Case file · Folklore / legend
Gagiid, the wild man (Haida)
In Haida tradition a person who survives a canoe capsizing but is changed by the cold and by spirits becomes a gagiid: a wild, half-frozen being with spines and a green face who haunts the shore.
1905 CE · 53.26, -131.99 · status: legend
The account
Swanton recorded Haida stories in 1900–01 at Skidegate and Masset (published 1905). Gagiid masks, carved with open mouths and sea-urchin spines, are among the best-known Haida masks and are still danced.