By the late 1800s, European-borne diseases such as small pox had decimated the Haida population to triple figures.

UNESCO: Culture

It's a shaman, carved by craftsmen of the Haida tribe, from the Queen Charlotte Islands just south of Alaska.

FORBES: The Internet Mystic

For hundreds of years, a contingent of Haida lived simply and industriously on Anthony Island, until the Europeans dropped by.

UNESCO: Culture

I'm President of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, but today I represent all the native peoples of Alaska.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Opens Tribal Nations Conference

The Haida's woodworking skills also extended to onshore structures, including cedar plank and long houses, and the iconic mortuary and memorial poles on par with Easter Island's statues minus the mystery.

UNESCO: Culture

Nearly 2, 000 years ago, the indigenous Northwest people inhabited the remote Anthony Island as well as other spits of land that make up the Queen Charlotte Islands, sandwiched between the Hecate Strait and the Pacific. (In the Haida tongue, Anthony Island is known as SGang Gwaay and Queen Charlotte is Haida Gwaii.) The tribes' people, whose population likely peaked at more than 7, 000 archipelago-wide, were Neptunes of the sea.

UNESCO: Culture