The Haida Sails Resurgence Project is a multi-year initiative dedicated to reviving the ancestral practice of Haida cedar sail-making. Beginning in 2024, this community-driven project brings together Haida weavers, carvers, knowledge holders, and supporters to reconnect with maritime technologies that once defined our relationship with the ocean.

For generations, the Haida were master ocean navigators, crafting dugout canoes from old-growth cedar and outfitting them with woven cedar sails. These vessels transformed the ocean into a highway for trade, cultural exchange, and kinship with other Indigenous nations. Although colonization disrupted many of these practices, the spirit of Haida seafaring endures. Today, the Haida Sails project reawakens these traditions through research, collaboration, material harvesting, and weaving.

The project is grounded in teachings from our Elders and community members, and has been deeply enriched by collaboration and knowledge sharing with other Indigenous maritime communities. Guidance from sailors and weavers from Guam, Hawai‘i, and Aotearoa has supported our team in learning traditional methods of sail-making, material preparation, and open-ocean navigation, strengthening a circle of Indigenous resurgence across the Pacific.

The first sail is being woven for a hand-carved dug out canoe, a vessel that will once again ride the ocean currents under traditional power. In 2026, plans are underway to carve a second, larger canoe to continue expanding this journey of resurgence

At every stage, the Haida Sails Project is made possible by the generosity of friends, family, and supporters who believe in the power of cultural revitalization. Their donations have provided essential resources to harvest materials, weave, build canoes, and create meaningful opportunities for cultural connection across generations and oceans.

This work is about more than sails — it is about reclaiming the knowledge, strength, and innovation that has always defined Haida life on the ocean.

Together, we sail forward.