'' under Robert Gray wrote an account of events at Kiusta. About Cuneah, Haswell wrote that he was "a very good old fellow - his wife was off ship and had vast authority over every person alongside." Sigismund Bacstrom drew a picture of Cuneah's eldest daughter, Koota-Hilslinga, in 1793. Another description of Cuneah is found in Bishop's journal of the ship ''Ruby''. He describes Cuneah as chief of the whole district in 1795, probably meaning the area of

Kaigani Strait Kaigani Strait (also, Kaigahnee, Kaigan, Kaijani) is a waterway in the U.S. state of Alaska, the southern part of the strait between Long Island and Dall Island. The Alaska Native name, as reported by Etolin is 1833, is Kalgan. Kaigani is the nar ...

and much of the north coast of Graham Island. Cuneah had a major influence over the Haida of Kiusta,

Dadens Dadens (), also referred to as Tartenee and Tatense by some early European settlers and Tatense Reserve 16 under the Indian Act is village on the southern coast of Langara Island () belonging to the Haida Nation on the archipelago Haida Gwaii, B ...

and Kaigani. The chiefs Eldarge, Cowe, Skilkada, and Shakes were secondary to Cuneah. By 1811 Kiusta had lost its place of prominence in the fur trade, and Chief Cuneah was either very old or dead. His successor seems to have kept the name and title, but lost the chiefdom.

See also

References

Further reading