Haida are a nation and ethnic group native to, or otherwise associated with, Haida Gwaii meaning "Coming out of concealment" or sometimes "island of the People", and the Haida language. The Haida language is an isolate language, that has been spoken historically across Haida Gwaii and other islands on the Alaska Panhandle. To this day, 445 people still claim to speak the Haida language. Prior to the 19th century, Haida spoke a number of coastal First Nations languages such as Tlingit, Nisg̱a'a and Coast Tsimshian. Throughout the Northwest Coast, indigenous nations spoke a minimum of 45 languages. When Haida moved to Alaska in the eighteenth century they also spoke the Masset dialect. The Haida language was ruthlessly driven out of kidnapped Haida children through the Canadian residential school system. This resulted in a sudden decline in its usage throughout the 1900s. Haida language champions are working through multiple initiatives to revitalize the Haida language along with Haida law, customs, and cultural identity
