People
Haida families broadly belong to one of twoEuropean relations & fur trade
Initial contact The first recorded mention of Dadens was in 1774, though not by name, by the explorer Juan Perez, who sailed past it. And it was not until 1789 that there was a recorded landing, achieved by Captain William Douglas. When Douglas arrived he did not have much success in trading, due to the poor quality iron his ship was carrying. From the accounts at this time, it was still a fairly large village, with a number of people inhabiting it. John Bartlett arrived at the village in 1791, and left with the first, possibly only surviving sketch of a house and frontal pole from Dadens, though John Meares had taken note of a pole during his voyage in 1789. Joseph Ingraham landed in Dadens in the same year, and described the village and its poles in his journal. He met three chiefs there, and identified two of them as gu.uu (whom he referred to as Cow), and Goi, but did not record a name for the last. His journal was the first to describe two large poles, not just one, both around four storeys. However, it is unclear what the second one was representative of. He also described a house with "an excavated interior" and support planks. Almost immediately afterward the first French vessel arrived, captained by Etienne Marchand. An officer on his boat reportedly saw a group of people in canoes go ashore, so the ship quickly followed suit. At this time there were only two houses left in the village, but they were still occupied by a large number of people. Eight years later Captain James Rowan on his ship ''Eliza'' arrived. He traded a hostage with the people of Dadens, to ensure peace was kept between the two groups. The ship clerk Samuel Berling (or John Burling, in some literature), copied what 'Mr. Bumstead,' who was sent on land as the hostage, described. There were still only two houses standing at this time, but he also claimed there was a surprisingly large number of people living in them, many of whom he identifies as female slaves. Here he met Yaahl Daajee, the chief, which Berling transcribed as 'Altatse,' and is written as Eldarge in at least one source. According to this journal the two houses belonged to this chief and his brother, who is not named.Emigration to southern shores of Alaska
There have been multiple migrations of families from Dadens to south east Alaska in Haida history. Ethnographers and anthropologists have speculated that some of these family groups emigrated to Alaska post-European contact. Further, Florence Davidson in ''During My Time'' recalls gatherings at Dadens in the 1900s.Kaigani
The Haida who moved to Alaska became known as the ''Alaskan Haida, Ñ'íis Ýaat'áay,'' or colloquially as the ''Kaigani Haida.'' The Tlingit Peoples also live in Alaska. Today, these two distinct nations have banded together for political reasons, namely due to the colonization of their ancestral lands by the British and Canadian Governments and their mutual pursuit of Land Entitlement and sovereign nationhood. The organize under the Central Council Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. The Council of the Haida Nation (CHN) is the Indigenous governance on Haida Gwaii.21st century
While Dadens is currently uninhabited, it has not been abandoned by the Haida. There continue to be hereditary chiefs of the village, a title passed down from one member of a clan to another, through the matrilineal line, who do not live in the village, but are tasked with protecting it. As of 2025, the hereditary chief is Darin Swanson, whose Haida name is ''Ginaawaan'', and who is a potlatched Chief and member of the Hereditary Chiefs Council. Another notable chief waSee also
* List of Haida Villages * Chief Cuneah *References
{{Reflist Haida villages Populated places in Haida Gwaii Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia Indian reserves in Haida Gwaii